Membership Extras such as discounts will no longer be offered to those who purchase Disney Vacation Club timeshares on the resale market and not through Disney directly. The Orlando Sentinel reports that these changes will take place immediately, but will only affect new buyers (current DVC members will be grandfathered in regardless of how they purchased).
From the Sentinel:
Membership extras include discounts on merchandise, annual passes and restaurants. They also include access to a lounge opening soon at Epcot, a sweepstakes, and special events such as movie screenings, a member cruise and a recent party at the Magic Kingdom.
Disney Vacation Club properties are known for their high resale value. Recently, there has been a lot of interest in purchasing DVC memberships through another resale route: foreclosure auctions. Disney is now using nonjudicial foreclosures, which move more quickly and require people to bid in person.
“While resale purchases are clearly beneficial to the consumer, they undoubtedly cause Disney to lose direct sales. I’m sure it’s difficult to sell points at $168 each when a very similar product can be had for just $70-80 per point. Blocking resale buyers from the accessing some of the most beneficial perks like the Annual Pass savings and merchandise discounts can only have a positive effect on sales. However it may also cause a decrease in demand for resale contracts and an overall downturn in prices.”
Disney has previously added restrictions to DVC points that were resold. In 2011, DVC announced that such points could no longer Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney or the Concierge Collection. As noted, the resale perks changes take effect today.