Can I Counter a Counteroffer in a DVC Resale Transaction?
Yes, you can. In a DVC resale negotiation, there's no rule that limits the number of rounds of counteroffers. If a seller sends you a counter and you don't want to accept their price, you can send your own counter back. The negotiation continues until both sides agree, one side declines, or an offer or counter expires without a response. Here's how the back-and-forth works in practice and what to keep in mind as negotiations proceed.
How the Counteroffer Process Works
When you make an initial offer, the seller has three choices: accept, decline, or counter. If they counter, you receive a notification in your dashboard and by email. Their counteroffer shows you the price they're proposing and any terms they've changed or added.
At this point, you have the same three choices they had. You can accept their counter, decline it, or send another counter with a number that works better for you. If you counter back, the seller then faces the same three choices again.
This can go on for as many rounds as both parties are willing to participate in. In practice, most DVC resale negotiations land within one to three rounds. By that point, both sides usually know whether there's a deal to be had or whether the gap is too wide.
What Happens to the Previous Offer When You Counter
Each counteroffer replaces the previous one. When a seller sends you a counter, they are no longer bound by your original offer. When you send a counter back, you are no longer holding them to their counter. The most recent offer or counter on the table is the only active one.
This is worth understanding because it means you can't "go back" to a previous number once you've sent a new one. If you sent an initial offer of $90 per point and the seller countered at $100, and then you countered at $93, the $90 offer is gone. If the seller then says they'll accept your original $90, they've actually accepted something that's no longer technically on the table, and both sides would need to agree to proceed at that price going forward.
In practice this doesn't come up often, but it's the right way to think about how the negotiation works.
How to Decide Whether to Counter or Accept
This is really a judgment call that depends on a few things. First, where is the seller's counter in relation to market value? You can browse DVC resale listings to see what similar contracts at the same resort are currently listed for. You can also check our DVC compare prices page to understand how resale pricing compares to what Disney charges for the same resort directly.
If the seller's counter is close to fair market value, it might make sense to accept rather than counter and risk the seller becoming frustrated with the negotiation. If their counter is still notably above market, sending another counter is reasonable.
Second, how motivated are you to get this particular contract? If it's a use year or resort that's hard to find and this is one of the few available, flexibility on price might be worth it. If there are several similar contracts available, you have more negotiating leverage.
Third, how is the seller behaving? If their first counter was a large reduction from the listing price, they're signaling they want to deal. If their counter barely moved from the list price, they may be less flexible than you're hoping.
Timing in a Counteroffer Negotiation
Each offer and counter has an expiration window. When the seller sends a counter, you have a set amount of time to respond before it expires. When you send a counter back, they have a set amount of time on their end. The expiration windows keep negotiations from stalling indefinitely.
Responding promptly is generally a good strategy. A purchaser who responds quickly signals engagement and seriousness. A purchaser who takes 40 hours to respond to a counteroffer can make a seller wonder how committed they really are.
That said, don't respond so fast that you skip thinking. If you need a few hours to look at the comparable pricing and decide what your next move is, take that time. Just don't let it stretch to two days when a few hours of thought would have been enough.
When to Walk Away
Not every negotiation ends in a deal, and that's fine. If after two or three rounds both sides are still meaningfully far apart, it may be time to move on to other listings rather than grinding through more rounds of small counters.
Walking away from a negotiation doesn't close any doors. You can still make an offer on that same listing in the future if it's still on the market. And sometimes stepping back gives a seller perspective. If no other offers come in for a while, they may reconsider your last offer and reach out.
The DVC resale market has enough active inventory that most purchasers who negotiate reasonably find a contract they're happy with. Browse all currently active DVC resale listings and our how DVC works page explains the full path from offer to closing once both sides agree on terms. If you have questions about pricing strategy or want a second opinion on a specific counter, reach the DVC Sales team at our contact page.
