[2010] www.thetimesharemart.com - anyone with experience? [Advice selling Marriott]

[notfes53]

Hi,

This is my first post!

Please can anyone say if they have any experience of - or have heard of www.thetimesharemart.com?

Like me, they are based in the UK. They seem to specialise in advertising timeshares for sale and have a specialist area for Marriott timeshares.

I'm waiting to hear more from their representative, but they say they make their money from commission and the buyer pays all the fees, although they do ask for an up-front advertising payment of (GBP) £149 [about USD $238]. They will carry out the transfer of ownership and all transfer and administration costs are included in their listed price.

They say " We have teamed up with one of the top timeshare trust companies in the world, Hutchinson and Co Trust Company; they facilitate the transfer of ownership when we sell timeshare. All purchase monies are held in a secure independent ESCROW account offering peace of mind to both the person selling timeshare and the buyer."​

I have just posted our two [timeshare name deleted] - on the classified section of Timeshare User's Group, so will wait to see if this attracts any interest. However I was somewhat surprised when the representative of The Timeshare Mart stated that I should be asking more for our two weeks.

Having sold a number of houses in the UK, I've had some experience of agents trying to win buisness with the suggstion of a higher asking price.

I've tried to scan through recent posts on this BBS and so I think I have my asking price about right already, but they are suggsting that I ask 22% higher.

Grateful for any guidance.

Thanks

Update: I have - of course - read the guidance notes for selling and on refelction decided to search out another UK-based reseller: http://www.timeshare-hypermarket.com/about-us.aspx - these guys appear to ask for nothing upfront, and I cannot see a catch...

I've completed their online form and will see how they respond.

 

[DeniseM]

Hi and welcome to TUG!

ANY company that charges a large upfront fee is trying to scam you. They make their money with the upfront fee and then they make no attempt to sell your timeshare.

There are a lot of scammers out there taking advantage of desperate timeshare owners these days. Most timeshares are selling for 0-10% of retail, but that's a bitter pill to swallow, so owners grasp at shady offers, hoping they are for real. Legitimate resellers charge a commission after the sale, but the scammers all ask for a large upfront payment.

Here are some warnings signs with these kinds of companies:

1) Do they say that they already have a renter/buyer for your timeshare? (or an established market like people attending conventions.)

2) Do they want you to pay hundreds/thousands of dollars for a title search and transfer fees, or taxes, or a closing fee, UPFRONT?

3) Are they offering to rent/sell it for far more than the market value?

4) Do they want you to pay a large up front fee that supposedly you will get back?

5) Do they want your credit card number before they send you a contract?​

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then this is the usual scenario:

Once you pay the fee and receive the contract, you discover that the company has only promised to advertise your resort, not to rent/sell it, and they don't mention having a renter/buyer in the contract.

Then, you won't hear anything from them for a long time, and when you contact them, they will tell you that the renter/buyer backed out, but they will advertise your timeshare on their over-priced website.

Finally, when you try to get your money back, they will point out that you signed a contract, and it's only for advertising.

When you try to challenge it with your credit card company, they will tell you that you only had 60 days to dispute the charge, and that it's too late to do anything.​

To see what your timeshare is really worth on the current resale market:

1) Register with eBay
2) Log into eBay
3) Search for the resort by exact name
4) Click on "completed listings" on the menu on the left

(Be sure you look at the completed listings - those are actually SELLING prices - you will find asking prices all over the place, but what really counts is what they actually sold for.)
​

Good luck!

 

[notfes53]

Thanks Denise - for your advice.

I've looked on eBay but - unfortunately - there's no sales data/completed sales for Marriott's Phuket Beach Club.

I've now had conversations with three different UK resellers today. Here are the three alternatives offered:

1. Up-front Advertising package fee of GBP £149 for one week, or GBP £198 for the two weeks - they first suggested an asking price of 50%, then on reflection reduced this to a suggestion of 40% of the original retail price
2. Up-front advertising fee of GBP £55 per week recommended - suggested asking price was 50% of original retail price
3. No up-front fees at all - suggested asking price "up to" 20% maximum of original retail price

Wow - what a difference in approaches, and estimated values. I am wondering if there are two ploys at work here:

a) name a high price to snare the customer and take a small chunk of money up-front
b) suggest a low price based on the (scare) story of plummeting resale prices to convince sellers to mark down their asdking price to maintain reseller sales volume and commission turnover at the reseller's expense.​

Getting an accurate estimate for resale values is difficult in this market and could possibly be skewed by a few distressed sales at very low prices.

I would welcome more advice or any further ideas. In the meantime, I am using the TUG classified listing.

Does anyone know of a reputable reseller that is based in Asia and who targets the local buyers/marketplace?

 

[DeniseM]

I don't know about a reseller who targets the Asian market, but I do know that there are several reputable agents who specialize in Marriott.

Here are a few that are often recommended by Tuggers & I am moving this thread to the Marriott board where you will get expert help:

FredM (TUG user name the same if you want to send him a pm)
www.timeshare-gallery.com

Seth Nock (TUG user name the same if you want to send him a pm)
www.sellingtimeshares.net

Judi Kozlowski (TUG user name judi k if you want to send her a pm)
www.timeshareresalepros.com

 

[KathyPet]

Don't know if this will help you but if Marriott resales were to take your unit for resale they would list it for the current going Marriott price schedule for that resort, season and view if applicable. However they would then take a 40% commission from that price and you would net 60% of the current Marriott price. However it should be noted that Marriott is able to command a higher price for the units they resell because they can offer potential buyers the ability to trade the unit for Marriott Reward points. A private seller or one who lists through a timeshare broker cannot offer that option to a potential purchaser. What you really need to find out is what the current Marriott selling price is for your unit taking into account your season, view and unit size. It does not matter in the least what you paid for the unit when it comes to setting a selling price. Purchasers do not care what you paid they only care about what they want to pay.

 

[notfes53]

Marriott Phuket Beach Club Resales

DeniseM - Thanks for your additional contact names. I am going to give the Classified section of TUG a while longer, but am grateful to have some extra strings to my bow if I cannot achieve an acceptable offer via TUG.

KathyPet - That's really useful advice. However, AFAIK there are no plans for Mai Koa Development Ltd/Marriott's Phuket Beach Club Resort to enter into resales themselves. I can try to elicit an email response from one of the sales people there - although they tend not to want to enter in these discussions as their focus is probably on selling points and earning commissions.

Has anyone heard of a Phuket week being purchased back, or being sold on an agency basis by the Resort or Club Manager?

Our Grande Vista Platinum 2-BR lock-off will not be for sale as we intend to keep that. We have previously exercised the Grande Vista lock-off and exchanged into the Marriott Phuket Beach Club for two weeks, but do not know if this will continued to be an option as Marriott re-jigs their program.

 

[Jess1]

Timeshare art

I used timesharemart in May 2013.

They took £205 to create a login and advertise my property. I checked this.
After a couple of months I had heard nothing so I tried to login and my user id wouldn't work.
I searched for my property and it didn't exist.
I spent three months patiently calling them and every time i had to explain from the beginning of my problem.
They promised to resolve and ring me back every time.No one ever did.
The last time I rang Georgina I lost my patience as she yet again wanted me to explain the problem to her. She had no recollection of the previous conversation I had had with her.

She said she would organise I refund. That was three months ago. Still waiting. Now going to pursue in the small claims court.

Never use them. They are either incompetent or a sham.

 

[MALC9990]

DeniseM - Thanks for your additional contact names. I am going to give the Classified section of TUG a while longer, but am grateful to have some extra strings to my bow if I cannot achieve an acceptable offer via TUG.

KathyPet - That's really useful advice. However, AFAIK there are no plans for Mai Koa Development Ltd/Marriott's Phuket Beach Club Resort to enter into resales themselves. I can try to elicit an email response from one of the sales people there - although they tend not to want to enter in these discussions as their focus is probably on selling points and earning commissions.

Has anyone heard of a Phuket week being purchased back, or being sold on an agency basis by the Resort or Club Manager?

Our Grande Vista Platinum 2-BR lock-off will not be for sale as we intend to keep that. We have previously exercised the Grande Vista lock-off and exchanged into the Marriott Phuket Beach Club for two weeks, but do not know if this will continued to be an option as Marriott re-jigs their program.

You are based in the UK, so my question would be whether an agent / reseller based in the USA is going to meet your needs - especially if you are looking to sell a Phuket beach club week.

As a resale buyer based in the UK I have purchased twice (Marriott Son Antem weeks) using a UK based agent - Travel & leisure Group. I have also referred sellers to them for Phuket Beach Club who have been successful in selling their weeks.

I am currently at PBC and have met a fellow brit owner (one resale week - Platinum) who is looking at present to buy a second week here. So if you PM me I will put you in touch with him.

PBC weeks are not deeded property and as RTU weeks you do not have the complexity of property transfer as in the USA. PBC does not have ROFR so Marriott cannot exercise ROFR and in AP Marriott are only selling AP points and as such are not buying back PBC weeks as far as I know. They get all the weeks they need from owners who default on their MFs since after 2 defaults in two years the owner loses the right to use the week and it is returned to MVCI who then add the week to the AP Points club ownership base.

Travel and Leisure Group will also simply act as the transfer agent and will charge a fee for that service.

I would suggest you check their WEB site for information.

 

[Timesharers]

Timeshare Mart

Dear Jess

I am sorry to hear that you experienced some issues dealing with us at The Timeshare Mart. I have spent time in hospital so if you have been leaving messages on my direct line I would not have got those. Also we have had a new website and I am aware that there have been a few issues with the log-in details. These have now been resolved and the website is looking really good.

Unfortunately we have no record of a ‘Jess’ on our data-base or anybody asking for a refund either by telephone or e-mail. Because I cannot find your details, I am unable to contact you to resolve this.

We are not a scam company. We are in our 5th year of trading and sell many timeshares. I gather you own a Marriott timeshare as you have posted under a Marriott thread? Marriott timeshare represents over 50% of what we sell. And I personally have negotiated the sale of 3 Marriott timeshare’s in the last 7 days. If you would like to call me at the office I am here now and my direct dial is +44 1787 311544.

We will do our utmost to resolve the issue, and get your timeshare sold or arrange refund if you prefer.

Georgina

 

[RonB67]

Wish I had read these comments beforehand. I signed a contract to buy one of their advertised properties two months ago. They have been unresponsive and when I have managed to get a response its been vague ....blaming Marriott over the timeline to complete....I have no proof at all that I have got what I paid for and of course the element of escrow funds with separate legal firm seems to hold no water. Now in contact with my lawyer to commence action recover the funds.

 

[JIMinNC]

To see what your timeshare is really worth on the current resale market:

1) Register with eBay
2) Log into eBay
3) Search for the resort by exact name
4) Click on "completed listings" on the menu on the left

(Be sure you look at the completed listings - those are actually SELLING prices - you will find asking prices all over the place, but what really counts is what they actually sold for.)
​

Good luck!

I know the OP was years ago, but since it's been brought back to the top, is this really the best way to advise a seller to gauge at what price they can realistically sell their Marriott timeshare? I agree that eBay may be the only good reference point for many non-branded timeshares that have limited broker involvement, but for more highly desirable locations and the big brands like Marriott, Hilton, etc, I think eBay is the equivalent of selling your unit in the bargain basement.

When we decided to sell our Kaanapali Beach Club 2BR in 2014, from looking at eBay sales, I would have concluded that it was worth less than $500 at best, and more than likely, would not sell at all. But we listed with Timeshare Resales Hawaii (TRH) and it sold for about $5000 in less than three months. After commission and closing, we netted around $2000.

I think when selling a Marriott, Hilton, or other higher quality timeshare, you should first look at reputable brokers like Seth Nock, Judi K, FredM, TRH, etc. and try that route first. In fact, if I were going to sell a Marriott, my first call would be to Marriott's in-house resales division in Orlando (https://www.marriottvacationclub.com/resales/index.shtml) to see if they would take the unit. This may not work for the OP since it looks like they may not deal in the Asia properties, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Also not sure if the listed US brokers would take an Asian property.

In my opinion, eBay is a good place for an experienced, savvy buyer to try to get an ultra-cheap deal, but it is not the first place anyone should go as a seller, nor is it a good place for an inexperienced buyer, as eBay is full of less-than-reputable timeshare sellers.

 

[jnbsevy]

Hi,

This is my first post!

Please can anyone say if they have any experience of - or have heard of www.thetimesharemart.com?

Like me, they are based in the UK. They seem to specialise in advertising timeshares for sale and have a specialist area for Marriott timeshares.

I'm waiting to hear more from their representative, but they say they make their money from commission and the buyer pays all the fees, although they do ask for an up-front advertising payment of (GBP) £149 [about USD $238]. They will carry out the transfer of ownership and all transfer and administration costs are included in their listed price.

They say " We have teamed up with one of the top timeshare trust companies in the world, Hutchinson and Co Trust Company; they facilitate the transfer of ownership when we sell timeshare. All purchase monies are held in a secure independent ESCROW account offering peace of mind to both the person selling timeshare and the buyer."​

I have just posted our two [timeshare name deleted] - on the classified section of Timeshare User's Group, so will wait to see if this attracts any interest. However I was somewhat surprised when the representative of The Timeshare Mart stated that I should be asking more for our two weeks.

Having sold a number of houses in the UK, I've had some experience of agents trying to win buisness with the suggstion of a higher asking price.

I've tried to scan through recent posts on this BBS and so I think I have my asking price about right already, but they are suggsting that I ask 22% higher.

Grateful for any guidance.

Thanks

Update: I have - of course - read the guidance notes for selling and on refelction decided to search out another UK-based reseller: http://www.timeshare-hypermarket.com/about-us.aspx - these guys appear to ask for nothing upfront, and I cannot see a catch...

I've completed their online form and will see how they respond.

We recently made an offer on a timeshare through Worldwide Timeshare Hypermarket. We bailed when they and their escrow (trust) company refused to provide a written agreement protecting the buyer's money. "We're the biggest and the best - since 2004", they said, and claimed that no one had asked for that standard business agreement before.
Their trust company Resort Financial Services, also seemed flakey in the email they sent us from some unknown address, and their name on the internet is not spoken with respect. When we asked for a written agreement with a closing date specified, they sent the attached. "We hope that this is sufficient." It was supposed to protect the buyer?
We bailed on the deal, which looked like a good deal to us.

 

[dioxide45]

We recently made an offer on a timeshare through Worldwide Timeshare Hypermarket. We bailed when they and their escrow (trust) company refused to provide a written agreement protecting the buyer's money. "We're the biggest and the best - since 2004", they said, and claimed that no one had asked for that standard business agreement before.
Their trust company Resort Financial Services, also seemed flakey in the email they sent us from some unknown address, and their name on the internet is not spoken with respect. When we asked for a written agreement with a closing date specified, they sent the attached. "We hope that this is sufficient." It was supposed to protect the buyer?
We bailed on the deal, which looked like a good deal to us.

You may find yourself having an easy time finding someone who does. Even the some of the more reputable companies don't use a licensed escrow account. I would say that most Ebay sellers do not. Even though they claim their closings are done by a third party company. Perhaps one way to make sure that you have licensed escrow is to make sure the company doing the closing also sells title insurance and perhaps also buy the insurance. I can't think of an insurance company that would write a policy for property that doesn't close through licensed escrow.

 

[BocaBoy]

I think when selling a Marriott, Hilton, or other higher quality timeshare, you should first look at reputable brokers like Seth Nock, Judi K, FredM, TRH, etc. and try that route first. In fact, if I were going to sell a Marriott, my first call would be to Marriott's in-house resales division in Orlando (https://www.marriottvacationclub.com/resales/index.shtml) to see if they would take the unit.

I think when selling a Marriott, Hilton, or other higher quality timeshare, you should first look at reputable brokers like Seth Nock, Judi K, FredM, TRH, etc. and try that route first. In fact, if I were going to sell a Marriott, my first call would be to Marriott's in-house resales division in Orlando (https://www.marriottvacationclub.com/resales/index.shtml) to see if they would take the unit. This may not work for the OP since it looks like they may not deal in the Asia properties, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Also not sure if the listed US brokers would take an Asian property.

In my opinion, eBay is a good place for an experienced, savvy buyer to try to get an ultra-cheap deal, but it is not the first place anyone should go as a seller, nor is it a good place for an inexperienced buyer, as eBay is full of less-than-reputable timeshare sellers.