JudyS
TUG Member
In the past, before one could list a timeshare for rent on eBay, one had to be "Travel Verified" by Squaretrade, a 3rd party company. Travel verfication was designed to keep non-owned units (such as RCI exchanges) off of eBay, but it never worked well. All an owner had to do was send in a copy of the deed to ONE timeshare, and they could list ANY timeshare for rent. Squaretrade was a hassle, and it also cost $7.50 a month.
Now, eBay has decided to do their own travel verification, at no fee. Listers of timeshares for rent need to send in proof of ownership to verified@ebay.com. It's unclear whether one has to send in proof for every timeshare listed, or just one timeshare, as with Squaretrade. (I may have to go dig out all those deeds!) I'm somewhat concerned about how they will verify reservations from my MROP ownerships, which allow booking at multiple resorts. I also have a couple of Redweek exchanges that I was hoping to rent (Redweek DOES allow rental of their exchanges), and I'm not sure if I'll have problems listing them on eBay or not.
eBay isn't giving much time for this process -- I received my email April 22nd, saying I have to switch to the new system in two weeks.
Has anyone gone through this process yet? How smoothly did it go?
For reference, here is the email eBay sent me:
Dear Judy,
This is a courtesy email informing you that eBay has assumed
responsibilities for approving its members for listing travel items on
the site. SquareTrade travel verification is no longer valid. This
service is provided to you at no charge. Please refer to this change
here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/travel.html
You have 2 weeks to:
1- Cancel your membership with SquareTrade. To cancel SquareTrade, you
may fax your cancellation notice to 408-969-1135 or email it to
travel@squaretrade.com. Please include your eBay User ID and SquareTrade
Seal ID.
2-Modify your template. You must omit the SquareTrade seal, phrase and
number from all your listings.
3-Renew your eBay travel verification. In order for you to list your
lodging, we require that you provide us with documentation of ownership
or ownership rights (a copy of a reservation confirmation, a utility
bill in your name to the property being listed or maintenance bill will
satisfy this requirement).
Attach the following (SCAN) and email it back to verified@ebay.com along
with the following information:
User ID
Email Address
The type of service you plan to list
Legible scans of ownership or holding rights to the vacation
rental/timeshare.
This verification process can take up to 5 business days.
If you do not comply with the above requirements eBay will have no
recourse but to remove all active listings that show information about
SquareTrade travel or offer travel services.
If you have any questions concerning this courtesy email please email
verified@ebay.com.
Sincerely,
eBay Travel Verification
Now, eBay has decided to do their own travel verification, at no fee. Listers of timeshares for rent need to send in proof of ownership to verified@ebay.com. It's unclear whether one has to send in proof for every timeshare listed, or just one timeshare, as with Squaretrade. (I may have to go dig out all those deeds!) I'm somewhat concerned about how they will verify reservations from my MROP ownerships, which allow booking at multiple resorts. I also have a couple of Redweek exchanges that I was hoping to rent (Redweek DOES allow rental of their exchanges), and I'm not sure if I'll have problems listing them on eBay or not.
eBay isn't giving much time for this process -- I received my email April 22nd, saying I have to switch to the new system in two weeks.
Has anyone gone through this process yet? How smoothly did it go?
For reference, here is the email eBay sent me:
Dear Judy,
This is a courtesy email informing you that eBay has assumed
responsibilities for approving its members for listing travel items on
the site. SquareTrade travel verification is no longer valid. This
service is provided to you at no charge. Please refer to this change
here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/travel.html
You have 2 weeks to:
1- Cancel your membership with SquareTrade. To cancel SquareTrade, you
may fax your cancellation notice to 408-969-1135 or email it to
travel@squaretrade.com. Please include your eBay User ID and SquareTrade
Seal ID.
2-Modify your template. You must omit the SquareTrade seal, phrase and
number from all your listings.
3-Renew your eBay travel verification. In order for you to list your
lodging, we require that you provide us with documentation of ownership
or ownership rights (a copy of a reservation confirmation, a utility
bill in your name to the property being listed or maintenance bill will
satisfy this requirement).
Attach the following (SCAN) and email it back to verified@ebay.com along
with the following information:
User ID
Email Address
The type of service you plan to list
Legible scans of ownership or holding rights to the vacation
rental/timeshare.
This verification process can take up to 5 business days.
If you do not comply with the above requirements eBay will have no
recourse but to remove all active listings that show information about
SquareTrade travel or offer travel services.
If you have any questions concerning this courtesy email please email
verified@ebay.com.
Sincerely,
eBay Travel Verification