News article discusses common scams - directs owners to TUG

Always enjoy reading these:

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/04/selling-your-timeshare-look-out-scammers

certainly not new info for old-hat TUGGERS, but people who have not yet found TUG fall for these things every day.

Yessa!

TUGBrian said:

Always enjoy reading these:

http://hamptonroads.com/2012/04/selling-your-timeshare-look-out-scammers

certainly not new info for old-hat TUGGERS, but people who have not yet found TUG fall for these things every day.

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It's great that such articles refer the unknowing and unwary to TUG. A better informed and more cautious populace is the best antidote possible against the "infection" of opportunistic parasites and scammers...

I'd like to know how the average resale price is $9,000 when you can't even give them away.

bobby said:

I'd like to know how the average resale price is $9,000 when you can't even give them away.

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And only 20% of resales below $1,000 ???????????

"Average resale price in last three years $9,000, with 20 percent below $1,000"

yea, im not sure where some of the resale facts come from....but noones perfect =)

A rather interesting quote at the end of the article from Rosemary Nye, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Hampton Roads, where she "suggests if you have been unsuccessful in selling your timeshare, consider donating it to charity - if the charity will accept it."

She also said, "Then you can at least write off a portion of your investment as a charitable donation."

Totally inaccurate...

LannyPC said:

She also said, "Then you can at least write off a portion of your investment as a charitable donation."

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Rosemary should have just quit talking a bit sooner, as this particular gratuitous snippet is both very misleading (no charities are accepting timeshares) and also totally incorrect in terms of tax deduction(s).

Don't quit your day job, Rosemary....

We should bundle our unwanted timeshares as junk bonds and sell them to the Chinese.

bobby said:

I'd like to know how the average resale price is $9,000 when you can't even give them away.

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I have no idea where the $9000 number came from, but if you look at eBay the typical resale price is $1. That's right "ONE DOLLAR".

I think it's because people just want out of the maintenance fees when they are no longer able to use the timeshare.

The best analogy to buying a timeshare is buying a membership in a gym or fitness club that has a huge non-refundable initiation fee (purchase price) and then an annual membership fee (maintenance fee) that goes on forever. And they still want your money every year even if you are no longer able to use the timeshare.

"Typical" on eBay is not "typical" throughout the entire resale marketplace...

GHT said:

I have no idea where the $9000 number came from, but if you look at eBay the typical resale price is $1. That's right "ONE DOLLAR".

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I certainly agree 100% that the $9,000 figure cited within the article is both completely unsubstantiated and likely very inaccurate (...on the high side). Prime, winter weeks in Key West, FL at the Hyatts might command those numbers, but otherwise these days numbers that high are certainly not the norm.

On the other hand, eBay is certainly not a particularly broad or representative benchmark for market-wide resale selling prices either. Historically and consistently, eBay has the lowest resale timeshare selling prices to be found anywhere on the planet and, certainly more often than not, perhaps not exactly the best quality inventory either.

In any case, it's still good that the article refers readers here to TUG, even if some of the figures cited within the article are highly suspect (at best).