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[2015] Redweek dead

gblotter

gblotter

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
905
Reaction score
54
Resorts Owned
Mountainside x 2
Maui Ocean Club x 2
Ko Olina Beach Club x 1
I have a Redweek listing trying to rent out my unit. While Redweek has been very productive for me in the past, I'm getting little interest this time. It is a prime week in a prime location, and my listing is priced the cheapest. It's not just me - I don't see hardly any listings changed to "Rented" status. And there is much more rental inventory available on Redweek it seems (at least for my resort) - many weeks available but nothing getting rented out.

Has Redweek lost is effectiveness for others folks as well? Are you finding other rental marketplaces to be more productive?
 
It depends on a lot of things - the location, the week (it may be far enough out that people haven't begun planning their trip), etc. I have a prime location/week for rent right now and have had little activity so far, but did list it on myResortNetwork and TUG, as well, for exposure. I generally don't see activity until within 3 months of the reservation, to be honest.
 
I also have Easter and summer weeks on redweek with little activity. Got a call on one Easter week and the guy told me he was just checking but doesn't normally rent until after the holidays. I'm hoping the activity picks up early January.
 
gblotter said:
Has Redweek lost is effectiveness for others folks as well? Are you finding other rental marketplaces to be more productive?
Click to expand...

I am seeing the same decline in rentals at Redweek, as well. But like you, I am not sure if it is Redweek or just the lousy rental market these days. Ten years ago, I was able to rent my week 52 studio in Cabo for $1,400/week. This year, I was only to get $750, just enough to cover my maintenance fees. It's been like that since the 2008 housing crash.

I think one of the issues affecting my week is that the number of timeshares in Cabo has probably tripled or quadrupled over the past ten years. They just keep building, and building, and building, with no end in sight.
 
I rented out 2 units to Maui in October 2015 for reservations in March 2016 so seemed to work for me?
 
I rented two March weeks at Ocean Pointe & BeachPlace Towers, one in September and one two weeks ago on Redweek.

I agree that people are waiting later to rent.
 
I have had more response on redweek vs Tug, but renting is slow.
 
NTP66 said:
I generally don't see activity until within 3 months of the reservation, to be honest.
Click to expand...

I agree with NTP66, however I might say I seem to get most responses within about 45-60 days. This year I posted early for a March rental (Nov) and no inquiries yet...I am guessing by end of January I should have it rented...we will see.
 
Thanksgiving to New Year's is the slowest rental period of the year. People are busy with the holidays, and are spending their money on the holidays. After New Year's it always picks up.

That being said, I have heard from a few people that rentals outside the US have been slower lately, and some speculation that the recent terrorist events may be impacting that.
 
My current rental is for early March in Maui, and I expect things to pick up after the holidays, as well.
 
Redweek has always been dead to me
Never worked for me for the events I work or resonably priced weeks in red season
 
more competitive market with airbnb, vrbo, homeaway, etc.

I took my first Uber ride yesterday, excellent service and the smart phone app is outstanding. Does Redweek have an App?


Sent from my iPad Mini 4 using Tapatalk
 
I've been fortunate I guess. My summer 2016 Marriott Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, and Aruba weeks all rented before December 2015 (using Redweek exclusively).
 
Obviously resort location, week, and price matter, but I have found that Redweek almost always provides a good selection of properties ranging between highly competitive pricing to sometimes outstanding deals from owners looking to basically cover their MF's.

But from a marketing perspective I think one of the challenges I have noticed is that there appears to be a huge audience of potential renters / vacationers that have no idea Redweek even exists. I didn't know Redweek existed until after we bought a timeshare.

I know many at work or social circles that have the ability to travel extensively, and they do. So over the last year I have been informally polling people at lunch, dinner, or whenever the topic comes up, about where they go to book trips and vacations. A lot of answers like Booking.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Sandals / Beaches, etc. Some use travel points they redeemed from chains like Marriott, Starwood, or Hilton. Some work directly with travel agents or realty companies.

But how many people knew about Redweek or mentioned it? Zero. Not a single person.

To emphasize that point above, just using one East Coast oceanfront destination looking at the mid-April thru mid-June period, travel sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Booking, Expedia, etc are already either 100% booked at the best locations or what remaining inventory is left is mostly the lower quality locations or non oceanfront. That is just for the shoulder season. The same is obviously true as one gets deeper into Prime weeks.

So the demand appears to be there (already) and travelers appear to have been booking well in advance of any 45-60 day window. So why aren't more Redweek postings getting picked clean right now since the unit sizes, locations, and prices available are so attractive compared to limited availability on the name travel sites?

I am sure answers like the overall economy, time of year, etc all play a role in the OP's experience so far. But I think the biggest reason might be that while Redweek might be well known and well used inside timeshare circles, there is a huge group of travelers out there that don't know much about timeshares and don't appear to even know these properties are available to them as rentals on Redweek because they have never heard of Redweek.

And that last statement is not intended to be a singular criticism of Redweek. The same can be said of MyResortNetwork.

Shame really, because for certain locations and resorts Redweek (and MyResortNetwork) have a superior selection of properties / pricing compared to the hotel chains and other offerings in those areas.

JMO based only on my limited experience so far.
 
Interesting observations by everyone. I have had mixed results with redweek. I agree that most people outside of those who know about timeshares are not aware of redweek, myresortsnetwork or TUG. I was able to rent one unit to a colleague at work as well. One of our resorts has a rental program, so I have used that on occasion.

Mike
 
RLS50 said:
Obviously resort location, week, and price matter, but I have found that Redweek almost always provides a good selection of properties ranging between highly competitive pricing to sometimes outstanding deals from owners looking to basically cover their MF's.

But from a marketing perspective I think one of the challenges I have noticed is that there appears to be a huge audience of potential renters / vacationers that have no idea Redweek even exists. I didn't know Redweek existed until after we bought a timeshare.

I know many at work or social circles that have the ability to travel extensively, and they do. So over the last year I have been informally polling people at lunch, dinner, or whenever the topic comes up, about where they go to book trips and vacations. A lot of answers like Booking.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Sandals / Beaches, etc. Some use travel points they redeemed from chains like Marriott, Starwood, or Hilton. Some work directly with travel agents or realty companies.

But how many people knew about Redweek or mentioned it? Zero. Not a single person.

To emphasize that point above, just using one East Coast oceanfront destination looking at the mid-April thru mid-June period, travel sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Booking, Expedia, etc are already either 100% booked at the best locations or what remaining inventory is left is mostly the lower quality locations or non oceanfront. That is just for the shoulder season. The same is obviously true as one gets deeper into Prime weeks.

So the demand appears to be there (already) and travelers appear to have been booking well in advance of any 45-60 day window. So why aren't more Redweek postings getting picked clean right now since the unit sizes, locations, and prices available are so attractive compared to limited availability on the name travel sites?

I am sure answers like the overall economy, time of year, etc all play a role in the OP's experience so far. But I think the biggest reason might be that while Redweek might be well known and well used inside timeshare circles, there is a huge group of travelers out there that don't know much about timeshares and don't appear to even know these properties are available to them as rentals on Redweek because they have never heard of Redweek.

And that last statement is not intended to be a singular criticism of Redweek. The same can be said of MyResortNetwork.

Shame really, because for certain locations and resorts Redweek (and MyResortNetwork) have a superior selection of properties / pricing compared to the hotel chains and other offerings in those areas.

JMO based only on my limited experience so far.
Click to expand...
Redweek should get a Superbowl ad. :cheer:

[Edit: Thanks csxjohn.]
 
Last edited:
davidvel said:
Redweek should get a Superbowl ad. :banana:

P.S. Wasn't there once a cheerleader emoticon on here?
Click to expand...

:cheer:There still is, click on "more"
 
I've been able to rent out on redweek the weeks I have not been able to use, but I usually don't receive a lot of enquiries...

I think lack of advertising and renter reassurance are the two biggest issues with redweek.

Compared to other vacation rental sites (airbnb, vrbo, even the rental ads on tripadvisor.com...) redweek has much lower notoriety and I'm not sure they're doing much about it - have you ever seen a redweek ad when researching accommodation for a vacation?

I also think redweek would work better for owners (and ultimately, their own bottom line) if they had a rating system for "sellers" like any other ecommerce site and if they didn't scare potential customers in order to try and sell their escrow service. That service is too expensive and complicated for rentals and I bet it's a turn off for potential renters.
 
I've generally had great success on Redweek most times. I had a couple that went unrented last year but otherwise it has been fantastic
 
RLS50 said:
Obviously resort location, week, and price matter, but I have found that Redweek almost always provides a good selection of properties ranging between highly competitive pricing to sometimes outstanding deals from owners looking to basically cover their MF's.

But from a marketing perspective I think one of the challenges I have noticed is that there appears to be a huge audience of potential renters / vacationers that have no idea Redweek even exists. I didn't know Redweek existed until after we bought a timeshare.

I know many at work or social circles that have the ability to travel extensively, and they do. So over the last year I have been informally polling people at lunch, dinner, or whenever the topic comes up, about where they go to book trips and vacations. A lot of answers like Booking.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Sandals / Beaches, etc. Some use travel points they redeemed from chains like Marriott, Starwood, or Hilton. Some work directly with travel agents or realty companies.

But how many people knew about Redweek or mentioned it? Zero. Not a single person.

To emphasize that point above, just using one East Coast oceanfront destination looking at the mid-April thru mid-June period, travel sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Booking, Expedia, etc are already either 100% booked at the best locations or what remaining inventory is left is mostly the lower quality locations or non oceanfront. That is just for the shoulder season. The same is obviously true as one gets deeper into Prime weeks.

So the demand appears to be there (already) and travelers appear to have been booking well in advance of any 45-60 day window. So why aren't more Redweek postings getting picked clean right now since the unit sizes, locations, and prices available are so attractive compared to limited availability on the name travel sites?

I am sure answers like the overall economy, time of year, etc all play a role in the OP's experience so far. But I think the biggest reason might be that while Redweek might be well known and well used inside timeshare circles, there is a huge group of travelers out there that don't know much about timeshares and don't appear to even know these properties are available to them as rentals on Redweek because they have never heard of Redweek.

And that last statement is not intended to be a singular criticism of Redweek. The same can be said of MyResortNetwork.

Shame really, because for certain locations and resorts Redweek (and MyResortNetwork) have a superior selection of properties / pricing compared to the hotel chains and other offerings in those areas.

JMO based only on my limited experience so far.
Click to expand...

These are some good observations about Redweek. It seems that Redweek really relies on word of mouth advertising and as you say, it isn't really well known outside the timeshare world. I think that also the fee to use it keeps a lot of people away. Even though the fee may be well worth it. I think though that the fee also helps keep the tire kickers away.
 
jpl88 said:
I've been able to rent out on redweek the weeks I have not been able to use, but I usually don't receive a lot of enquiries...

I think lack of advertising and renter reassurance are the two biggest issues with redweek.

Compared to other vacation rental sites (airbnb, vrbo, even the rental ads on tripadvisor.com...) redweek has much lower notoriety and I'm not sure they're doing much about it - have you ever seen a redweek ad when researching accommodation for a vacation?
Click to expand...
This kind of goes along with my experience and thinking.

Especially the point you make about the fact that Redweek never shows up in many searches for weeks or vacations on the internet search engines. Even if you specifically put the word "timeshare" in the search it doesn't usually show until page 2 or 3 of results. If you don't know about Redweek already, it would be hard to stumble into.

Although it is worth noting that MyResortNetwork appears to show earlier and near the top on this specific search.

I think Redweek is trying to generate new sources of revenue, but personally, it is my view their efforts to date don't provide as much tangible value to their customer listings as would focusing more on increasing traffic coming to the site. IMO they would be better served growing their business and profits by working to increase awareness of their site to a whole world of potential renters and vacationers that don't even know they exist.

If I ran the company my next system upgrade would be centered around changes required to integrate more seamlessly with travel / lodging reservation sites and working with the major search engines to get my name closer to the top of any search results. Again JMO.
 
dioxide45 said:
These are some good observations about Redweek. It seems that Redweek really relies on word of mouth advertising and as you say, it isn't really well known outside the timeshare world. I think that also the fee to use it keeps a lot of people away. Even though the fee may be well worth it. I think though that the fee also helps keep the tire kickers away.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

I don't have a problem with the listing fee per se. In theory, the fee should not be an issue. Although I think MyResortNetwork is a better deal for rentals since they will keep a fixed week reservation all the way thru the use date while Redweek only gives you 6 months. But I will try to list with both depending on the property.

When you compare inventory available in Redweek to inventory available on the main travel reservation sites, Redweek listers should (again, in theory) frequently achieve a near 100% rental rate.

But I know from past personal experience years ago, 45-60 days out people decide they want to go to the beach (or a certain location / resort), but find that everything is sold out on the main reservation sites, so they give up figuring it isn't possible and then try to figure out a Plan B.

If more people knew about Redweek they might still be able to go to where they want, and probably get a better resort location and price then they would have last minute on the major travel sites (assuming they could even find something on those other sites).

Wasted opportunities. For both the timeshare owner and the potential renter.
 
I have been very successful using Redweek for many years including renting my 2 AOC Presidents weeks - both within 2 days! I generally don't list until about 6-8 months prior to the reservation date. One year I rented an AOC New Year week within 2 hours and even had a bidding war going on!
 
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