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Any way to find out RCI trading power prior to purchase?

cak144

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We are interested in purchasing a cheap timeshare on EBay, TUG, etc. We want to use it primarily for exchanging. Obviously the lower the MF the better. However, we would like to purchase a unit with decent RCI trading power. Is there any way to find out the trading power of a unit prior to purchasing it?
 

DaveNV

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In RCI Weeks: You can ask someone who has RCI access to see what they can learn. RCI has a deposit calculator that tells what they'd give (at that moment) for making a specific deposit. You'd need to know the resort, unit type and size, and the week being deposited. It's not perfect, but it can give you an idea of what they might do. But since TPU values change, and the deposit date can have a great effect on TPUs given, it's not a perfect system.

The other problem with trading power also is where you expect to go. A deposit of a mud week ski resort will return average to lower TPUs. But trading into a Disney resort might require three or four or five times as many TPUs, if a week becomes available. So it's not a one-for-one thing. The days of greater or lesser trading power ended when RCI went with TPUs. A direct week exchange is a thing of the past.

Dave
 

ronparise

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trading power varies based on a secret formula. My best guess is they pay more if they need what you have, and pay less if they dont, Also they pay more for an early deposit than a late deposit

The RCI exchange fee (and their other fees) are creeping up every year. its over $200 now, which is almost as much as maintenance fees in some cases

I think the old tried and true advice is still good. Buy where you want to go and close to home. And plan to use it most of the time. For me that would be a triennial, 3 bedroom lockoff at Vacation Village at Parkway. MF was, last time I looked, under $800 every 3 years. Its within a 3 hour drive from my home They accept dogs, and you can deposit it as 2 one bedrooms. Vacation Village is a big place with lots of RCI availability and deep discounts close to check in. Oh and you get a discount on the deposit fee when you trade back into the Vacation Village family of resorts. The TPUs I get for a deposit and the TPUs required for a reservation are not the most important thing. Whats important is the spread. I A vacation Village week like I owned got 40 TPU on deposit, and one bedroom weeks were often available on RCI close to check in for 5 TPU.. So deposit my one week every 3 years for 40 TPU and get 8 weeks in trade,


Im sure that there are much better deals out there, and you may not live close to a Vacation Village resort. but concentrating on a resort close to home that I actually wanted to visit worked for me
 

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Eric B

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In RCI points they have a document that lists the point values for associated resorts that they made available to download. It's not comprehensive, but here it is....
 

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VegasBella

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I’m happy to look stuff up for anyone. I have an RCI weeks account.

But know that it varies year by year.

Another good thing to check to get ideas about trading value is the II demand calendar. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s readily available on their website without needing an account to access. It just gives you an idea of which seasons will rent or trade well vs which seasons/weeks won’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Panina

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I’m happy to look stuff up for anyone. I have an RCI weeks account.

But know that it varies year by year.

Another good thing to check to get ideas about trading value is the II demand calendar. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s readily available on their website without needing an account to access. It just gives you an idea of which seasons will rent or trade well vs which seasons/weeks won’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It also varies , sometimes greatly, between RCI and II. I have weeks that are high traders in II that aren't in RCI and others that are high traders in RCI but not II.

With the always increasing prices to trade, my suggestion would be buy where you could see yourself being happy if you went every year, even if that isn't the intent now.
 

LILASS

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It also varies , sometimes greatly, between RCI and II. I have weeks that are high traders in II that aren't in RCI and others that are high traders in RCI but not II.

With the always increasing prices to trade, my suggestion would be buy where you could see yourself being happy if you went every year, even if that isn't the intent now.


I have been trying to find the trade value for the Edinburgh Residence in Scotland (#4264). RCI does not give me a clue they say it depends...depends on what? Any help is appreciated. Thank you Rose
 

Panina

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I have been trying to find the trade value for the Edinburgh Residence in Scotland (#4264). RCI does not give me a clue they say it depends...depends on what? Any help is appreciated. Thank you Rose
It depends on which week and the size of the unit (studio, 1br, 2br...). If this resort has fixed weeks, If you give me both I will look it up for you. Be aware trade value tomororrow can be very different then today. RCI in the past has decreases values for resorts significantly without warning.
 

VegasBella

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I have been trying to find the trade value for the Edinburgh Residence in Scotland (#4264). RCI does not give me a clue they say it depends...depends on what? Any help is appreciated. Thank you Rose

I put it into the Deposit Calculator on my RCI Weeks membership page.
For a 1 bedroom week 28 2018 deposit now you would get 26 TPU
For a 1 bedroom week 52 2018 deposit now you would get 23 TPU
For a studio week 28 2019 deposit now you would get 23 TPU
For a studio week 52 2018 deposit now you would get 20 TPU
 

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I have been trying to find the trade value for the Edinburgh Residence in Scotland (#4264). RCI does not give me a clue they say it depends...depends on what? Any help is appreciated. Thank you Rose

I own a studio at the Edinburgh Residence - they call it a Classic Suite. The maintenance fee for 2017 was $859 USD.

High season is during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. But you have to own a deeded week in August to reserve it.

Depending on the size of the unit, the maximum trading power is 21-27. But the maintenance fee is high, so I wouldn't buy there for a trader. You can do better with a US timeshare with lower maintenance fee and higher trading power.
 
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MarytheGolfer

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I’m happy to look stuff up for anyone. I have an RCI weeks account.

But know that it varies year by year.

Another good thing to check to get ideas about trading value is the II demand calendar. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s readily available on their website without needing an account to access. It just gives you an idea of which seasons will rent or trade well vs which seasons/weeks won’t.


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Hi there VegasBella: I'm new to this forum. I'm about to purchase a Weeks resale unit. I've been trying to figure out the TPU system and it's a bit confusing. I know where I want to buy and where I want exchange when I'm not using the home resort. Would you, by chance, know the approx. TPU value if I gave you both resorts and the time of year I'd like to use each? Any light you can shed on this will be extremely helpful. Thanks, Mary.
 

montygz

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We are interested in purchasing a cheap timeshare on EBay, TUG, etc. We want to use it primarily for exchanging. Obviously the lower the MF the better. However, we would like to purchase a unit with decent RCI trading power. Is there any way to find out the trading power of a unit prior to purchasing it?
The easiest thing to do is to acquire a unit in points. You will know exactly how many points you get each year and what the max point cost is of the weeks you want to book.

Owning in points gives you access to inventory in both points AND weeks. You always will use your points to book.

The only advantage I see in owning in weeks is for access to a specific resort or week you really, really want to own.

Perhaps there is some other benefit or advantage to being a weeks owner I don't know about, but I like my points ownership experience.
 

DaveNV

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The easiest thing to do is to acquire a unit in points. You will know exactly how many points you get each year and what the max point cost is of the weeks you want to book.

Owning in points gives you access to inventory in both points AND weeks. You always will use your points to book.

The only advantage I see in owning in weeks is for access to a specific resort or week you really, really want to own.

Perhaps there is some other benefit or advantage to being a weeks owner I don't know about, but I like my points ownership experience.

Monty, this thread is six years old.

Dave
 

theo

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Hi there VegasBella: I'm new to this forum. I'm about to purchase a Weeks resale unit. I've been trying to figure out the TPU system and it's a bit confusing. I know where I want to buy and where I want exchange when I'm not using the home resort. Would you, by chance, know the approx. TPU value if I gave you both resorts and the time of year I'd like to use each? Any light you can shed on this will be extremely helpful. Thanks, Mary.
You may wish to note that the VegasBella post to which you are responding is from November, 2017 (over 5 years ago) and may not be seen by VB now.
Maybe try a private message for more direct contact? Just a suggestion…

IMnsHO, buying solely to exchange can be a recipe for disappointment. Remember that there needs to be space availability where and when you actually want to go; it’s not just a matter of the TPU‘s required. There are no guarantees and there is lots of competition, particularly in popular locations, seasons of high demand, school vacation periods, etc. Points certainly offer more flexibility, but they don’t miraculously create more space availability. Just food for thought…
 
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VegasBella

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The only advantage I see in owning in weeks is for access to a specific resort or week you really, really want to own.

Perhaps there is some other benefit or advantage to being a weeks owner I don't know about, but I like my points ownership experience.

This thread is very old, yes, but I wanted to respond to this comment.
In my opinion a primary reason to own a timeshare is the financial savings. This is achieved primarily through finding the INefficiencies of timeshares.

Points programs eliminated these inefficiencies. You pay your MF per point and it takes more points to book higher value weeks.

The inefficiencies are usually where every week has the same MF but each week has a different value. When the timeshare has a good strong reseller program then it's more efficient and the higher value weeks sell for more despite the same MF. But many older timeshares do NOT have strong reseller programs in this way... thus, if you know what you're looking for you can get an excellent value.

However, the weeks programs tend to be less flexible than points programs so it's best if you actually want what you buy too.

As to the original question about looking something up in RCI, I still have an account but so much has changed about RCI that I'm not even sure how to look up TPU for resorts that I don't own.
 

Eric B

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Points programs eliminated these inefficiencies.
IMHO this isn't entirely true. The institution of multiple points programs has introduced different valuations for stays at various resorts because of the differences in the costs that depend on the method of booking. This allows an educated user with multiple methods of accessing a resort to arbitrage the usage and improve the efficiency. Because I've got multiple access points for different systems, I've been able to use an inexpensive week at Massanutten to get a week at the Ritz Carlton in St Thomas amongst other uses. YMMV.
 

MarytheGolfer

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Thank you VegasBella for your response and suggestions. I realize this thread is old. I actually found it when searching by topic, so I do appreciate you taking the time to reach out. I found the comments here really helpful in choosing between Points & Weeks. I can see the pros and cons for both. I just started the process of taking over a Points TS. For my travel needs, I think I will enjoy the flexibility of booking shorter nightly stays as well as weeks. I'm looking forward to researching the Points options once my purchase is complete. Thanks again!
 

VegasBella

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Just as an FYI, some weeks programs allow owners to divide their weeks into two trips: 3day + 4day. I have some ownerships that allow that.
 

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Can someone look up what TPU a Carlsbad Inn week 52 1BR would garner?
 

scootr5

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Can someone look up what TPU a Carlsbad Inn week 52 1BR would garner?

46 TPUs. I took a look at mid-summer, those are mostly all 51 TPUs.
 

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46 TPUs. I took a look at mid-summer, those are mostly all 51 TPUs.
Thanks Scott for your quick reply. I'm thinking of depositing and try out RCI, but I'm only used to II. Can you give some examples of decent resorts/seasons and what TPU would cost? Just trying to get a value comparison of what 46 means. TIA!
 

rickandcindy23

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A fall week at Hilton's Hokulani on Oahu is 52 points, and the dates showing are late August-fall of 2024.
 

scootr5

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I don't have anything deposited so I can't really search, but a 2 bedroom at Smugglers Notch in Vermont is mid-20s in the summer, coastal Maine in June was recently 34 for a 1 bedroom in June, Wyndham Bonnet Creek 2 bedroom was 24 for August dates.
 
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