Frustrated with my ads on Redweek. I am getting grouchier about cheapskates in my old age

[rickandcindy23]

So two people contacted me about renting yesterday. Peacock Suites was one. I rent for my cost to recover my outrageous maintenance fees, so I don't make money on anything. I have dates advertised on Redweek of $50/night for weeknights and I explain in the text of the ad that weekends are 3X the price.

So I get an email from someone who wants two weekends included, so a 9-night stay, in summer, and they didn't like the price I was charging because it wasn't $50 per night. I told them Wyndham would charge $147/nt + tax for their dates, and my price was only $75 per night. I was giving them a bargain price.

I was not polite. I told them to read the text of the ad and see that I never said it would be only $50 per night for weekends.

I wasn't nasty or mean, but I told them to find someone else to rent them anything a mile from Disneyland for that price. Then when they came around, I told them I wouldn't rent to them. They were saying I lied in my ad, basically. I had another similar one for Peacock, but not as bad.

I also had someone offer me $700 for our oceanfront 2 bedroom Hono Koa, the only unit Rick and I don't mind paying $1,750 per week to stay and enjoy every dollar of that week. I am asking my COST on it.

I also had someone offer me a ridiculously low price for my OKW studio I have reserved for October, right before Halloween. I told her that I am not interested in her offer at all. "Well, there are lots of people renting full weeks in one bedrooms at Saratoga Springs, and those are one bedrooms, not just studios, and those are full weeks!" she tells me. I told her, "Well, go ahead and rent from one of those people, because you very definitely could be out the money, when these people get their RCI accounts shut down." Apparently, no one has the week she wants. She actually emailed me again and said she had done it before but had no problems. I told her to stop emailing me.

So I am a grouch the last few days.

 

[echino]

I get a lot of low ball offers and I actually don't mind. I just politely respond with a "no".

 

[Luanne]

I've had people say things like "So you'd rather have it sit empty" or (in the case of garage sales) "You'd rather not sell it"............and I just say "Yes".

 

[rickandcindy23]

It's only been the last few days that I have been dealing with this. Rick was laughing at me, when I told the person to check to see what Wyndham rents the same thing for.

I know that a lot of people report this happening to them with their ads through the TUG marketplace. I frankly get almost no activity on those ads, so I am glad people are not doing that to me on TUG ads.

I am getting grouchier, however. I am really not usually this way. Maybe it's the hot weather. But I am sitting in 72 degrees of AC right now, so nope.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I've had people say things like "So you'd rather have it sit empty" or (in the case of garage sales) "You'd rather not sell it"............and I just say "Yes".

Yes!

I am not stuck with my Shell points. I am borrowing from 2020. I am not stuck with Disney, I am also borrowing from 2020 and can cancel at 31 days out.

I can always re-book Hono Koa for another date, and we can take another trip in late August, like we are doing this year, and for the same reason (couldn't rent it in March).

No one wants to pay for an OF unit, if it's not Westin or Marriott. I am charging a lot less than the Westin and Marriott owners, that's for sure.

 

[rickandcindy23]

And I just want to say, I do love Redweek for the amazing number of people I get who contact me for the things that are easy to rent.

 

[Grammarhero]

It's only been the last few days that I have been dealing with this. Rick was laughing at me, when I told the person to check to see what Wyndham rents the same thing for.

I know that a lot of people report this happening to them with their ads through the TUG marketplace. I frankly get almost no activity on those ads, so I am glad people are not doing that to me on TUG ads.

I am getting grouchier, however. I am really not usually this way. Maybe it's the hot weather. But I am sitting in 72 degrees of AC right now, so nope.

You need to rethink if you really want to be a short-term, Ts landlord. I have rented, and I have bargained down. Renters try to get the best deal. That’s human nature and part of the business. I don’t blame them for that, and you shouldn’t as well especially if you want repeat renters. Many of them have lives, children, etc.

Heck, we all get $1 timeshares. We all have bargained down when buying other resale timeshares. If renters’ trying to bargain down frustrate you, maybe put in “non negotiable” in the ad, or get out of the short-term, TS landlord business altogether.

 

[Grammarhero]

I get a lot of low ball offers and I actually don't mind. I just politely respond with a "no".

As a Ts renter, I appreciate your attitude. Any dime I save goes to my wife, puppy, or future child.

 

[LisaH]

I have zero luck with Redweek. The same listing is sold on craigslist each year. Redweek list is just sitting there collecting dust. This is the last time I'll use Redweek.

 

[CPNY]

I have zero luck with Redweek. The same listing is sold on craigslist each year. Redweek list is just sitting there collecting dust. This is the last time I'll use Redweek.

Yup I’ve no luck on redweek the last few years. Better luck on Facebook for free

 

[Sandy VDH]

I had one guy pester me for about 6 months. He gets 2 BRs in Hawaii all the time for that price, and I might as well just rent it to me, because I was going to let it go or lose it and he might as well have it.

I refused on principle. It was HGVC points I could cancel and bank. So why should I pay for him to go to Hawaii on vacation.

Some people.

 

[ski_sierra]

I am wondering if posting on Airbnb or VRBO would have similar problems. I have never negotiated with a host. If I like the price, I book otherwise I find something else. Too much work to haggle with owner. Airbnb probably has their own set of problems.

 

[SteelerGal]

This is my 1st yr of renting. I prefer to rent but if not, I have other options that do not involve paying for a stranger’s vacation.

All the years, I have rented, I would stay w/in my price range.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I am wondering if posting on Airbnb or VRBO would have similar problems. ....... Airbnb probably has their own set of problems.

There are some TUG threads / info on Airbnb - for TS rentals .

from memory - one problem was that there are circumstances where the renter can back out
less than 30 days before check in . If it is a points reservation that allows cancelling up to 31 days ahead - as Cindy & others mentioned - then you are stuck & have to scramble for a replacement , last minute renter .

 

[bizaro86]

For me the attitude is key. If someone makes me a lowball offser by email I just say no thanks and leave it at that.

But last week someone called to offer me $700 for both sides of a 2 bedroom lockout SDO for a March week. I'm not offended, but after I said that wasn't going to happen as I would deposit it into II before renting it for way under MF she wanted to argue about it. I finally just hung up, because that wasn't productive.

 

[Panina]

A simply answer, “ my price is firm, did I forget to state that in my ad?”

 

[RX8]

These are the same people that eye an item worth $10 being sold at a yard sale for 50 cents and they offer you a quarter for it.

 

[montygz]

Renters don't care what your fees are, what your maintenance expenses are, how much you paid for your timeshare or how much Wyndham charges or anything else.

None of that stuff matters, its all about what kind of deal you can negotiate and what the market says you can get.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The market says I could get more for Peacock Suites. I rent all of my points and am renting next year's points, so I don't need to rent to someone for a cheaper price.

I have been renting timeshares for 13 years, just a few, but our daughter rents a lot, and she just never undercuts her price.

I am with the folks who say they don't want to pay for other peoples' vacations. That is me. Grammarhero, you are a newbie at this, while I am pretty much a veteran.

 

[jjlovecub]

I don’t mind the low offers but I do get annoyed when they get offended when I say NO.

 

[DannyTS]

I think owners should be as nice as possible with potential renters. Some will try to negotiate but they will realize where the market is. If they have alternatives they will go there. If not, they will come back to you and rent at the price you think is fair. Next time they may rent from you or from another owner. There is no benefit to any owner if potential renters start to believe they should avoid timeshares. This is not to say that owners have to be humiliated b



Regarding Redweek, I think the search feature is not what most renters are used to since it is not similar to Expedia, Hotwire etc. Not only it is not intuitive, it does not lead the person searching to viable alternatives, even if they exist.
For example if you search for February 14th-21st in Cancun, you get zero results. Ok, but it should also indicate that there are 11 listings for February 15th-22nd! How many renters do know that most timeshares are exactly for a week and that the most common check in is Saturday. Even if by luck you search with the available dates, you will not be directed to those dates for all the resort but rather for a list of resorts, then you have to chose rental or purchase then you get to the listings for that period. I wonder how many people make it that far and and how many abandon before getting to what may interest them. This may be one reason why the results are poor. I also have to point out that unless they improve the Redweek search engine, the money they MAY spend on online marketing is useless to the owners since Redweek pays for the clicks while owners want to rent their weeks but some potential renters just do not see their listings.

 

[VacationForever]

I tried renting for the first time this year for 2 weeks next year and advertised on TUG and Redweek. I rented them out through Redweek within a month, and no enquiries from TUG. My husband encouraged me to continue to rent out our weeks next week and I told him that I wouldn't be doing that. Rental is not my cup of tea.

 

[taffy19]

Yes!

I am not stuck with my Shell points. I am borrowing from 2020. I am not stuck with Disney, I am also borrowing from 2020 and can cancel at 31 days out.

I can always re-book Hono Koa for another date, an we can take another trip in late August, like we are doing this year, and for the same reason (couldn't rent it in March).

No one wants to pay for an OF unit, if it's not Westin or Marriott. I am charging a lot less than the Westin and Marriott owners, that's for sure.

Are your renters guaranteed that they will get the same condo on the higher floors in the front of the building that you and Rick occupy when you are there or can your resort change that to a lower floor or in a building with a side view?

I personally believe that condo rentals will come down in Maui even for the luxurious resorts because of the overbuilding the County has allowed to take place while there are not enough roads to accommodate so much more traffic during several months of the year during rush hour.

They already inconvenience the local residents enough because they are not allowed to commute between certain hours of the day on certain highways.

Tourism is their main industry and it supplies a lot of jobs so they have to go along with it if they like it or not. That is the same in Oahu too during rush hour and the overbuilding of new resorts, IMO.

I have my suspicions why the different counties in Hawaii allowed the overbuilding of multi-use projects but I will not go there in this thread.

Let’s hope that it will not get as bad as in Europe in a few of the most beautiful cities and places and it becomes intolerant for everyone.

Tourism is booming right now but that can change again in the future like it has done before and that is another risk to deal with.

Edit. The link I copied was wrong but it was the post that Richard posted this week under “Vacation Travel Information”.

Visitors forced to leave Venice after breaking
new tourist rules.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/07/25/venice-tourist-rules/

Richard

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I don’t mind the low offers but I do get annoyed when they get offended when I say NO.

The easiest way to turn them away is to say you'll occupy it yourself if you can't obtain your asking price; that should produce a better offer or end the conversation.




.

 

[amycurl]

I think a person inquiring about a rental can see if the owner of the listing is willing to haggle (if they ask politely,) and then I think a landlord can politely turn them down. And then the inquirer can decided whether to move forward or not.

It's like anything else that requires positive consent on both sides. One can certainly ask--civilly, politely--and then needs to accept when no means no.