Anecdotal but interesting "seller statistics"...

[theo]

In the September / October (2008) issue of TimeSharing Today, the lead story addresses the motivations and experiences of owners (presumably TS Today subscribers) selling their timeshares. Since the total number of survey respondents on which the feedback is based is not actually identified, the "statistics" cited may be neither meaningful nor truly representative of all sellers. Nonetheless, I found one particular paragraph to be both noteworthy and a bit shocking, as quoted verbatim below:

"Almost half (48%) of respondents to the survey reported having been solicited to pay an advance fee to a company seeking to sell their timeshares. Forty-four (44%) percent of those solicited paid upfront fees ranging from $100 to $2,800. All reported that the soliciting company was not successful in selling." (end quote, bold and underlining are my own).

I'm not at all surprised that upfront fee parasites sold NO timeshares.
However, I guess I am a bit surprised that nearly half of sellers approached by these upfront fee thieves actually took the bait...

 

[richardm]

Anytime I see the word "statistics"- I normally expect that what follows isn't entirely true... Funny how there are ads for up-front fee companies on almost every other page of that issue.. A few months ago, Shep even had a feature article promoting Timeshare Relief. I'm a fan of that newsletter- but I hope most people are smart enough to take what's there with a grain of salt.

Most sellers don't have a choice but to pay some type of upfront or advertising fee. Brokers only accept a few high-end properties where commissions are possible... I doubt you'll find many past timeshare owners (in other words- sellers that did manage to get rid of their ownerships) that are subscribers to that newsletter.

I'd hate to see your emotional reaction encourage more people to go the Timeshare Relief route. Advertising is the only hope most sellers have, and they'll have to pay for that in most cases....

 

[theo]

I'm certainly not waving the flag of TimeSharing today by quoting a paragraph of recent content. Frankly, I find the publication consistently unimpressive --- at best. Nonetheless, when actual owners who paid upfront "marketing" fees report ZERO success with upfront fee companies, the number ZERO speaks for itself --- loudly, clearly and without emotion, regardless of the number of respondents reflected in the survey.

For the record, I would never encourage anyone to ever consider the Timeshare Relief route. I would, however, certainly encourage any and alll sellers to always skip the useless "upfront fee middleman" and place their own effective, low cost advertising with realistic selling prices on a few timeshare sites like RedWeek, MyResortNetwork, etc. It's always worked for me --- including several times in the past 18 months.

In my personal opinion, all of the upfront fee parasites are just a useless scourge on the timeshare landscape, being of no legitimate use or value --- except to their own bank accounts.

 

[Unionite]

Theo - can you give a few examples of your successes with Redweek and Myresorts? Ask-Sales price - length of post to closing, etc. - might help some of us. Who did you use for closing?

 

[theo]

Theo - can you give a few examples of your successes with Redweek and Myresorts? Ask-Sales price - length of post to closing, etc. - might help some of us. Who did you use for closing?

I respectfully decline to publicly disclose details of my private financial transactions; I see no benefit provided to others by my doing so. I will say, however, that the resale purchase price to me and the resale price from me was, in each of the (3) instances, between $2k -- $5k per week. ln addition, I gladly offer the following directly relevant general summaries:

1. At my encouragement, the buyer chose (and paid) his/her/their own closing company. I only mentioned to each buyer that I have had numerous successful dealings with Timeshare Transfer of Vero Beach, FL. Two buyers freely chose to utilize that same closing company, with no other "push" from me. One other buyer chose to use a different closing company (JRA Closing Services, I seem to recall), as was his prerogative.

2. During the past year, I sold three timeshares; one on each of three separate sites: RedWeek, MyResortNetwork, Bidshares. In the first two instances, I first researched numerous selling sites (ignoring all upfront fee company sites) to make certain that mine was the lowest price available anywhere for comparable weeks at those same resorts. The weeks then sold for the advertised figures, without need for much further negotiation. I didn't want to just lamely "advertise" the weeks at unrealistic fantasy prices (like the upfront fee parasite companies routinely do) --- I wanted to sell the weeks as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The Bidshares "auction" listing (free, by the way) sold on the second or third week-long period, at a price $300 above what I had paid for the week 4+ years ago.

3. Average time between my initial placement of the ads and deposit sent by buyer to the closing company was about 3 months. However, this was now a half-year ago and well before the current economic meltdown, so my experiences of "yesterdaY" may very well not be at all applicable today. I spent less than $120 in total to advertise and sell all three weeks.

All three timeshares had been bought (resale) within the past 5 years or so. All three were sold for approximately what I paid for each one 5 years ago; one a bit more, the other two a bit less. I have retained five other timeshare weeks which I've owned for a much longer period of time, none of those remaining weeks being at any of the resorts whose weeks I sold.

I hope something above is of use or interest in response to your inquiry. The short version of my own experience and recommendation is NEVER pay ANY upfront fee to any parasitic "reseller". They couldn't care less whether or not you ever actually succeed in selling. Their money is made the moment you pay them their "advertising and marketing fee", so they are not motivated in any way to do another single thing for you --- period.
You can do better with a little personal effort --- and for a whole lot less money, but right now is certainly a really terrible time to be trying to sell. Good luck.