Discussion about Last Minute Rentals forum

[Sandy VDH]

@DeniseM what about a members ONLY exchange discussion forum. Trying to enable more direct exchanges.

 

[DeniseM]

My impression, from other discussions on this topic, is that TUGBrian wants to improve the Marketplace to make it more functional for exchanging - not start another forum.

 

[bluehende]

Why would any business advertise if they cannot cover their MF cost? If they couldn't rent the unit, then it belongs on LM. But to your point perhaps advertising credits should be applied to level the playing field.

Perhaps if the cap is raised it should be the lesser of "$175 (+3% a year for inflation) or your maintenance fee for the week whichever is less. This would keep with the spirit that this is MF recovery, not a profit maker.

Being nosey I usually check MF's on those I rent. Mostly it does not cover it , but many times it does. Especially with lock offs they are profitable. My worry is that raising the limit would allow for a lot more "profitable" rentals to be posted which is not the aim of this site. We all also know that rental rates and MFs are not linked. A very large number of time shares can be rented for less than MF's at a lot of rental outlets.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Based on my years of experience on TUG and experience with rentals:

-If prices were raised, the LMR forum would be inundated with for-profit rentals.

I am scratching my head on this one because NONE of my hotel branded timeshares are less than $1000 in MF.

Isn't the goal of LM rentals to help owners recover most of their MF? Where does the profit come into this when MF costs are more than $1000?

Here's another suggestion:

- A separate "4* Hotel-branded (Marriott, Vistana, DVC, HGVC, Hyatt) LM rentals forum" for LM postings with a cap with $200 a night.

Besides, how many of these hotel-branded properties charge less than $1400 a year in MF? I will bet not many so it may not be worth worrying about in regards to enforcement as long as it has a major hotel name attached to it.

TUG could put this in the private forum area to ensure that anyone using it is a TUG member. Advertising credits would apply to even the playing field.

In my humble observations, most of the listings on the LM forum are 3* quality and below. The $100 cap drives this. A Hotel-Branded LM forum would drive more rental eyeballs to TUG, because the LM forum today is populated mainly with lower quality units.

Unlike the independents, hotel-branded MF are easy to look up on TUG stickies, Redweek and even advantagevacations.com has MFs publicly listed.

This would keep the low-end profit seekers out because it is largely independents that have MF below $1000. It would also support a large segment of TUG users who are not served by the existing LM Board but need to recover more than a pittance of their MF. It would be fairer to serving these owners and drive new TUG memberships for renters who will want access to these LM deals.

 

[WVBaker]

Just a thought.

With the "Last Minute Rentals", we are limiting the postings to start dates 45 days or less into the future. Anthing outside of that goes to a different forum. More than understandable I believe. However, should an owner also be limited, given the rising cost of maintenance fees, as to how much they can charge?

Limit the postings to just what they are, "Last Minute". I think most owners understand they must be willing to lower their expectations as to what they can charge.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Just a thought.

With the "Last Minute Rentals", we are limiting the postings to start dates 45 days or less into the future. Anthing outside of that goes to a different forum. More than understandable I believe. However, should an owner also be limited, given the rising cost of maintenance fees, as to how much they can charge?

Limit the postings to just what they are, "Last Minute". I think most owners understand they must be willing to lower their expectations as to what they can charge.

Ah I had to read your post twice to understand what you are saying. But now I get it. Let the market dictate. This is certainly the easiest to enforce.

45 days plus TUG can even the playing field for free advertising by charging extra credit for advertising. This would keep the volume down.

Who cares if they negotiate a profit? Tug gets ad money, and the market dictates what it will bear. It's a negotiation between the buyer and seller.

However I still would like to segment by 4* Hotel-Branded vs. non because if I were a renter I would not want to wade through the 3* chains and independents.

 

[TUGBrian]

here is an entire last minute rental section with no price limits:

https://tug2.com/timeshare-classifi...x?For-Rent-Last-Minute&LastMinuteRentals=true


it can be accessed from the rentals homepage here: https://tug2.com/timeshare-rentals/

it gets far more traffic than the actual LMR forum itself
it costs nothing to post there for members
its open to the public
there are no price restrictions
you can search it
you can filter search results
you can filter by price limits if you wish...for example here is every rental expiring in the next few weeks priced under $1000 bucks:

https://tug2.com/timeshare-classifi...t-Minute&LastMinuteRentals=true&PriceMax=1000


note that tug makes exactly zero dollars extra on marketplace ads. we dont get commissions, or kickbacks, or anything of the sort. id say 95% or more of members post less than their free allotment of 25 ads a year. its certainly not a significant amount of money spent by ad brokers to purchase additional ad credits...especially since we only charge $3 per credit.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks @TUGBrian, I never knew this existed! I will bet most Tuggers also don't given this discussion. This solves much of what we have been talking about.

Suggest that you place a link to these listings on the Last Minute Forum section so people can see this and remember to go there. (This will also drive more people to the marketplace.)

 

[TUGBrian]

there is a link in the LMR forum to the marketplace last minute sticky already, its been there for many years.

ive even updated it to add additional links and info.

 

[TUGBrian]

also a handy tip for folks who wish to share their rental/resale ads on other sites etc...you can simply edit this link to show your ad number instead:

https://tug2.com/MarketplaceClassifiedResults.aspx?&ID=211955 < replace the last 6 digits with the ad number of your ad.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

there is a link in the LMR forum to the marketplace last minute sticky already, its been there for many years.

ive even updated it to add additional links and info.

I went over there and still could not find it! Finally found it buried in the sticky. But hidden in plain sight.

IMHO...Suggest that you elevate the link and font to the same level as "LM Rentals Offered" Just above "LM Rentals Wanted" so people will see and go there. It's too buried right now to prompt people to regularly browse.

My .02 cents.

 

[Sandy VDH]

@TUGBrian my issue is that those Ads are only designed for one week rentals. I tried posting a 3 day event weekend, but there is NO way to change the end date, you only can select start day and week number.

So even though my ad said 3 day weekend, I got push back from people who said it looks like a 1 week Ad.

How do you accommodate Ads for Rentals that are less than 1 week. We are living in a point world for most of the major players. Another reason I do not post ads. I can't get them formatted for my rental needs.

 

[Sandy VDH]

It would be nice if ads were kept current, and if they are indeed rented then they should be marked as such.

 

[SmithOp]

This discussion comes around regularly, my impression it is mostly people with rental business that object. TUG2 is the site for people with a rental business to advertise.

TUGBBS is a discussion site. Its nice that Brian provided LMR area for simple owners to recover some costs. I’ve used it once for an XMAS week where my cost was $850, got no action and let a friend use it instead. I would have happily taken the limit.

I would prefer not to have more ads on TUGBBS, and appreciate the work the mods do. They also control other off-topic discussions.

my .02


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Sandy VDH]

There are two discussions here. I would like to separate them. I understand the desire to not change the LMR boards, but I am looking for a valid outlet to discuss looking to obtain stays OUTSIDE of the existing exchange systems.

I am trying to eliminate the use of II or RCI. I am also looking for the possibility of trading across exchange companies. I may want an Marriott/Westin but I do not participate in that exchange group. People with DVC, Hilton or Wyndham Presidential etc are on the other side of the that exchange group coin. Perhaps there is an opportunity to either improve trades or allows discussions on possible trades. Right now the format of the trade boards are not helpful for me. I end up having to read every ad.

Having a discussion on possible trades or "can you help me" situations, that don't get deleted from the board, would help me accomplish what I need from time to time.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

FWIW I've never rented my timeshares and am not in the TS rental business. Although I may have a need in the future.

I don't believe it would be a burden to provide another section (or use the existing "LM Rentals" banner" to then drill down into 2 options "LM Bargains" and "LM Rentals" (in the marketplace.)

There is only one click difference between a Google search and a Microsoft search but approx 50% market share difference. What's memorable and present in front of an audience is what gets clicked.

 

[TUGBrian]

@TUGBrian my issue is that those Ads are only designed for one week rentals. I tried posting a 3 day event weekend, but there is NO way to change the end date, you only can select start day and week number.

So even though my ad said 3 day weekend, I got push back from people who said it looks like a 1 week Ad.

How do you accommodate Ads for Rentals that are less than 1 week. We are living in a point world for most of the major players. Another reason I do not post ads. I can't get them formatted for my rental needs.

in situations like these we suggest putting that its a 3 day rental in the ad title, which shows up in bold print and does not require the ad to be expanded to read that in the description.

 

[TUGBrian]

It would be nice if ads were kept current, and if they are indeed rented then they should be marked as such.

all ads in the marketplace have been posted or renewed within the last 90 days.

also ads where the usage date has passed are automatically removed.

 

[TUGBrian]

There are two discussions here. I would like to separate them. I understand the desire to not change the LMR boards, but I am looking for a valid outlet to discuss looking to obtain stays OUTSIDE of the existing exchange systems.

I am trying to eliminate the use of II or RCI. I am also looking for the possibility of trading across exchange companies. I may want an Marriott/Westin but I do not participate in that exchange group. People with DVC, Hilton or Wyndham Presidential etc are on the other side of the that exchange group coin. Perhaps there is an opportunity to either improve trades or allows discussions on possible trades. Right now the format of the trade boards are not helpful for me. I end up having to read every ad.

Having a discussion on possible trades or "can you help me" situations, that don't get deleted from the board, would help me accomplish what I need from time to time.

I am not sure how this applies to the LMR section? perhaps i missed part of the earlier discussion?

 

[TUGBrian]

I went over there and still could not find it! Finally found it buried in the sticky. But hidden in plain sight.

IMHO...Suggest that you elevate the link and font to the same level as "LM Rentals Offered" Just above "LM Rentals Wanted" so people will see and go there. It's too buried right now to prompt people to regularly browse.

My .02 cents.

sadly most folks simply ignore the sticky even though its titled "please read before posting or browsing" in big bold print

not a whole lot we can do about that unfortunately, that has been an issue since forums were invented =D

 

[bizaro86]

I am not sure how this applies to the LMR section? perhaps i missed part of the earlier discussion?

It doesn't, particularly. We sort of got on a tangent

I parsed out my posts on the matter and started a new thread specifically on that topic. Your input and thoughts would be very welcome - as of course ultimately it would be your decision. I think you'll find (if you're willing to try it) that such a forum would drive both interest and TUG membership sales.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/could-we-have-a-direct-exchanges-forum.286077/

There is lots of evidence people are willing to pay a membership fee for quality exchange opportunities (the marriott to marriott board, the big exchange cos, etc).

 

[Sandy VDH]

I am not sure how this applies to the LMR section? perhaps i missed part of the earlier discussion?

It doesn't have anything to do with LMR. I was suggesting a new members only forum. I have difficulty with the Exchange section on the Ads. It is not easy to search for what people are looking for. Some people have populated what they want, some have populated what they have. In order to find anything, you have to read nearly each ad.

I was just trying to be creative in thinking how we could better foster private exchanges instead of having to use an exchange company, where it makes sense to do so.

 

[Tank]

I suppose I have more of a problem with the Looking for LMR section vs offering LMR
There is a section in TUG that requires membership for those looking
Rent-Wish-USA
and
For Exchange
If your looking for something this is the place for that, people can try to help others here.
I have helped, and have been helped using this section.

So I really wouldn't mind seeing the looking for LMR disappear especially if it can be used by non-members.

 

[alwysonvac]

I honestly don’t like the LMR on the TUG forums.

1. The Rental Wanted seems to lead folks to believe that any timeshares can be rented for a steal especially when you see requests for specific resorts such as DVC, Marriott/Hilton Hawaii resorts, etc.
2. Owners still have the option of depositing their week(s) into an exchange company. It just looks like a high percentage of LMR posts are from the same folks who dump their weeks that haven’t been rented.

Just a suggestion

I would like to see a change in the format of the LMR to drive ads on the TUG MARKETPLACE vs the TUG Forum.

Change the LMR forum to simply be a single post or a collection of weekly informational posts. The informational post could contain the following:

• a list of weeks ending soon on the Last Minute Rental ads and Rental Wish ads (similar to the TUG newsletter).
• a direct link to the appropriate TUG Marketplace section along with a link to the Advance Search page for the TUG Marketplace
  • Last Minute Rentals - http://tug2.com/timeshare-classifie...x?For-Rent-Last-Minute&LastMinuteRentals=true
  • Rental Wish - http://tug2.com/MarketplaceWishResults.aspx?Rent-Wish-All-Rent-Wishes&ToRent=True
  • Advance Search Page - http://tug2.com/timeshare-classifieds/search/
  • Main Page - http://tug2.com/timeshare-classifieds/default.aspx

 

[Tank]

That's exactly right , request are always the high end units.

I have always felt a good deal would be to get a vacation at your COST, not for you to loose money.

That's fair to my fellow tugger