Free Timeshare Ads - TUG Timeshare Marketplace!

[Andar]

Would it be possible to sort resorts by state?

 

[TUGBrian]

of course!

you simply selection the "resort area" as applicable....then the "group" option will let you select the individual US state you wish.

ie resort area = usa northeast

group = new york, etc etc

florida and hawaii have their own resort areas...but everything other us state is a "group" within a resort area.

 

[TUGBrian]

shot right through 1800 ads....busy day! still have a ways to go to eclipse the old ad system at 3000+ ads....but we seem to average more than 100 a day!

 

[TUGBrian]

Hurray...at 2000+ ads as of today.

and with the expiration of the older ads in the legacy system...the new Timeshare Marketplace has now eclipsed the legacy system in total current ads!

I believe the legacy system at its peak had approx 4000 ads (and averaged a bit over 3000 at any given time)....so ill be extremely excited when we pass that mark hopefully next month!

I still havent even notified all TUG members via email yet! =)

 

[taffy19]

Redweek, watch out! This is great as I like more competition as it will keep our prices down. I know this is free for now for TUG members and I sure appreciate it, Brian.

 

[TUGBrian]

as far as individuals go....I have zero intentions of charging for ads in the future.

brokers etc will resume paying for bulk classified ads in the future however.

 

[mamiecarter]

They are free, I just got an Email but I dont see many of them

Why so few? I thought I was going to see a lot more adds now that they are free but I see a lot less than when they cost $.

 

[TUGBrian]

guess I dont follow...what is "alot" for you?

There are now more ads in the new system than were in the old (over 2100 of them).


new system has only been in place for just over a month...and 75% of TUG members dont even know about it yet.

 

[TUGBrian]

New feature announcement for the timeshare marketplace!

(ill make a separate thread for more exposure)

We have now added a bit to the exchange section that allows you to input what are you are looking for in an exchange with another member!

this of course will be followed up with behind the scenes functionality that eventually will automatically notify you of matches when they exist!

but for now will serve as a better way to input "what you want" for your exchange.

please try this out and provide any feedback you have! for those of you with existing exchange ads...you can utilize this feature by going to edit your ad from the timeshare marketplace....and selecting "edit" from the "Exchange For" field within your ad (it should be empty for everyone with an existing exchange ad.

please provide any feedback on usability or difficulty with it so we can make it as easy and user friendly as possible!

 

[amiellen]

listing exchange offers

hi - I just joined tug, mainly because I want to search for a desired exchange. I own worldmark and when I tried to list an exchange week offer, I found your site limited what I could offer to one particular resort. I would like to list my offer of ANY worldmark (I can book at over 65 resorts-they can choose which one) week for my desired exchange - like redweek's wish list.

is that possible?

thanks, ami

 

[TUGBrian]

I answered this in email...but no its not possible to automatically do what you wish. you would need to submit that as an "other" ad...or individual resorts. I am sorry.

 

[TUGBrian]

passed through 3000 ads....as well as over 100 completed ads! not bad for just under a month of "live" use!

 

[Amy]

Suggestions/Issues

Brian,

First, I just encountered an odd problem while browsing. I was in the Orlando section and sorted the resorts by name -- first in A-Z, then Z-A, then when I tried to resort back to A-Z it did not work. I clicked and clicked and it remained Z-A. I went to another geographic section and noticed the default is now Z-A. I clicked on to try sorting but it was stuck on Z-A. I haven't tried closing out the browser but I wanted to bring this to your attention. I use Mozilla.

Second, please reconsider how some of the current Points system resort names are listed. For something like RCI maybe folks don't care and all RCI points are treated equal so only price makes difference. (I'm guessing as I don't own such points). But when it comes to a system like Disney, for example, the resort matters a great deal, either because of the home resort advantage or because assessment about the asking price depends heavily on the resort (e.g., Vero Beach can go for around $60 a point but Beach Club can go for around $90 a point). I just went shopping for DVC ads and looked at the seemingly endless entries of just "Disney - [point#]". I clicked through to a couple of listings to find out what resort was for sale but then stopped. It is too much! At other online sites I can always see the particular DVC resort before I click onto the details page. This would not be a big deal if TUG only had a couple of DVC ads but I just counted 252 listings for "Disney". As interested as I am in checking out some more ads, I'm stopping because it is too time consuming to go through hundreds of listings to look for one or two particular DVC resorts. Please consider changing the Disney entries to the following:

Disney-AKL
Disney-BCV
Disney-BWV
Disney-OKW
Disney-VB
Disney-VWL
Disney-SSR

[Edited to add: I just noticed on the Placing your ad page you use "Program Name" for the resort/system, so breaking down the Disney resorts doesn't seem to fit that title. Maybe add another fill in the blank space under the Program Name for "Resort Name (Optional)" and have that information show up in the same "Resort" column on the results page right after the Program Name? ]

Thank you!

Amy

 

[DG001]

Hi Brian,

I was trying to find a spot in the new marketplace where owners can advertise what referral bonuses their resorts are offering (i.e. go for a 90 min tour and I get $50 off my maintenance fee, and you can stay 5 days for $100) - is that gone, or can I just not see it?

Thanks!

 

[TUGBrian]

Brian,

First, I just encountered an odd problem while browsing. I was in the Orlando section and sorted the resorts by name -- first in A-Z, then Z-A, then when I tried to resort back to A-Z it did not work. I clicked and clicked and it remained Z-A. I went to another geographic section and noticed the default is now Z-A. I clicked on to try sorting but it was stuck on Z-A. I haven't tried closing out the browser but I wanted to bring this to your attention. I use Mozilla.

Second, please reconsider how some of the current Points system resort names are listed. For something like RCI maybe folks don't care and all RCI points are treated equal so only price makes difference. (I'm guessing as I don't own such points). But when it comes to a system like Disney, for example, the resort matters a great deal, either because of the home resort advantage or because assessment about the asking price depends heavily on the resort (e.g., Vero Beach can go for around $60 a point but Beach Club can go for around $90 a point). I just went shopping for DVC ads and looked at the seemingly endless entries of just "Disney - [point#]". I clicked through to a couple of listings to find out what resort was for sale but then stopped. It is too much! At other online sites I can always see the particular DVC resort before I click onto the details page. This would not be a big deal if TUG only had a couple of DVC ads but I just counted 252 listings for "Disney". As interested as I am in checking out some more ads, I'm stopping because it is too time consuming to go through hundreds of listings to look for one or two particular DVC resorts. Please consider changing the Disney entries to the following:

Disney-AKL
Disney-BCV
Disney-BWV
Disney-OKW
Disney-VB
Disney-VWL
Disney-SSR

[Edited to add: I just noticed on the Placing your ad page you use "Program Name" for the resort/system, so breaking down the Disney resorts doesn't seem to fit that title. Maybe add another fill in the blank space under the Program Name for "Resort Name (Optional)" and have that information show up in the same "Resort" column on the results page right after the Program Name? ]

Thank you!

Amy

IMO we discussed this...and i believe its the same person who has the bulk of those dvc ads.

I expressed the need to put them in as regular "disney vacation club - disney resort" floating week ads...vs point...or even both.

however im not quite sure we can add each and every disney resort code to the list of individual point systems.

I really would prefer the ads be submitted for that disney resort...and you can simply put the "number of points" in the description?

or am i way off there?

Ill look into the A-Z sorting thing...i cant reproduce it here.

if you close your browser and go back in does it remain?

 

[TUGBrian]

Hi Brian,

I was trying to find a spot in the new marketplace where owners can advertise what referral bonuses their resorts are offering (i.e. go for a 90 min tour and I get $50 off my maintenance fee, and you can stay 5 days for $100) - is that gone, or can I just not see it?

Thanks!

thats not part of the marketplace...i think you are referring to the member promo page?

http://www.tug2.net/ads/mpromo.shtml

 

[Amy]

IMO we discussed this...and i believe its the same person who has the bulk of those dvc ads.

I'm sorry I didn't read through this entire thread so I didn't realize this has b been discussed!

I expressed the need to put them in as regular "disney vacation club - disney resort" floating week ads...vs point...or even both.

however im not quite sure we can add each and every disney resort code to the list of individual point systems.

I really would prefer the ads be submitted for that disney resort...and you can simply put the "number of points" in the description?

I like that! Yes, having an ad submitted for a particular Disney resort would be great. As it is right now at lease one interested shopper (me) would not bother clicking through all the Disney listings to figure out which ones are selling points at which resort. So, is that hard to set up?

Ill look into the A-Z sorting thing...i cant reproduce it here.

if you close your browser and go back in does it remain?

Let me try to do that right now; I've had the browser open on this computer all day.

Edited to add: I closed the browser and went back to browse. I picked Orlando area, clicked on the "Resort" sort and got the A-Z results. Clicked on it again and got the Z-A results. Then clicked on the "Resort" heading again -- but nope, it didn't return to A-Z again; the sort remained with Z-A. I clicked on it again to try to get the A-Z sort but it stayed Z-A. I don't get it.

 

[TUGBrian]

I'm sorry I didn't read through this entire thread so I didn't realize this has b been discussed!

sorry..i meant i had discussed it with the poster...and it would appear they chose to continue submitting ads the other way.

I like that! Yes, having an ad submitted for a particular Disney resort would be great. As it is right now at lease one interested shopper (me) would not bother clicking through all the Disney listings to figure out which ones are selling points at which resort. So, is that hard to set up?

its already setup...it just requires the person submitting the ad to submit it as a regular floating week instead of a points ad.


Let me try to do that right now; I've had the browser open on this computer all day.

Edited to add: I closed the browser and went back to browse. I picked Orlando area, clicked on the "Resort" sort and got the A-Z results. Clicked on it again and got the Z-A results. Then clicked on the "Resort" heading again -- but nope, it didn't return to A-Z again; the sort remained with Z-A. I clicked on it again to try to get the A-Z sort but it stayed Z-A. I don't get it.

ill have to look into this further.

 

[TUGBrian]

reflections on 1 full month of this being live as the primary tug ad program.

3300 ads posted...nearly 150 ads completed!

dozens and dozens of minor changes and tweaks provided by member feedback over the course of the month...and certainly not done. we will always continue to listen to feedback and make changes as appropriate to make this the best performing classified ad site we can!

I am tremendously pleased with the performance sofar...look forward to seeing what happens in month 2!

 

[Amy]

its already setup...it just requires the person submitting the ad to submit it as a regular floating week instead of a points ad.

I would like to submit a DVC ad and I tried to do it via the regular floating week section as you suggested, but it doesn't work well for two reasons. First, I am forced to designate specific starting and ending weeks with months and dates, rather than just week numbers. By that I mean instead of just picking weeks 1-52 for floating year round, I have to pick the first week in January 2008 and last week in December 2008. This is okay insofar as what the buyer sees is weeks 1-52, and the points can be used for reservations year round, but it does not accurately reflect the fact that the points anniversary date or "use year" is October of 2008, for example. I do not want to start with the first week in October 2008 and end with September 2009 because that could also be confusing to the buyer; the fact is the points can be used for reservations now. I realize you can't change the system for one person, but if you ever reconsider the design, it would be great if one could just pick weeks by number 1-52 without reference to specific dates on the calendar, and have another field for the starting year for sale, e.g., 2008, 2009, etc.

Second, I'm forced to pick a check-in start date that is specific. I cannot just skip over this step. But the choices do not include starting on any day of the week; DVC is not limited to Fri., Sat or Sun start dates.

Now I thought about submitting an ad under the "Other" category (the page that tells me to pick fixed, floating or points). But I cannot tell where that ad would go? Would it still go under the Orlando area?

Finally, it looks like the system is set up for points contracts to be listed under "points". But (I realize I'm repeating myself here), I don't want the title field to just say "Disney." My ad would be lost among the hundreds of existing "Disney" ads. I can't imagine many buyers (if any) who would be willing to click through all of those "Disney" listings to find out which ones are specifically for Wilderness Lodge, for example (since I'm not willing to do so). Is it possible to include a "fill in the blank" box for the ad placer for additional text that would go into the title after a blank space? For example, I could add Wilderness Lodge in the blank box and on the results page it would read "Disney Wilderness Lodge" or "Disney - Wilderness Lodge" in the title field. This would work for other points contracts that are tied to a specific resort such as Hyatt and Starwood.

Finally, a side note: It would be great if we can click out of the "placing ad" sections to the TUG home page or other TUG pages. Right now if I'm in the middle of the ad creation steps the only way I can get back is to keep clicking back, use the back on my browser, or type in the tug address directly on my browser; there is no link anywhere to get back to TUG's other sections. It would be great if I could still see the "heading menu bars" that I usually see when I'm on other TUG pages.

Sorry for the troubles. Thanks for your help.

 

[TUGBrian]

I would like to submit a DVC ad and I tried to do it via the regular floating week section as you suggested, but it doesn't work well for two reasons. First, I am forced to designate specific starting and ending weeks with months and dates, rather than just week numbers. By that I mean instead of just picking weeks 1-52 for floating year round, I have to pick the first week in January 2008 and last week in December 2008. This is okay insofar as what the buyer sees is weeks 1-52, and the points can be used for reservations year round, but it does not accurately reflect the fact that the points anniversary date or "use year" is October of 2008, for example. I do not want to start with the first week in October 2008 and end with September 2009 because that could also be confusing to the buyer; the fact is the points can be used for reservations now.

so make two separate ads. one through to october 2008...and then a new one from november 2008 to october 2009?

I realize you can't change the system for one person, but if you ever reconsider the design, it would be great if one could just pick weeks by number 1-52 without reference to specific dates on the calendar, and have another field for the starting year for sale, e.g., 2008, 2009, etc.

in doing so...we would frustrate the other half of members who want the dates there etc. unfortunately there is no way to make 100% of users happy regardless of the choices we make.

Second, I'm forced to pick a check-in start date that is specific. I cannot just skip over this step. But the choices do not include starting on any day of the week; DVC is not limited to Fri., Sat or Sun start dates.

we are working to add other start dates on the ads.

Now I thought about submitting an ad under the "Other" category (the page that tells me to pick fixed, floating or points). But I cannot tell where that ad would go? Would it still go under the Orlando area?

other ads are not displayed like regular ads, and wont show up in regular searches for location/week/etc. they really were not intended for regular timeshares.

Finally, it looks like the system is set up for points contracts to be listed under "points". But (I realize I'm repeating myself here), I don't want the title field to just say "Disney." My ad would be lost among the hundreds of existing "Disney" ads.

Unfortuantely to submit a "points" ad is going to put it in the category with all other points ads.


I

can't imagine many buyers (if any) who would be willing to click through all of those "Disney" listings to find out which ones are specifically for Wilderness Lodge, for example (since I'm not willing to do so). Is it possible to include a "fill in the blank" box for the ad placer for additional text that would go into the title after a blank space?

not at the moment no, however maybe for disney we can add the additional resort names...ill think on this.

For example, I could add Wilderness Lodge in the blank box and on the results page it would read "Disney Wilderness Lodge" or "Disney - Wilderness Lodge" in the title field. This would work for other points contracts that are tied to a specific resort such as Hyatt and Starwood.

Finally, a side note: It would be great if we can click out of the "placing ad" sections to the TUG home page or other TUG pages. Right now if I'm in the middle of the ad creation steps the only way I can get back is to keep clicking back, use the back on my browser, or type in the tug address directly on my browser; there is no link anywhere to get back to TUG's other sections.

this is by design, any time you "start" an ad...one is created. it is our hope that everyone would complete their ad vs going elsewhere in the middle of the system as it leaves the "ad" in an incomplete state that we have to go in and manually delete later.

It would be great if I could still see the "heading menu bars" that I usually see when I'm on other TUG pages.

they are there within the ad program itself...just not during the ad creation screens for the above reason.

Sorry for the troubles. Thanks for your help.

no trouble at all...feedback is always welcome and warranted for us to try to make the site better!

 

[Amy]

Thank you for the super fast response! Okay, I'll wait to place my ad until either additional check-in dates (days of the week) are available under the floating section or until something is added in the points section that would allow specific resort information to show up in the title. As for the "other" section, it would be helpful to the general public for you to include a disclaimer by that area to explain that those listings do not show up in search results, it is not for regular timeshares, and providing an example of what would constitute "other", etc.

 

[TUGBrian]

a note is sent for every "other" ad posted about the limitations of the "other" ad type and recommendation to enter it as a regular fixed/floating week if possible!

 

[TUGBrian]

Moving into month 2 of the ad program and we are now at approx 4500 ads!

This is growing more rapidly than originally anticipated and I love it!

 

[TUGBrian]

nearly 5000 ads as of today!