Free Timeshare Ads - TUG Timeshare Marketplace!

[Makai Guy]

Meanwhile, see the How to Sell Your Timeshare 'sticky' post at the top of the Buying, Selling, Renting forum. It includes some suggestions for getting help in estimating the value of your unit.

 

[DeniseM]

The completed auctions on ebay are sometimes helpful too, if you want to see the worst case scenario (lowest market price.) But - I wouldn't sell on ebay for the same reason.

1. Register (if necessary) and log into ebay
2. Search the TS Listings for the resort by name
3. Click on COMPLETED LISTINGS on the left side of the screen and it will search again.

It's biggest weakness is that it doesn't go back very far.

 

[TUGBrian]

hopefully when v2 is released, more people will enter in completed sale information in the new database to create an incredibly vast and constantly updated price history for all resorts.

 

[travelgurl4life]

hi there

Wow! This is really a great site. Great job!

 

[JMAESD84]

6000+ ads now...still going strong!

Would like to announce that as of 10/1/2008, brokers (and members posting more than 30 ads) will be charged the bulk classified ad rate of $3 per ad for any new ad posted or renewed.

Regular members are still welcome to post as many ads as they wish at zero charge to them!

Hi Brian,

As a regular member who recently crossed over the limit(without by the way having any way of knowing I had done so, unless I kept a private count of all ads placed or renewed) I'm perplexed at the lack of clearly stated guidelines.

I finally found this thread that announced the fee structure being introduced as of 10/1/2008. Why is the invoice you sent me and much of the subsequent information regarding limits and payments different from what is stated in this thread?

The original invoice follows:

This is a monthly invoice for your classified ads posted in the Timeshare
Marketplace. As mentioned last month, all ads above the individual user
limit will be subject to the $3 per ad fee.

Last month your total Timeshare Marketplace ad count was: 19

This month your total Timeshare Marketplace ad count is: 35

This is 16 classified ads posted that are subject to the $3 ad fee for a
total due of $ 48

You can utilize any of our payment options to submit the payment for these
ads:

http://tug2.com/jointug/renew.aspx (this page is a summary of all TUG
payment options, both online and off)

PS. If you feel this number is in error, please contact us asap and we will
work with you to investigate!

Thank you!

I plan on continuing to use the marketplace in the future and will likely enter into the fee structure (so I'll be paying for the serivce above the free ad limit) but I would appreciate a clear set of guidlines and a way for the site to identify the annual usage level so that you know before placing or renewing an ad what the total ad count is, the fee and when the payment is due.

A clear set of guidlines will also help other members who may find themselves using marketplace ads to a greater extent than normal membership fees provide for.

Thanks

 

[TUGBrian]

each member who approaches the limit is sent an email explaining the fees as they are applicable.

I appreciate you also mentioning that you werent charged for your ads over the limit (which is 25 now) as you chose to remove them instead of paying the $3 per ad fee even though they were public for a few weeks.

I have explained via email to you ad nausem back and forth in emails for the past few days in regards to the ad fees, I dont see why you chose to post this here?

As mentioned to you, this fee impacts less than 20 members TOTAL in the group. I am working with each and every one of them to make this as easy as possible. (and over 75% of those were previous ad brokers who paid $10 per ad in the old system and welcome the 70% discount)

The very first post in this thread which mentions ads being free for individuals has a note added back in october informing brokers that the $3 per ad fee is now applicable)

at the worst case, you could consider that every ad would cost you $3, however as we are so generous, we give you 25 for free.

Once eclipsing this limit, in the opinion of TUG, you are no longer an individual member trying to sell or rent your own personal timeshares, and are categorized as a broker.

you still get the ads for free, but those added or renewed on top of that are subject to the $3 per ad fee.

99.999% of members will never be bothered with this, hence the reason its not plastered everywhere. I am willing to work with those it does impact (as I did with you, since you werent charged for your ads posted over the limit). I would never expect someone to pay for something they were not aware of.

 

[TUGBrian]

if you would like to see how we came up with the number to determine the difference between an individual member and a "broker" here is the poll

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70843

 

[TUGBrian]

and to reiterate.

If anyone is unaware of the charge, and feel it is unfair or not worth the service, they wont be forced to pay. (as was the case for you)

We dont work that way, never have...never will.

 

[JMAESD84]

Hi Brian,

I will confirm that you offered me the choice of removing the ads or paying for them. I choose to remove the ads until I fully understood the marketplace rules, limits, and fees.

It took me several attempts to get you to speicify the limit "which is now 25" that I exceeded and this has apparently been reduced from the "30" declared when the fee was announced on 10/1/08. According to the invoice my total ad count I went from 19 to 35 (I'm sure mostly from end of the year renewals) as I had only 16 ads when this dialog started. The invoice sent wanted to charge me for all 16 ads "This is 16 classified ads posted that are subject to the $3 ad fee for a total due of $ 48". So from my perspective we've gone from Unlimited Free => 30 Free ads => 25 Free ads in a matter of months, along with an invoice that didn't match any of these limits and wanted payment for 16 ads between #20 to #35 (I appreciate the option to delete the ads instead of paying).

I know that you are VERY WELL INTENDED, so don't misinterpet my desire for some clarity on the policies of the marketplace, as thinking you are doing me wrong. You are doing great things here and I appreciate all your efforts. Thank You!!

For those of us TUG members that might use 100 ads in a full year it is reasonable for us to want to know when that year begins and ends, a way of knowing the total count when placing or renewing ads, the fee structure and the amount due (if any) along with how to pay.

Thanks

 

[TUGBrian]

I certainly apologize for any confusion you had on my part, the emails (except yours for whatever reason) contained the "25 free" line...I dont know how its missing from yours, but it was not intended (its a form letter too)

 

[TUGBrian]

in lieu of this, I am going to have tim come up with a "current count" for members so you can see what your running number is.

it may take awahile to implement depending on how complicated it is.

 

[brooklyn-joe]

Expired ads

Brian, perhaps I'm missing something, but I was looking in the timeshare rentals, and noticed that some (maybe many) of them have expired. For example, listings for 2008 weeks. Are these deleted at some point, or is the intent to show some history of the rental amounts requested?

I think the Marketplace is a great step forward, and I appreciate your efforts in keeping it a user-friendly environment. Thanks.

 

[TUGBrian]

expired weeks should not show in the list (unless they expire this week...and if so those would be removed next week etc)

if you see examples where this is not the case, please email me the ad number to tug@tug2.net

 

[TUGBrian]

New Feature added today!

For Rent - Points!

This has been requested by numerous people, and we finally got it up and running today. you are now able to submit points rentals (or call them leases if you want) in the Timeshare Marketplace now!

 

[TUGBrian]

any pages with the term "unlimited" ads should be changed, or added to include (for individuals) in the title.

please let me know if you find any where this is not hte case and I will be sure to update them.

also note, that every page talking about the marketplace...as well as the "ad agreement and warnings" page you have to read and click on before posting an ad also explains the broker limit.

 

[JMAESD84]

any pages with the term "unlimited" ads should be changed, or added to include (for individuals) in the title.

Please "unlimited free classifieds" should be replaced with "limited free classifieds" every place that it appears (including TUG advertisements in other publications and websites) because that is exactly what it is "limited".

Advertising "unlimited free classifieds" and then charging TUG members who exceed a "limit" on the number of ads and then justifying it by labeling them "brokers" is bush league.

If Ford advertised unlimited free gas for as long as you owned a car purchased from Ford and provided you with a "free gas card" for your fill ups. Wouldn't you feel mislead when the gas card no longer worked when you attempted your 26th fill-up and got the message please insert cash. When you called to complain they told you that people that need more than 25 fill-ups are considered commercial drivers and not regular customers.

"limited free classifieds" is still a nice member benefit.

There is NO need for an intentionally misleading advertisement.

 

[JMAESD84]

I believe a sticky thread to call out ads could be justified but holding TUG responsible for a misleading ad is not warranted. We do not hold newspapers responsible for the content of their ads, why would we hold TUG accountable?

TUG prides itself on being better. Truely existing for the benefit of timeshare owners. Acting always in the best interests of timeshare owners. Helping timeshare owners.

In the forums members offer sound advise to perform due diligence, buy resale, etc. so that prospective purchasers can make a sound and informed purchase....avoiding the many operators in this industry who would act simply to separate the uninformed from their money while offering deals with little or no value.

So the question I raised contemplates if the expectations for the TUG Marketplace should also be higher. A place where the seller is not out to take advantage of the uninformed buyer.

Put another way, should an uninformed buyer be safer if they shop at the TUG Marketplace? If we think so, what is being done to create this safer environment for resale purchases?

 

[TUGBrian]

Please "unlimited free classifieds" should be replaced with "limited free classifieds" every place that it appears (including TUG advertisements in other publications and websites) because that is exactly what it is "limited".

Advertising "unlimited free classifieds" and then charging TUG members who exceed a "limit" on the number of ads and then justifying it by labeling them "brokers" is bush league.

If Ford advertised unlimited free gas for as long as you owned a car purchased from Ford and provided you with a "free gas card" for your fill ups. Wouldn't you feel mislead when the gas card no longer worked when you attempted your 26th fill-up and got the message please insert cash. When you called to complain they told you that people that need more than 25 fill-ups are considered commercial drivers and not regular customers.

"limited free classifieds" is still a nice member benefit.

There is NO need for an intentionally misleading advertisement.

in most cases its changed to simply "free"

and also in most cases, by that I mean 99.9999999% of TUG members posting ads...they never hit the limit anyway.

less than 25 TOTAL members posting ads, have eclipsed the 25 count.

when the marketplace first went live, it was unlimited for anyone (brokers too)...hence the term.

ive edited the pages, but obviously missed some since we began charging those posting more than 25 back in october.

there is nothing intentionally misleading about it. If you are an individual member posting your timeshare for sale or for rent, you wont ever get charged for it while you have an active TUG membership.

This site exists for individual owners, and the items I develop for them to use are intended to enhance their already cheap membership at no additional cost to them.

For those that wish to take advantage of said free items and use "more than their fair share" they can help support the development and maint of the site.

you can also achieve more free ads by referring members, or writing reviews...thus making the number of free ads you can have completely unlimited given you put back into the site by donating your time to write reviews or tell others about TUG.

Heck you can have your membership for free FOREVER if you post enough reviews or refer enough people.

I am running out of ways to continue to give things away for free. Every time I do there is always a small amount of people who feel its unfair in some way.

 

[TUGBrian]

TUG prides itself on being better. Truely existing for the benefit of timeshare owners. Acting always in the best interests of timeshare owners. Helping timeshare owners.

In the forums members offer sound advise to perform due diligence, buy resale, etc. so that prospective purchasers can make a sound and informed purchase....avoiding the many operators in this industry who would act simply to separate the uninformed from their money while offering deals with little or no value.

So the question I raised contemplates if the expectations for the TUG Marketplace should also be higher. A place where the seller is not out to take advantage of the uninformed buyer.

Put another way, should an uninformed buyer be safer if they shop at the TUG Marketplace? If we think so, what is being done to create this safer environment for resale purchases?

how does a % of people posting overpriced ads somehow create an unsafe environment?

 

[JMAESD84]

and also in most cases, by that I mean 99.9999999% of TUG members posting ads...they never hit the limit anyway.

less than 25 TOTAL members posting ads, have eclipsed the 25 count.

For 99.9999999% of TUG members posting ads to never hit the limit, TUG would need 1 billion members posting ads for every single TUG member that does exceed the limit. I'll venture a guess that TUG don't even have 10 thousand individual members that have posted ads in the new Marketplace.

Is this a problem with math or honesty?

At the bottom of the page where TUG advises how to sell your timeshare, TUG still advertises JOIN TUG TODAY and post Unlimited Free Classified ads in the Timeshare Marketplace.

On Page 54 of the TimeSharing Today magazine, TUG is running an ad that states "unlimited free classifieds"

"limited free classifieds" is still a nice member benefit.

There is NO need for an intentionally misleading advertisements.

 

[TUGBrian]

I suppose sarcasm is lost on some, surely you didnt take the .9999999999 seriously. What on earth is your deal? Is it your goal to simply argue?

My point was, that such a few number of people post more than 25 ads compared to the number of TUG members, its not even worth quibbling over.

I will continue to run TUG as a haven for timeshare owners to find out how to best use their timeshare, be it with the free sections of tug (of which there are many) or the paid members only sections.

If you feel you do not get enough for your money, despite the fact that we now offer so much more, for significantly less than we used to (prior to the marketplace, ads were $10 each)...then I will be more than happy to refund your membership fees.

other notes

1. on every page that advertises the marketplace, it also contains "click here for more info" where the user is taken to the marketplace description...there the notes for the ads and broker limits are listed.

2. I wasnt aware we were running any sort of ad in timesharing today magazine itself, and ive personally never seen one. which month?

3. anyone who feels they were mislead by the advertising or are unhappy with the service or benefits they gained as a member, or simply joined to post more than 25 ads a year is GUARANTEED a complete and total refund.

If it were my intention to "mislead" people, there are a million other companies I could copy to lure unsupecting owners into paying the membership fee. I dont work like that.

quite frankly, the pages are all individual and unique, and I update them when I can in my free time, whenever I update a page I am sure to update the marketplace notes as well.

We will just have to agree to disagree, I simply dont have the time or energy this weekend to continue to argue such a ridiculous point that really has nothing to do with the original topic of this post.

I also notice you didnt bother responding to the actual on topic question about how people posting unreasonable prices makes a website unsafe?

 

[JMAESD84]

If you are an individual member posting your timeshare for sale or for rent, you wont ever get charged for it while you have an active TUG membership.

Since TUG insists I'm a broker, you'll probably find this irrelevent.

I own many timeshares....like other TUG members perhaps too many. Every single one that I own is titled in my name and my name alone, which I could prove with my MF statements.

If I choose to place an advertisement to sell each, to rent each and to direct exchange each, I would more than double the limit of 25 ads. And that dosen't include any renewing of ads when they don't sell or rent or exchange before the ad expires.

Broker - a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission.

Am I a broker? Hmmm, only TUG thinks so.

 

[TUGBrian]

now it all makes sense!

after a bit of research, Id think it would be prudent for people to know that you are indeed one of the people who has posted more than 25 ads.

You and I also had a long discussion via email regarding the issue, so now it appears clear what your oringal goal was by tossing out the offtopic dig at "false advertising"

thats mighty nice of you.

 

[TUGBrian]

direct exchange ads and wish ads have no impact on your count only rentals and for sale ads, since you were so quick to point out my inaccurate math, its only prudent to at least ensure you know what you are talking about before you throw out your own inaccurate statements.

you posted 11 for sale ads, and 8 for rent ads, and renewed most of them. This brought your ad count above the 25 limit.

You were sent an email informing you of the overages, and I gave you the option to remove some of your ads to come in under the limit, or you could pay for the ads over the limit.

You chose to remove some of your ads so you wouldnt have to pay the fee. So to date, you have gotten more than 30 free ads, and it hasnt cost you a single dime since you are already a TUG member.

Im such a tyrant, just trying to milk all my members money by driving countless millions of unsuspecting owners to the site all of whom I KNOW will post more than 25 ads a year after completly ignoring the warnings and information telling them about the fees when posting more than 25 ads a year, and then im going to be sneaky and force them to pay for them!

you got me, the gig is up! I knew I couldnt pull the wool over the eyes of tuggers!

Just goes to show you, despite the fact that I continue to give members so much more, for zero additional membership fees...you simply cant make everyone happy.

 

[TUGBrian]

and if you would like to know where the 25 limit came from

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70843

it was voted on by tuggers, I didnt just pull the number randomly out of a hat.