How does eBay work now with Timeshare Sales?--It's all very different!!

[icydog]

I've sold and re-listed three timeshares on eBay. One I sold privately so I am out of the eBay loop on that one.

Each time an auction closed the buyer had a zero rating-- and each time-- the buyer never responded to my emails.

It seems I cannot give negative feedback any longer!! What's up with that?

And on my last auction that just closed, I was just informed by my newest buyer, also with a zero rating-- that all he committed to was the ability to learn more about the timeshare.

Aren't auctions binding any longer? I am so tired of this-- and so out of money to pay eBay. I even offered to pay 2/3 of the closing and transfer fees NOT to have to relist the timeshare again on eBay. Thanks.

 

[Dave*H]

I've Aren't auctions binding any longer?

In spite of the notes sellers may have put in their auctions, according to ebay rules, real estate auctions on ebay have never been binding.

 

[linsj]

Real estate auctions, including timeshares, have never been binding contracts like other items.

 

[icydog]

Who knew? Now what do I do??

 

[Rent_Share]

They have never been binding since they are a sale of real property - eBay put's that disclaimer in so they do not runb afoul of the 50 seperate sets of laws regulating the sale of real property

Despite the non binding aspect the fear of "negative feed back" on the buyer compelled completion - I would imagine that a negative feedback given to a buyer who found errors after the close and did not complete the "negotiation" would probably have been removed with much more effort than it was worth . . . a I changed my mind would have stood

On July 1, eBay decided that eBay sellers were no longer allowed to extrort postive feedback by threatening negative feedback on buyers - Buyers have Pos/Neutral/Neg available to them - Narative comments are still allowed, bit who reads any bit the Negative ones anyway


There is a three strikes and your out type of policy - Have three sellers complain about you winning and not comsumating and that ID will be eliminated . . . Get another Free email address open another eBay acount and spoil three more Auctions . . . .(Three more that the seller takes the effort to report you)

 

[ace2000]

Look at the note at the bottom of any timeshare listing. It doesn't really make any difference what comments the seller makes in their ad - some are even very threatening on non-payment. It is not binding. I've backed out of a couple myself, and always offered the seller $150 to cover their time and costs, as a courtesy.

As the seller, you're forced with selling elsewhere, trying to work out an arrangement with the buyer, or filing a Unpaid Item against the buyer. eBay will reimburse you for the listing cost, and that winning bidder/buyer will have an unpaid item strike filed against them with eBay. I believe three of them will cancel the bidder's account, not positive on how many it takes though.

I've also won a couple of auctions that were very cheap and seen the 'seller' back out of the deal. One even re-listed his ad the day after I won it! Not a thing I could do - except for the feedback. And then, I would always be worried about retaliation on my feedback. Guess that's why they changed the rules... still believe that by a long shot, eBay is the the very BEST place to purchase a timeshare!

Good luck,
Scott

 

[DonM]

Academic point

They have never been binding since they are a sale of real property - eBay put's that disclaimer in so they do not runb afoul of the 50 seperate sets of laws regulating the sale of real property

I was aware of this- anyone who has ever bid on an Ebay T/S would know this since a pop up informs you of it.

However I guess that Ebay just lumps deeded sales together with memberships (points) and RTU T/S' which are not really sales of real estate

 

[icydog]

I was aware of this- anyone who has ever bid on an Ebay T/S would know this since a pop up informs you of it.

However I guess that Ebay just lumps deeded sales together with memberships (points) and RTU T/S' which are not really sales of real estate

I used to bid on, and win, many timeshares and no such popup occurred. I have had a string of non payers and I am sick to death of it. I just won a Marriott NCV and I never saw any popup. I wish someone would pay me.

What galls me is that eBay still charges me for the auction even if the buyer never pays one dime. They let you relist but only ONE time. Since I have had this happen numerous times I am out all that money.

 

[gmarine]

I've never seen a pop up but every timeshare auction has a disclaimer that says it is non binding. Knowing this, anyone selling a timeshare on EBAY should be prepared to have winners not complete the transaction.

 

[icydog]

What I don't get is why must I pay eBay fees for timeshare auctions that have been won- but were not been paid for by the buyer. The let you slide once, but after that, they will not give you back the relisting fee.

I will never try to sell a timeshare on eBay again! It is a gimmick for eBay to make money with those disclaimers and not allow sellers to leave neg feedback.

 

[dwgrant]

Many timeshare e-bay ads state that they don't accept bids from bidders with zero feedback because of the nonpayment issue. Would this help with your problem?

 

[icydog]

Many timeshare e-bay ads state that they don't accept bids from bidders with zero feedback because of the nonpayment issue. Would this help with your problem?

Yes it would, however there is no guarantee that a zero rating person will not bid. There are no hard and fast rules against it.

 

[e.bram]

An RTU is essentially a lease for more than 3 yrs. In NJ this falls under the Staute of Frauds rule that there must be a signed contract in order to be enforcable.

 

[dr.debs]

What I don't get is why must I pay eBay fees for timeshare auctions that have been won- but were not been paid for by the buyer. The let you slide once, but after that, they will not give you back the relisting fee.

I will never try to sell a timeshare on eBay again! It is a gimmick for eBay to make money with those disclaimers and not allow sellers to leave neg feedback.

I am a newbie at ebay but while shopping recently for Scottsdale timeshares, I noted a number of TS listed with high reserves, or initial bids. Often these went unsold. Do sellers incur fees for listing TS or other items that remain unsold? I thought some of these listings were fishing trips to see if someone would bite on an overpriced TS (usually the marriott ts were listed at or just above some ROFR failures as noted on the Tugg board) or to determine "market" value.

 

[ownsherown]

Rather than cut and paste, here is a link to ebays position on real estate listings.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/real-estate.html

In a nut shell your're not "auctioning" anything when you list real estate You paying them an insertion and "notice" fee payable regardless if it sells or not.

This disclaimer keeps covers ebays collective tushes in regards to real estate sales laws.

As to the high listing in ebay for some properties, postcard companys dont care if they sell or not, the fees for running a one time eay listing is minor compared to what they have already soaked the owners for in upfront fees.
There are scads of them on bidshare these days, fee free auctions are much more profitable

 

[icydog]

Rather than cut and paste, here is a link to ebays position on real estate listings.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/real-estate.html

In a nut shell your're not "auctioning" anything when you list real estate You paying them an insertion and "notice" fee payable regardless if it sells or not.

This disclaimer keeps covers ebays collective tushes in regards to real estate sales laws.

As to the high listing in ebay for some properties, postcard companys dont care if they sell or not, the fees for running a one time eay listing is minor compared to what they have already soaked the owners for in upfront fees.
There are scads of them on bidshare these days, fee free auctions are much more profitable

I must be missing something. I checked on Bidshares and I don't find anything worthwhile that doesn't have an exorbitant reserve fee. When you search on Bidshares is there anyway to filter like by lowest price or week number??

 

[ownsherown]

I must be missing something. I checked on Bidshares and I don't find anything worthwhile that doesn't have an exorbitant reserve fee. When you search on Bidshares is there anyway to filter like by lowest price or week number??

That was my point, post card co. have over run bidshare with ads with high reserve auctions. They could care less if they sell or not.

You can't filter by price but there is a way to filter by week number.

I have also found that even if you do win one with a low reserve the seller just ignores it and puts it up in a new auction. That has happened to me 3 times. I quit even looking at bidshare.

 

[ctyatty]

Yes it would, however there is no guarantee that a zero rating person will not bid. There are no hard and fast rules against it.

A Seller can manage the listing by cancelling zero feedback bidders. I have done this with good success in getting rid of nuisance bidders. Especially now that seller's negative feedback is no longer allowed for buyers. One time I had a pest who decided to bid all my items - not that I have that many - probably some sort of an obsessive/compulisve psycho who targeted my listings.

 

[bizaro86]

You can actually do better than cancelling the bids manually. Ebay has a setting when you list something that allows you to choose who can bid on your item. Types of exclusions including geographic (ie, only people from a certain country/countries, and feedback related, ie no people with 0 or negative feedback ratings, or nobody with less than say 5 feedback or whatever)

If its been that significant of an issue for you, I would seriously consider using that feature.

Michael

 

[ctyatty]

thanks for the tip, I don't sell very often and was not aware of these tools

 

[baakfamily]

Be careful not to cut your potential market

Many timeshare e-bay ads state that they don't accept bids from bidders with zero feedback because of the nonpayment issue. Would this help with your problem?

To some extent, sellers would shoot themselves in the foot and increase the likelihood of a low winning bid if they were to have a blanket exclusion for zero feedback buyers. It would cut out a good chunk of their potential market. Some people (myself included) only come to eBay because they've heard it is a good place to buy timeshares.

I bought two timeshares on eBay this year and paid for each within 48 hours, but I'd never bought anything from eBay before. By the time I made the second purchase, 6 weeks after the first, the first seller had still not left feedback on me - and still hasn't! Not all sellers leave feedback.

I have only bought two bigger ticket items (timeshares) and paid very quickly, but I have a feedback score of only 1. Am I a worse buyer than someone who has bought 100 $2 items and has a score of 100? I don't think feedback scores are terribly useful. If someone is going to renege on an auction, they are probably more likely to do it for a bigger ticket item than for an antique teacup or a Barbie doll, especially for an auction that eBay indicates is non-binding (such as timeshare auctions).

Perhaps eBay should reimburse the seller or offer a free relisting for completed auctions where the winner doesn't pay.

 

[icydog]

You can actually do better than cancelling the bids manually. Ebay has a setting when you list something that allows you to choose who can bid on your item. Types of exclusions including geographic (ie, only people from a certain country/countries, and feedback related, ie no people with 0 or negative feedback ratings, or nobody with less than say 5 feedback or whatever)

If its been that significant of an issue for you, I would seriously consider using that feature.

Michael

I couldn't find that feature. Where is it??

 

[icydog]

Perhaps eBay should reimburse the seller or offer a free relisting for completed auctions where the winner doesn't pay.

They do but only once. After that you are on your own. Your point was proven when I sold one of my timeshares to a zero bidder. But your point is denied when I was overwhelmed with zero bidders on my other timeshares as in the type who do not pay. I had two of them for the same timeshare and now all I have to show for my efforts are ebay fees in the hundreds.

 

[bizaro86]

You can actually do better than cancelling the bids manually. Ebay has a setting when you list something that allows you to choose who can bid on your item. Types of exclusions including geographic (ie, only people from a certain country/countries, and feedback related, ie no people with 0 or negative feedback ratings, or nobody with less than say 5 feedback or whatever)

If its been that significant of an issue for you, I would seriously consider using that feature

Michael

I couldn't find that feature. Where is it??

You can find details of how specifically to do that on this ebay help page.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html

Hope that helps,

Michael

 

[icydog]

You can find details of how specifically to do that on this ebay help page.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html

Hope that helps,

Michael

It took me a very long time to find it but I finally got it done...Thanks a lot.