Ludicrous prices in the classified ads

[AKE]

I was looking at the TUG classified ads today (not the bargain basement section) and could not believe the ludicrous prices for at least half the listingss - I could buy a couple of cadillacs for what some want for a week (and still have money to spare). I wonder when reality will hit these sellers, and especially in today's tough times and they realize that they have a commodity that no one will pay even a fraction of their asking price (never mind the high maintenance fees and airfares needed to get to some of these places).

 

[applegirl]

Yes, pretty unbelievable huh?

 

[dioxide45]

Many, probably the majority, of people trying to sell their week don't know the true value. Their salesman told them they could sell it and it would only go up in price, right?
Also, I would think that a lot of people who post ads on TUG don't also visit the forums. So they don't get the opportunity to be educated.

 

[e.bram]

Probably the ads you are talking about are put up by "upfront companies" to show their clients(suckers) they are marketing their units in an agressive way, to justify the upfront fee.(TUG could be aiding the very activity they preach againt)

 

[mjta1234]

Probably the ads you are talking about are put up by "upfront companies" to show their clients(suckers) they are marketing their units in an agressive way, to justify the upfront fee.(TUG could be aiding the very activity they preach againt)

Prolly real people who have no clue that resale value on these is a big fat ZERO

If these resale companys were honest and told everyone that they would be lucky to recoup 5%, no one would pay the money so once again there is plenty of blame to go around.

Most cant stomach the idea of loosing all that dough from a poor purchase decision in the first place.

 

[richardm]

Hitting the nail on the head!

Probably the ads you are talking about are put up by "upfront companies" to show their clients(suckers) they are marketing their units in an agressive way, to justify the upfront fee.(TUG could be aiding the very activity they preach againt)

e.bram, you are absolutely correct.. This classified outlet simply gives the small marketing companies another website name to use in their "massive marketing exposure" pitch and helps give them legitimacy..

You should all encourage Brian to institute a hefty classified price immediately (that could simply be waived after a certain number of posts) to help discourage this type of activity. He could also use the Timeshare Forums policy of one free ad per member to the same effect..

You see the same thing on all the other low cost sites.. The individual placing the ad has no real intention of getting any buyer interest. The other negative to this is that these ads clog the system and may make real buyers less likely to search there if they don't want to sort through the clutter.

 

[FlyerBobcat]

You see the same thing on all the other low cost sites.. The individual placing the ad has no real intention of getting any buyer interest. The other negative to this is that these ads clog the system and may make real buyers less likely to search there if they don't want to sort through the clutter.

And speaking of clutter.... A current ad under MGO is for a summer [4th of July] 2008 (not 2009) week.
http://testing.tug2.com/TimeshareMa...tingGUID=9d109525-71b6-42ce-9704-2304e731e1f7

Another "For Sale" ad for MGO is selling a "Two Bedroom Lockout" (Internal ID 2683, for Brian's use). Really? (Just a mistake, or a misleading ad?)

I agree that this collection of clutter makes the classified ads less desirable to go though.... IMO

 

[theo]

Good ideas, but...

You should all encourage Brian to institute a hefty classified price immediately (that could simply be waived after a certain number of posts) to help discourage this type of activity. He could also use the Timeshare Forums policy of one free ad per member to the same effect.

I don't disagree with any of the above; I actually think that both suggestions are very good ideas.

That said however, I would hate to see a "number of posts" benchmark become some sort of avenue toward the placement of free ads, thereby encouraging all sorts of "content-free" posts to be made just to reach that benchmark. One of the features I genuinely like about TUG is the general absence of gratuitous "garbage" posts; I wouldn't want to see that change. Just my opinion...

 

[nazclk]

Ads on Tug

Any ad board that is free is going to have the same problem. people don't care as they are not paying for the ad. Leave it stay forever, I'm not paying for it, is the attitude. Go back to charging even $20 per year. I think it will eleminate some of the excess.

 

[bnoble]

I don't see the problem. You already have to be a member to post ads---adding a few more nuisance fees isn't going to discourage the up front fee companies; they'll just charge a little more. But, it would take away one of the benefits from members.

Plenty of owners are totally out of touch with reality, without the need for an up-front fee company to help them along. We meet them all the time.

 

[optimist]

What about the idea of making the classified section limited to owners only, like the 'for sale by owner' sites?

 

[Phill12]

Probably the ads you are talking about are put up by "upfront companies" to show their clients(suckers) they are marketing their units in an agressive way, to justify the upfront fee.(TUG could be aiding the very activity they preach againt)

This was my first thought also!

If someone see's the ad on here then they might feel good about throwing their money away.

I also couldn't understand some of these ads!

PHIL

 

[TUGBrian]

Probably the ads you are talking about are put up by "upfront companies" to show their clients(suckers) they are marketing their units in an agressive way, to justify the upfront fee.(TUG could be aiding the very activity they preach againt)

so by giving you guys free ads, I am somehow aiding upfront fee companies? man...I cant win here apparently.

There are no (to my knowledge) upfront fee companies currently posting ads in the marketplace....thats not to say some people posting ads arent doing it for other people that they charged money for...its simply not a criteria that is "forced to prove otherwise" to become a member.

I simply dont have the time or effort to inspect each new member of TUG to ensure they are a good person and arent involved in practices that wouldnt be something we recommend....nor could I prove it either way.

Its IMO a unreasonable request at best coming from a business standpoint.

That said, if I find someone that is practicing behavior that would go against TUG rules and guidelines...I will certainly take action. However im not interested in starting a witch hunt over less than 1% of the ad posting membership. sorry.

 

[TUGBrian]

e.bram, you are absolutely correct.. This classified outlet simply gives the small marketing companies another website name to use in their "massive marketing exposure" pitch and helps give them legitimacy..

You should all encourage Brian to institute a hefty classified price immediately (that could simply be waived after a certain number of posts) to help discourage this type of activity. He could also use the Timeshare Forums policy of one free ad per member to the same effect..

You see the same thing on all the other low cost sites.. The individual placing the ad has no real intention of getting any buyer interest. The other negative to this is that these ads clog the system and may make real buyers less likely to search there if they don't want to sort through the clutter.

so if there were only a few hundred ads on the site, then the complaint would be that TUG gets no traffic and is ineffective at helping people sell their timeshare.

Double edged sword.

Personally id rather have 100,000 ads in the marketplace, thus driving more people to TUG and thus increasing the exposure of the group and thus increasing the number of people who will actually read the advice articles (something you have to actually ignore when posting an ad as it specifically asks you to read it before posting one)...and thus educating more people on how to actually sell their timeshares.

If TUG didnt exist, a far larger % of people would fall prey to upfront fee companies that will do little or nothing to help them sell their timeshare.

If someone joins TUG and ignores the repeated reminders to read the how to sell articles as well as the numerous other advice articles we have to offer to educate them on the right way to sell, there is little else we can do.

You cannot force someone to learn.

 

[TUGBrian]

And speaking of clutter.... A current ad under MGO is for a summer [4th of July] 2008 (not 2009) week.
http://testing.tug2.com/TimeshareMa...tingGUID=9d109525-71b6-42ce-9704-2304e731e1f7

Another "For Sale" ad for MGO is selling a "Two Bedroom Lockout" (Internal ID 2683, for Brian's use). Really? (Just a mistake, or a misleading ad?)

I agree that this collection of clutter makes the classified ads less desirable to go though.... IMO

This should not happen, and I will investigate this immediately.

 

[TUGBrian]

I don't disagree with any of the above; I actually think that both suggestions are very good ideas.

That said however, I would hate to see a "number of posts" benchmark become some sort of avenue toward the placement of free ads, thereby encouraging all sorts of "content-free" posts to be made just to reach that benchmark. One of the features I genuinely like about TUG is the general absence of gratuitous "garbage" posts; I wouldn't want to see that change. Just my opinion...

There is no link between the forums, and the member only section/marketplace.

they are two completely independent systems, running on two completely independent systems.

Thus the reason for the bbs member code.

 

[TUGBrian]

Any ad board that is free is going to have the same problem. people don't care as they are not paying for the ad. Leave it stay forever, I'm not paying for it, is the attitude. Go back to charging even $20 per year. I think it will eleminate some of the excess.

brokers are already charged a fee for each ad on top of their required membership.

 

[TUGBrian]

What about the idea of making the classified section limited to owners only, like the 'for sale by owner' sites?

Why would you want to limit the number of potential buyers/renters for your ads?

 

[TUGBrian]

For those that wish to remove the clutter, please familiarize yourself with the classified ad search tool which you can use to filter the "silly" ads from your results.

http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/ClassifiedSearch.aspx

specifically the price range filter.

There is quite frankly, little reason to browse every single ad in the marketplace. The filters should allow you to limit your results to exactly what you are looking for!

 

[optimist]

limited to owners

Why would you want to limit the number of potential buyers/renters for your ads?

I did not mean that those looking to buy or to rent should be owners, but those that place the ads should be. That way, you eliminate broker ads. Brokers have plenty of outlets for their ads.
I know that when I first starting looking to buy and I first discovered this site, I was under the impression that the ads placed in the classified section were direct ads, placed by the owners.

 

[TUGBrian]

and 95% of them are placed by owners.

As mentioned in another post...less than 5% of the ads posted are posted by brokers, and those brokers are charged a fee to post each and every ad.

(actually some complain about it if you can believe that, claiming that if you guys all get free ads...so should they)

I have sent more than one on their way and removed all their ads after they refused to pay the fee to post them.

Unfortunately, just like any decision...its going to make some people happy and others upset.

If I have too many ads, I see a thread like this.

If I have too few ads, I'd see a thread complaining about the lack of use/hits/traffic/effectiveness of the marketplace.

 

[ricoba]

Perhaps the seller should be identified.

I just browsed the ads and there are a bunch of Wyndham ads on there now, and most are all sold by the same unknown person.

I don't have a problem with a broker putting up an ad, but I think that they should perhaps mention their company in their listing.

Just my two cents.

 

[TUGBrian]

brokers as I understand it are required by law to disclose that they are a broker.

Most if not all brokers (that ive seen...again I simply dont have the time or desire to inspect each of the 13,000+ ads that have been psoted) do include their contact info in the description.

Now individuals who may be in the business of "selling" timeshares on their own, I cannot control that, nor could I identify it.

Even worse if I coudl identify it, how would one "prove" it?

when each ad is submitted, there is a box to check to identify them as an individual member or an ad broker.

This is also the same way things were done in the old ad system.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

You cannot force someone to learn.

"You can lead a man to data but you can't make him think."

 

[FlyerBobcat]

This should not happen, and I will investigate this immediately.

Thanks for all the responses, Brian.