New Timeshare Exchange Company [Proposal]

[escanoe]

If any developer/resort group attempts to restrict our Members from booking accommodations for guests, while allowing other Exchange Companies to do so, then that may be a possible violation, inter alia, of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, and we would then act accordingly.

I don't blame the FTC for focusing on more pressing things, but IMHO more aggressive enforcement of anti-trust laws would be beneficial to timeshare owners. I believe the industry has some vulnerability, in general, here. But I think it could take forever and another year for private litigation to change things much.

I am not saying it is impossible, but you are going to be looking at some major legal fees to sue Goliath for unfairly gaming his bigness.

 

[TimeshareBarry]

I don't blame the FTC for focusing on more pressing things, but IMHO more aggressive enforcement of anti-trust laws would be beneficial to timeshare owners. I believe the industry has some vulnerability, in general, here. But I think it could take forever and another year for private litigation to change things much.

I am not saying it is impossible, but you are going to be looking at some major legal fees to sue Goliath for unfairly gaming his bigness.

Yes and No. The National Association of Realtors ('NAR'), the biggest trade organization in the country with a 1.5m Membership basis, has recently entered into a $418m Class Action Settlement with certain plaintiffs who alleging violations of Anti-Trust Laws and who won a court verdict against NAR (and the case against NAR was weak to non-existent in my opinion). With this precedent however, Contingency Based Trial Lawyers are out hunting other potential deep-pocketed 'Goliaths' to slaughter, and Big Corporations will be 'running scared' for some time to come.

 

[escanoe]

May be running scared, but wheels of justice turn slow.

Over on the Diamond forum they are discussing a recent $13 million settlement from litigation that started back in 2013. And Diamond

Anyone else get unexpected money?

Guess I can afford to buy Fritos and Milanos for a while! Got an unexpected check for $124.80 today because someone named Zwicky sued Diamond (which we divested ourselves of before Hilton entered the picture) for misrepresenting annual maintenance fees. https://www.zwickyassessmentsettlement.com/

tugbbs.com

I am wishing you luck and would love to partake in your venture while recognizing thigs are stacked against this working.

 

[Carolinian]

The Points 'Charged' for Interval 'Withdrawal' would be dynamic and 'Yield Management' determined, with the purpose of maximizing occupancy rates, so astute Members who were prepared to 'roll the dice' and wait closer to occupancy dates (or book lower demand inventory way in advance), could still find really good 'bargains' ('dynamic yield management pricing' would actually enhance these opportunities). Most airlines and event some hotels use 'Dynamic Yield Management' pricing models to fly their planes at near 100% occupancy ('an empty seat is lost revenue'). Last year I snagged a one-way flight from Atlanta to Denver on Frontier for 27c (excluding taxes, baggage and upgrade fees). With taxes the flight came to about $30.

I would not deal with any points based system where the formula for setting points is not published. RCI is a great example of how a nonpublished system of awarding points is corrupted in a way that favors resorts still in sales and disfavors sold out resorts. Pusblishing the point numbers by resorts only points out the corruption of their points system.

I much prefer a weeks-based exchange system. RCI was great until they went to points and points lite.

Another big red flag is exchange companies that also rent out exchange deposits to the general public. We have seen too much corruption there with at least one of the big exchange companies.

 

[Carolinian]

Spot on. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but there are actually huge chasms of opportunity opening up, and they go well beyond just timeshares. One just needs to think a little outside the proverbial box.

Wholly owned holiday cottages can fit well into a timeshare exchange system. The old DAE Europe used to get quite a bit of such inventory in the UK and France.

 

[escanoe]

I would not deal with any points based system where the formula for setting points is not published.

What points based system does publish this? I don’t believe that RCi, HGVC, Marriott, II points, or any other company with an exchange does this. I would like it if they did, but I don’t know that points-based exchanges are an option if someone has your high standard.

I also see this being hard with a dynamic system as the OP intends to create.

Why set this standard for points systems and not others. Trading weeks in II has no transparency on relative values. It is a complete black box as far as what the company discloses.

 

[pchung6]

It might be hard to break into exchange business as you need to be affiliated with major resorts to receive bulk deposits. However will you consider rental business similar to Redweek but better? I believe rental business has large customer audiences and market opportunities than just exchange business. A lot owners will want to look for opportunities to cash out or get rid of unwanted weeks. It is easier to scale up and you don’t have to deal with resorts.

 

[chapjim]

[Deleted]

 

[escanoe]

It might be hard to break into exchange business as you need to be affiliated with major resorts to receive bulk deposits. However will you consider rental business similar to Redweek but better? I believe rental business has large customer audiences and market opportunities than just exchange business. A lot owners will want to look for opportunities to cash out or get rid of unwanted weeks. It is easier to scale up and you don’t have to deal with resorts.

There must be higher barriers to entry or challenges in reaching critical mass on this than I would have thought. Go-koala has impressed me, but it appears to be a long, hard slog for a better product to compete with Redweek.

And TUG has long played in this space as well.

 

[Carolinian]

What points based system does publish this? I don’t believe that RCi, HGVC, Marriott, II points, or any other company with an exchange does this. I would like it if they did, but I don’t know that points-based exchanges are an option if someone has your high standard.

I also see this being hard with a dynamic system as the OP intends to create.

Why set this standard for points systems and not others. Trading weeks in II has no transparency on relative values. It is a complete black box as far as what the company discloses.

The problem with all of those systems and the reason I do not participate in any of them is that their point assignments are corrupt, often based on factors other than supply and demand. If you want an honest exchange system, the very worst combination is published exchange numbers and a non-published formula to establish them. RCI points is notorious for overpointing resorts still in developer sales and underpointed sold out resorts, for example.