TS salespeople are critical to TS development

[boyblue]

I’ve been posting some developer type questions in the Buy, Sell & Rent section. I’m figuring they have to be getting tired of this stuff so I’m in the lounge...

Developers spend millions on a project and on the front line they place the scourge of the industry to represent them. Why? They must know what everyone thinks of these guys.

They’re our biggest benefactors and even we don’t appreciate them. Afterall their lies have forged the whole resale industry. Yet we complain as we pick up millions in value for pennies on the dollar.

The reason we all need TS salespeople is because they make TS development feasible in a timeframe that is attractive to developers. so I guess I'm suggesting that we show them some love, or at least appreciation.

 

[PigsDad]

Isn't this sort of like saying we need to show some love to serial killers because they keep the population under control?

Kidding aside, I think timeshare salespeople do just fine without our "love". The timeshare companies choose to use the aggressive sales route to sell their product, and these salespeople are good at that job. No need for us to appreciate them for what they do, IMO.

Kurt

 

[rickandcindy23]

Too bad timeshare isn't sold honestly and without inuendo and outright lies.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

reason we all need TS salespeople is because they make TS development feasible in a timeframe that is attractive to developers. so I guess I'm suggesting that we show them some love, or at least appreciation.

you just flew in and your arms are tired?

 

[LannyPC]

Too bad timeshare isn't sold honestly and without inuendo and outright lies.

I agree but how else are they going to convince people to pay tens of thousands of dollars for products that, for about 99% of them, are worth about zero dollars or even less?

I'm by no means defending the TS sales people's tactics, I find their tactics absolutely reprehensible. I'm just pointing out what they have to do to make a sale.

 

[emeryjre]

They sell the sizzle
Not the steak

 

[boyblue]

Isn't this sort of like saying we need to show some love to serial killers because they keep the population under control?

Kidding aside, I think timeshare salespeople do just fine without our "love". The timeshare companies choose to use the aggressive sales route to sell their product, and these salespeople are good at that job. No need for us to appreciate them for what they do, IMO.

Kurt

Thank you for the unexpected laugh in that opening salvo, and you're right they're paid handsomely - our love might be overkill

Too bad timeshare isn't sold honestly and without inuendo and outright lies.

I was in conversation with one and his room (their term) was asked to dial it back they were given a manual of do's and don'ts, as soon as the manager left they threw away the manual.

 

[Huskerpaul]

I appreciate TS sales the same way I do sharks. If I know one is around I avoid that area.

 

[geist1223]

Just remember if people did not pay the high cost of Developer Purchases there would be no new Timeshare Locations. And if the folks that make these purchases did not become frustrated when they discovered it did not work as the Sales Person promised we would not have the opportunity to pick them up on the resell market for Pennies on the Dollar.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I can't shake the suspicion that if no more timeshare resorts & timeshare units are built any time soon, demand for the product from new customers could be satisfied comfortably by the current unsold inventory plus, via resales, the rotating stock of previously owned units.

I take note that the newest tower of Vacation Village At Parkway (Kissimmee FL) has been standing there fully topped out but in a state of incompletion for a period of years. (Not sure exactly how long, but 5+ years for sure -- i.e., before the Covid-19 shut-down.) The incomplete new tower is conspicuously sited on the old Arabian Nights dinner show property, right out there in plain sight, surrounded by chain-link fencing.

Not even a steady stream of professional high-pressure sales pitches has sold enough inventory to cause the corporate suits to finish, furnish, equip, landscape, & decorate a whole new condo tower over a prolonged period. That speaks volumes about the lack of need for more any timeshare units.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[jp10558]

Not even a steady stream of professional high-pressure sales pitches has sold enough inventory to cause the corporate suits to finish, furnish, equip, landscape, & decorate a whole new condo tower over a prolonged period. That speaks volumes about the lack of need for more any timeshare units.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Well, in Kissimmee at least.

They sell the sizzle
Not the steak

I always thought that the big systems anyway could do something like some FLOSS projects do (sort of like Kickstarter too). Basically they put out there's a feature they think there's interest in, and they need to have $XXX pledged to actually code it. Everyone who buys at the "build it" rate gets early access to the feature and for some number of months to maybe 2 years after and then it's there for everyone. If they don't get the $XXX to build it, everyone doesn't get charged.

Now anyone who pays the "retail price" to get it built automatically gets the exclusive access for X months/ years and ARP of the normal owner (or maybe even a longer ARP than the minor share payer). But people can also pledge less than a full week share - and there's some interesting things you could do with that - Maybe if you pledge at least 1/20 of a whole share you get ARP of 2 months (or whatever the current ARP for "owners is") after the exclusive years pass, and everyone else might pitch in $100 or something just to get it in their club eventually if they really wanted it.

The middling ARP would have to be just a contractual benefit I think, but I'd still suggest it transfer with whatever ownership account if the owner desires on transfer out of any contract (they can only do it once, but they could transfer it out as a sweetener to any contract or with the final account transfer as they choose). Yes, I know, add some value back for owners. They'd also maintain something like the HGVC Scotland resale office for all deeds that don't have a loan.

I think this probably would be way more fair to owners, but less profitable for the developers.

 

[mountainboy]

Isn't this sort of like saying we need to show some love to serial killers because they keep the population under control?

Kidding aside, I think timeshare salespeople do just fine without our "love". The timeshare companies choose to use the aggressive sales route to sell their product, and these salespeople are good at that job. No need for us to appreciate them for what they do, IMO.

Kurt

Agree 100%.
Reading sad stories on TUG & many online FB groups of people fleeced by TS sale-people with their 'updates': a lady who spent 100k & then another 70k for trust points & HGV etc from Hilton; some whose SO did all this but have passed away & they are clueless, unable to use the points but paying the MFs every year, regardless, etc. Many who bought their TS for 50k+ which are (nearly) worthless now. Wish the TS co bosses read these sad & horrible stories & get their sales weasels under control & use ethical processes for making money, sustainably. Per a popular TS broker, she gets thousands of HGV deeds all the time & most are worthless & not worth her time selling (think 5k or even less pts, EOY etc). Shameful that these junk deeds were sold by TS sales people to unsuspecting folks, who can least afford to be fleeced by them...

 

[vacation911]

Timeshare resale wouldn’t exist without the original developers, and for that, I’m grateful! While it’s unfortunate that many people still get caught up in the developer sales process, I love that there’s an alternative through resale.

A lot of people buy directly from developers on impulse, and let’s face it—impulse buyers don’t always take the time to research. But honestly, even a quick Google search like “Should I buy a timeshare?” could open the door to learning about the resale market.

That said, I can’t fault developers for sticking to a business plan that clearly works for them. People are still buying, after all. The silver lining? The timeshare industry has paved the way for the resale market to thrive, offering people better options.

It’s also worth noting that most resale timeshares are sold by experienced timeshare salespeople who were likely paid to take the property in the first place. Funny how things come full circle!