What are the pitfalls of a EBAY purchase?

[carters4usm]

I've been looking for several months on EBAY for Wyndham even year points at a few specific locations. I ended up bidding and WINNING on a 154K points EOY at Wyndham Sedona for under $200. I know resales are in the tank right now, but afraid this might be one of those too good to be true things. Other than it taking forever to get paper work processed, what have been some of the other problems/horror stories you all have heard about EBAY resellers. The seller is "Timeshareoutlet" (xited) Gerald Ball and the closing company is Timesharecloseout. Anybody have experience with them? I'll be talking with them tomorrow and need help in making sure I don't get scammed by asking the right questions and verifying the right information. I would really appreciate some ideas of some of the possible pitfalls. Thanks!

 

[falmouth3]

It appears that you got an great price. I'm not familiar with either the seller or the closing company. The sellers ratings, although not plentiful are 100% good. Although it's a little late for you now, that's one of the things you'll want to check before putting in any bids in the future. Closing costs are not out of the ordinary and if I read the ad correctly, it looks like you'll even be getting some points thrown in from this year.

I think you did very well.

Sue

 

[carters4usm]

He has a 100% feedback, which is great, however, appears he has only sold a few timeshares in the past. He currently has about 30 properties listed, and several have sold, but not in time for feedback...adding to my dilemma.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I have been dealing on one of those TS not yet closed. Offered free usage this year, except the prior owner banked the week with RCI. Found that out myself when I called the resort about usage this year (I had the unit number/week number).

Wilda, his office girl, has offered to back out of the deal or I can use the RCI deposit - to transfer the deposit to my account, someone would have to pay $79 transfer free and then the exchange fee; to allow me to use a gift certificate someone has to pay a $59 guest certificate fee and the exchange fee. Can't seem to get them to pay for the transfer fee (X2 as it is a lockout) nor to understand free 08 usage shouldn't come with charges of $500 and no ability to do ongoing searches.

Pleasant enough - but still haven't paid them ... as not the deal I thought I was getting.

 

[dryden]

please keep us informed

i don't have any feedback to help you, however i am very curious about this person. please let us know how it goes tomorrow.

 

[Rent_Share]

He has a 100% feedback, which is great, however, appears he has only sold a few timeshares in the past. He currently has about 30 properties listed, and several have sold, but not in time for feedback...adding to my dilemma.

The eBaY rules have completely changed - There's practically nothing he can do to you if your drag your feet while i is dotted and t is crossed - Follow the guidelines for due dillegence in the Buying a timeshare sticky

If he threatens to relist you hold all of the cards - you are negotiating in good faith - you can smack him with negative feedback he can't touch you

 

[richardm]

Oh the joys of buying and selling on eBay! Smack him with some negative feedback and see if it sticks!!!! He can no longer retaliate- what a system!

By the way, has anyone else noticed that these postcard groups have really destroyed the Wydham resale market with the $1. properties on eBay.. If you are a current Wyndham owner- you must be grinding your teeth to nubs!

 

[carters4usm]

Grinding our teeth or licking our chops....

I've been a Fairfield/Wyndham owner since 2000, first buying from the resort for big $$$$. For my second purchase, I discovered resale and bought through Tom Cornelius. That was a smooth transaction, although more expensive than most Ebay offerings. This is my third and final purchase and while I can't understand how these properties can be priced so cheaply, I'm going to take advantage of it and get my points portfolio where I want it while the getting's good. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong, and am guilty of perpetuating the situation, but.....Surely at some point Wyndham will begin to look into changing their business model, as others on this board have mentioned, to require some type of ROFR or offer something of true value if you purchase direct, but until that time, I will take my cheap points and smile all the way to the beach, or the mountains, or well wherever.

 

[richardm]

I can certainly appreciate that sentiment.. Now is a great time to be a buyer (as long as you don't become a seller anytime in the near future) as prices have dropped to nothing!

The main issue I have with these types of listings and sellers is that unfortunately- many potential buyers don't have the savvy to understand good info from bad.. And when things go bad- they turn around and blame the entire timeshare industry! This kind of negative exposure really counters all the positive things that have occurred over the last decade..

Does anyone else remember the longterm impact for Florida and the image of the "swamp" salesmen- a period that ran from the mid-1950s and lasted until the early 1970s. A period of time often known as “Florida’s Golden Age of Land Scams.” Sure- buyers should know better- but it doesn't seem like many do!

You know what they say- One bad apple can ruin the bunch! In this instance, it appears that eBay may be becoming an entire orchard of putrid and rotting fruit- proudly shipping smelly applesauce worldwide!

On a more positive note- TomC is a great guy! I'm sure many members of this forum can thank him for a purchase or two....

Enjoy your vacations carters4usm- and when you are there help spread the word that timesharing is a great way to vacation!

 

[calgarygary]

I've been looking for several months on EBAY for Wyndham even year points at a few specific locations. I ended up bidding and WINNING on a 154K points EOY at Wyndham Sedona for under $200. I know resales are in the tank right now, but afraid this might be one of those too good to be true things. Other than it taking forever to get paper work processed, what have been some of the other problems/horror stories you all have heard about EBAY resellers. The seller is "Timeshareoutlet" (xited) Gerald Ball and the closing company is Timesharecloseout. Anybody have experience with them? I'll be talking with them tomorrow and need help in making sure I don't get scammed by asking the right questions and verifying the right information. I would really appreciate some ideas of some of the possible pitfalls. Thanks!

One of the major pitfalls is that you are quite possibly doing business with different arms of the same company - is timesharecloseout owned by the same shareholders that own timeshareoutlet? If this is the case (which it often can be on eBay), then you do not have an independant closing company handling the deal so that makes your due diligence that much more important.

 

[dryden]

the reason why I ask...

I’ve emailed this "xited" four times regarding the timing of an advertised TS on ebay, with very ambiguous responses. The ad is listed for floating red weeks during the summer and winter. I called the resort- they tell me there are four seasons to their calendar and would be unlikely a seller who owned the two red seasons (1 winter and 1 summer) would combine them into one auction. The resort did confirm that the maintenance fee amount stated in the ad was correct…for one season. I emailed "xited" asking for clarification of weeks/season- the response was that they work for a closing agency and they suggest I call the resort's administrative offices to inform them that they are holding a deeded red week. Not really sure what that would have accomplished, but I was in it now, so called the number. It rang, and rang, and rang, and probably would still be ringing. I wrote back having a deeded red week is not what’s in question; it’s which one- summer or winter. No response. I email “xited” a third time for clarification on red winter or summer, that I was interested in the property and was doing due diligence. I received a response from “Selene” who was nice enough to basically copy the ad dates and paste it back into the ebay question/response form. I sent back an email again asking for week clarification and if I could be sent some other information so I could call the resort and confirm that it is a valid auction. A day later, no response. The auction price? $1.

It doesn’t sound like they know what they have to sell. If “xited” was “xited” about working for a closing company and “xited” about making money for said employer, I’d think they’d work as if they were “xited” that somebody was interested in their listing! I felt like I put more effort/interest into the auction than they did, leaving me not so “xited” to work with seemingly not-so-“xited”.

Has anybody had success with this group?

 

[carters4usm]

Be Afraid...Be Very Afraid

OK...I've got an update on the seller named "xited" ....The following was in response to me asking some basic questions about the closing company and their timeshare experience and also asking for copies of the original deed, power of attorney and letter of estoppel that they indicated they had. This is directly from an email I then recevied from TimeshareClosing.com, the "closing company" affiliated with "xited":

"Wilda, one of the managers in our Reno office, called to advise me of your concerns in the purchase and closing of the above eBay Item. Due to your concerns and your impending travel plans, I am sending this email to officially cancel this transaction. In accordance with eBay policy, partially quoted herein, we will leave a positive feedback for you. (partial eBay quotes from eBay real estate guidelines: "eBay Real Estate auction-style advertisements of real property do not involve legally binding offers to buy and sell... The listings do not result in binding agreements to buy and sell real estate; however, they do allow sellers and buyers to use eBay Real Estate as a venue to determine who may be most interested in the property... While eBay Real Estate cannot guarantee consummation of the sale to either seller or potential buyers, our rules require sellers and top-bidding potential buyers to follow through... If the parties do follow through..., but the transaction does not close, the parties should still leave positive feedback for each other.").
Thank you for your interest and good luck on your future eBay endeavors.
Regards,
Sylvester"

I responded back that if they cancelled this sale without cause, I would blast them in my feedback, report them to EBAY and post their actions on various message boards. He wrote back a long and very beligerent email saying among other things, he would take legal action against me for slander!

This has been a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE, so anyone looking at this seller should be very, very careful. Also, from things mentioned, the closing company and seller appear either closely related or one in the same. I've got to walk away from this, but it really ticks me off because I'm not sure if its a scam or they're just trying to run me off because the winning bid was low. I'm still not sure what's going on, but either way it's not good!!

 

[richardm]

Sounds like you kind of miss Tom! The extra penny a point would probably have been worth it....

It seems that way too often buying a timeshare on eBay turns into a nightmare. I'm not surprised though, anytime you get involved in a real estate transaction where the buyer and seller can hide their true identities from each other, I think you may simply be asking for trouble... There is just something about that situation that screams "BAD IDEA"!

 

[totalfarkuser]

Whatever you do make sure it is leaving him Negative Feedback.. he has no case as long as you tell what really happened. You are doing the public a favor by leaving this negative feedback (and he can not retaliate with his own negative feedback due to the changed system). For him to say he would sue you is even more reason to let the world know the pitfalls of dealing with this clown.

And yes, the closing company and the seller are absolutely the same people (although a friend or relative might be named as owner of one of them) -- I would be surprised if any of the Ebay timeshare sellers have a true independent closing company.

The worse thing about this is the moment you tried to find out about him he basically freaked out on you. Not good.

OK...I've got an update on the seller named "xited" ....The following was in response to me asking some basic questions about the closing company and their timeshare experience and also asking for copies of the original deed, power of attorney and letter of estoppel that they indicated they had. This is directly from an email I then recevied from TimeshareClosing.com, the "closing company" affiliated with "xited":

"Wilda, one of the managers in our Reno office, called to advise me of your concerns in the purchase and closing of the above eBay Item. Due to your concerns and your impending travel plans, I am sending this email to officially cancel this transaction. In accordance with eBay policy, partially quoted herein, we will leave a positive feedback for you. (partial eBay quotes from eBay real estate guidelines: "eBay Real Estate auction-style advertisements of real property do not involve legally binding offers to buy and sell... The listings do not result in binding agreements to buy and sell real estate; however, they do allow sellers and buyers to use eBay Real Estate as a venue to determine who may be most interested in the property... While eBay Real Estate cannot guarantee consummation of the sale to either seller or potential buyers, our rules require sellers and top-bidding potential buyers to follow through... If the parties do follow through..., but the transaction does not close, the parties should still leave positive feedback for each other.").
Thank you for your interest and good luck on your future eBay endeavors.
Regards,
Sylvester"

I responded back that if they cancelled this sale without cause, I would blast them in my feedback, report them to EBAY and post their actions on various message boards. He wrote back a long and very beligerent email saying among other things, he would take legal action against me for slander!

This has been a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE, so anyone looking at this seller should be very, very careful. Also, from things mentioned, the closing company and seller appear either closely related or one in the same. I've got to walk away from this, but it really ticks me off because I'm not sure if its a scam or they're just trying to run me off because the winning bid was low. I'm still not sure what's going on, but either way it's not good!!

 

[JMAESD84]

I've been looking for several months on EBAY for Wyndham even year points at a few specific locations. I ended up bidding and WINNING on a 154K points EOY at Wyndham Sedona for under $200. I know resales are in the tank right now, but afraid this might be one of those too good to be true things. Other than it taking forever to get paper work processed, what have been some of the other problems/horror stories you all have heard about EBAY resellers. The seller is "Timeshareoutlet" (xited) Gerald Ball and the closing company is Timesharecloseout. Anybody have experience with them? I'll be talking with them tomorrow and need help in making sure I don't get scammed by asking the right questions and verifying the right information. I would really appreciate some ideas of some of the possible pitfalls. Thanks!

I purchased a timeshare off of eBay from Gerald Ball'S business at the end of 2007. Everything went smoothly and I got a great deal.

I'm afraid that your fear of being ripped off on a "too good to be true" eBay purchase and persistent demand for reassurances and needed coddling from the seller has soured your deal.

eBay is not without it's risks and for some the process can be unsettling.

There will be many more deals to come down the road on eBay, so just chalk this one up to experience, and when you're ready try again.

 

[dryden]

final note

carters4usm- sorry you got screwed on your deal. maybe they did you a favor just the same.

i sent a post auction email to them saying it's bad business to not answer questions or give accurate information to potential buyers (the auction went off with 3 bidders with the winning bid $2.25). oddly enough, i got an email right back: "I'm sorry? Our company is still setting up our eBay email accounts through the Blackthorne system. Did I send you inaccurate information? Is this a part of another email? It seems broken, and I'm not sure I understand. I drafted the ad for this particular timeshare, and spoke with the folks at Mountainside; I know the information in the ad was accurate. I also know I provided a phone number in the ad (first paragraph block) for potential buyers to call (the resort) to get information NOT related to the transfer of ownership."

funny how i couldn't get pertainent information before the auctions end, but i could surely get a quick reply when it's over. just shoot straight.

JMAESD84- i don't doubt your advice, something just isn't right about the way this person/company does business. lesson learned!

 

[vacationhopeful]

Update on MY Timeshare Win with "Xited"

Today my "win" was relisted. Guess they are hoping to get more than the $1 I won this for. No email to me about if I was buying this nor a phone call.

Still liked the unit, but I was NOT happy about the "free usage" costing me $500 in exchange fees. JUst don't truly need another week. Think about what my EBay feedback should be.

Any suggestions?

 

[carters4usm]

In my opinion, this is a company people really need to watch out for.

I talked with the "president" of the company yesterday, and yes the seller and closing company are one in the same. He will not honor the bid and refuses to sell the property to me. I can only believe, like you, that they cancelled my sale because it brought too little $$$ and also because I was actually doing a little due diligence in trying to determine who I was doing business with. (The very idea) This apparently caused "xited" a great deal of anxiety, and he was outright rude to me. I'm a big proponent of playing fair, and I really feel these folks wronged me. I will be posting my feedback tomorrow and it aint gonna be good! Did they relist the same way as the first time?

 

[bogey21]

My take on all of this is that many of those who sell these weeks for $1 (or slightly more) on eBay and pick up a little loose change from closing the transaction with their Captive Closing Company want to get the deal done with as little effort and cost as possible. What it sounds like to me is that when the Purchaser starts raising issues that complicate or slow down the transaction, the Seller/Captive Closing Company want out and want to move on with someone who isn't as much trouble.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you don't have the right to a precisely correct transaction. What I am saying is that these Seller/Captive Closing factories want to get their money and move the paper as effeciently (for themselves) as possible. When, from their perspective, you start making their life difficult, their preference is to terminate the transaction and move on to someone less demanding.

I've probably bought 25 Weeks on eBay over the last 3 or 4 years, some for $1 with "reduced" or even "no" closing costs. Most have gone smoothly; some a little shakey; and on one or two I have had to accept a thing or two I wasn't happy with; but they all got done. One of the things I like to do is request that I do my own "Resort Notification". The reasons are: (1) I will speed up the process; (2) I don't have to give a "necessary" next year MF to a third party;(3) I will know it is done and that I am the owner of record on the Resort's records; and (4) if there is a problem with the Resort, I'll know about it right away.

If I were dealing with big bucks, I'd be a whole lot more demanding.

George

 

[pammex]

My take on all of this is that many of those who sell these weeks for $1 (or slightly more) on eBay and pick up a little loose change from closing the transaction with their Captive Closing Company want to get the deal done with as little effort and cost as possible. What it sounds like to me is that when the Purchaser starts raising issues that complicate or slow down the transaction, the Seller/Captive Closing Company want out and want to move on with someone who isn't as much trouble.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you don't have the right to a precisely correct transaction. What I am saying is that these Seller/Captive Closing factories want to get their money and move the paper as effeciently (for themselves) as possible. When, from their perspective, you start making their life difficult, their preference is to terminate the transaction and move on to someone less demanding.

I've probably bought 25 Weeks on eBay over the last 3 or 4 years, some for $1 with "reduced" or even "no" closing costs. Most have gone smoothly; some a little shakey; and on one or two I have had to accept a thing or two I wasn't happy with; but they all got done. One of the things I like to do is request that I do my own "Resort Notification". The reasons are: (1) I will speed up the process; (2) I don't have to give a "necessary" next year MF to a third party;(3) I will know it is done and that I am the owner of record on the Resort's records; and (4) if there is a problem with the Resort, I'll know about it right away.

If I were dealing with big bucks, I'd be a whole lot more demanding.

George

I have purchased about 3 from ebay....same seller...very good to work with....suppolied all info I requested to do due diligence..etc....made amends for any errors or gave option for me to reneg. etc.

I would avoid the other seller like the plague due to his reaction and such...

I am curious on this particular post which says you do your own resort notification. Could you elaborate on that for me, I am sure that must surely speed up the whole process....I am in process of a resale as we speak, have contacted resort, have paid ebay seller, there was a dicrepancy on contract so that has been amended, so I am in final stages of returning hard copies to seller, but I am very familiar with resort and if I could notify them now it would really speed things up I bet....Thanks in advance.

To the other poster the guy did you a favor by not selling to you if he is afraid of you questionong what you are buying or from whom then there must be a problem.......so walk away happy and try later from another seller....best wishes.

 

[pammex]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you don't have the right to a precisely correct transaction. What I am saying is that these Seller/Captive Closing factories want to get their money and move the paper as effeciently (for themselves) as possible. When, from their perspective, you start making their life difficult, their preference is to terminate the transaction and move on to someone less demanding.

I've probably bought 25 Weeks on eBay over the last 3 or 4 years, some for $1 with "reduced" or even "no" closing costs. Most have gone smoothly; some a little shakey; and on one or two I have had to accept a thing or two I wasn't happy with; but they all got done. One of the things I like to do is request that I do my own "Resort Notification". The reasons are: (1) I will speed up the process; (2) I don't have to give a "necessary" next year MF to a third party;(3) I will know it is done and that I am the owner of record on the Resort's records; and (4) if there is a problem with the Resort, I'll know about it right away.

If I were dealing with big bucks, I'd be a whole lot more demanding.

George[/QUOTE]

I have purchased about 3 from ebay....same seller...very good to work with....suppolied all info I requested to do due diligence..etc....made amends for any errors or gave option for me to reneg. etc.

I would avoid the other seller like the plague due to his reaction and such...

I am curious on this particular post which says you do your own resort notification. Could you elaborate on that for me, I am sure that must surely speed up the whole process....I am in process of a resale as we speak, have contacted resort, have paid ebay seller, there was a dicrepancy on contract so that has been amended, so I am in final stages of returning hard copies to seller, but I am very familiar with resort and if I could notify them now it would really speed things up I bet....Thanks in advance.

To the other poster the guy did you a favor by not selling to you if he is afraid of you questionong what you are buying or from whom then there must be a problem.......so walk away happy and try later from another seller....best wishes.