Why are people giving timeshares away or selling for $1?

[AwayWeGo]

Outside The Box.

indeed the industry does its best to keep the resale market a secret to the average Timeshare owner.

would literally transform this industry overnight if even a decent percentage of owners had any idea you could buy a timeshare from an existing owner, vs from the resort.

Apparently timesharing is such a tiny part of the overall travel & vacation economy that there are no real innovations in the business & nobody is seriously looking for ways to innovate. Otherwise somebody by now would have tried sales approaches other than high-pressure ballyhoo & razzle-dazzle -- maybe something along the lines of Walmart or Costco for developer sales, & possibly something like CarMax for resales. (Wouldn't that be something?)

As it is now, the closest thing to innovation -- which is of no help to timeshare vacationers, only to 1 of the companies -- is DRI's discovery that it's cheaper, quicker, & easier for them to build full-freight sales inventory by moving pieces of paper than by moving concrete & steel & lumber & wiring & piping & furnishings & appliances, etc.

BTW -- buying from the resort does not always mean buying from the timeshare company. When a timeshare resort is a separate entity from the timeshare company, sometimes the resort itself owns foreclosed or deeded-back units, which the resort may then sell. Those are more akin to resales than to full-freignt units from timeshare companies. Trouble is, timeshare companies often have an exclusive right to sell timeshares on site, meaning that even if the resort (as distinct from the timeshare company) has units to sell, the resort is not permitted even to advertise their availability on the premises.

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

 

[rapmarks]

If OP can get 42 tpus for only 350 maintenance fees, and two bonus weeks, that timeshare must have value. I was paying $550 a year for 18 tpus when I gave it away a few years ago.

 

[LannyPC]

you wouldnt spend 3000 a year in insurance to insure a 3000 car though would you?

I know car insurance is not the topic of this thread but...it doesn't matter what the car is worth. Even if the car were only worth $1, the bulk of insurance for a car is for liability in case you injure (or, God forbid, kill) someone in an accident that's your fault. As well there is property damage that could result from you driving that could cost in the thousands. I don't have the stats to back up this guess but I am assuming there is a lot more paid out in damages from car accidents than there are in injuries at TS resorts, hence, the higher insurance.

Now back to the original topic, other reasons why people no longer use their TSs and, hence, quickly want to dump them regardless of cost are:

1) Their travel preferences change. Timesharing may no longer be their cup of tea. Maybe they now prefer all-inclusive vacations, cruises, escorted tours, etc.

2) They may like to vacation in places where TSs are not available.

3) If their interval is in, say, October, they might not like the idea of paying the MFs in January for a vacation they might take in October. Many things can happen unexpectedly between January and October.

4) If people are on a somewhat tight budget, they just might find that cramming into a smaller budget motel room for about $30 less per night than a TS is a good trade-off.

5) This is a personal one for me and I'm sure many will not agree with this one but I personally find that the largest "expense" in traveling is lost wages. People don't generally earn money they need for necessary costs of living by lying on a tropical beach, whacking a golf ball, or riding a roller coaster.

So there you have it, other reasons why TS owners are willing to give up ownership of real estate even for free.

 

[Inhislove]

How long have you owned your timeshare, LoveToVaca?

 

[Tank]

I think it is very hard to use the same week every year if your a week owner.

Trading into something like RCI can be a challenge.

If your a points owner procrastination of picking your vacation out as soon as your allowed leeds to not being able to book what you want, leeds to unhappy owners.

I would just rent if I had to do it all over again, no responsibility, just enjoy your vacation you were able to hand pick, anywhere in the world.

 

[WinniWoman]

I think it is very hard to use the same week every year if your a week owner.

Trading into something like RCI can be a challenge.

If your a points owner procrastination of picking your vacation out as soon as your allowed leeds to not being able to book what you want, leeds to unhappy owners.

I would just rent if I had to do it all over again, no responsibility, just enjoy your vacation you were able to hand pick, anywhere in the world.

Maybe I am unusual but we have used our same fixed week every single year- except once when we purposely traded it for Hawaii- since 1999! In fact, we have used our assigned floaters as well every single year and exchanged them every single year while our son was in school and now for the most part use them for the dates assigned to us unless we just don't like the season- like November.

I think the important thing is to make sure there are excellent odds of you using the fixed week you are considering purchasing BEFORE you buy it.

 

[missyrcrews]

Maybe I am unusual but we have used our same fixed week every single year- except once when we purposely traded it for Hawaii- since 1999! In fact, we have used our assigned floaters as well every single year and exchanged them every single year while our son was in school and now for the most part used them for the dates assigned to us unless we just don;t like the season- like November.

I think the important thing is to make sure there are excellent odds of you using the fixed week you are considering purchasing BEFORE you buy it.

This is our family's view, too. We do trade with RCI (we won a week 41 years ago that trades well, even though for now, we can't go to our resort that week due to school schedules), but by and large, we stay at our home resort during our assigned week. We are creatures of habit, I guess!

 

[Cheryl20772]

Even if given away they will cost thousands to fix and be road worthy. How many millions of used cars are for sale?

I apologize if it seems as if I'm trying to argue the point TS shouldn't be given away, I truly don't understand how they can be completely worthless when nothing else in the world is. People sell used t-shirts for more then a buck.

If I own a timeshare (paid up mortgage) and it sits unused year after year, it still costs me maintenance fees and taxes in the realm of a thousand $$ a year. If I can't or won't keep paying, the owners' association will start charging late fees and eventually hurt my credit with a foreclosure action.

If I own a car (paid for) that sits unused, rusting in the yard, I can throw a tarp over it and, if I never pay a penny more until it's towed to the junk yard, no one will continue to demand money from me.

That's one difference. People with timeshares sometimes feel they have to get rid of that liability from the monthly budget.

 

[cbolto]

I gave someone $1,000 to get rid of my timeshare!

Talking about selling for a $1? I sold my timeshare for -$1,000! I owned a timeshare in Mexico at the Rancho Banderas and it would have cost me $2100 to sell it back to the owners. So, I decided to offer someone else $1,000 to take it off my hands. It was a win-win situation; I covered their MF's for the first year and they got a free timeshare. In return, I was able to purchase a timeshare in the U.S. for points and RCI membership.

 

[rjpdkp]

We don't trade.

We have had a TS at Lake Tahoe since 1985 because that is where we want to go. Illness has made it difficult to go to Tahoe due to the requirement for O2 24/7. I want to support the TS by providing a new owner who will enjoy it as much as we do. Since 1985, we have only belonged to RCI or II for 3 years total and traded twice. I don't want to leave a hole in the budget at our resort so that is why I will give it away for $1.