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Re: Secondary market vs purchase from developer (by Debbie A.):

jeffw92 wrote:

I own a Starwood property (not Hawaii) that I bought via Ebay for $1400 (escrow included) for 1 premium bedroom, every other year. It came with no StarOption or StarPoint.

While I was there for vacation last month, they want to upgrade my ownership. They offer another 1 premium bedroom, EOY usage for $11,000; it comes with 81,000 staroptions and 30,000 StarPoints. If I sign up with AMEX, I would get another 12,00 StarPoints.

If you enjoy returning to the same resort each time, then you are better off buying it on Ebay. If you want to travel the world or to other SVN resorts, then I do see the value of paying $11,000. It all depends on the kind of traveler you are.

I also bought last year at the Westin Villas on the open market. Payed 19K for a one bedroom ocean view every year. I go to Hawaii every year so it made since to buy where I wanted to vacation. While in Hawaii I say a new villa ocean front, I believe it was a 3 bedroom for 44K though All Islands Timeshares resales. Although thats a lot of money it's a lot cheaper than buying from the developer. I was very concerned about buying over ebay or the internet (only because I like to talk to people face to face and check out the company) so I found a company that had an office that I could walk into. This company is also really good and is will to call the current owners to see if they will take less for the units. The original listing on mine was 22K but I didn't want to go over 20K. We offers 19 and it was a done deal.