Original Message:
Re: Misrepresentations in the timeshare world .... beware (by Mike N.):
jayjay wrote:--------------- Interesting posts on both sides. I agree with jayjay that there are people out there that will take hundreds of dollars to basically list the TS on a website. Others who have contacted me tell me they list in all the major newspapers around the world (I have a hard time believing that one). I do not have a problem with a nominal upfront fee. Including the membership fee, it costs me $52/year to post a rental or $62/year to post a sale. Vacation Timeshare Rentals lists several options (free, $19.99/month, $84.99/year, $149.99 lifetime, or 19% commission). An owner can rent and/or sell with one listing. Eric, I checked out your website and I have yet to find out what, if any, are the fees and commissions nor did I see what exactly you would do to increase my chances of selling or getting my business. Would you offer some type of refund if the unit isn't sold in x number of weeks? What incentive do you (or others) have to sell the unit after receiving upfront fees? Are you doing a fair Market Assessment and honestly telling owners what their units will sell for? I see many 2 BDR TS units for sale from my home resort ranging from $4,000 to $15000. Of course these may be in different seasons, but that's not listed in the ad. Anything over $7000-$8000 is pricey for this resort. I'm trying to sell my father's TS (probably only worth 2 grand tops), but I cannot see paying several hundred dollars up front on the chance that you or anyone else can sell the unit quickly. So Eric, here's MY challenge to YOU. Do you offer reliable services at reasonable rates and what are they? Other than place it on your website, what exactly do you do to enhance my ability to sell (or rent) a TS. Can you sell my dad's TS without me paying you a bunch of upfront money? You have a chance to put this matter to rest and prove to jayjay and others that some timeshare sales services are reliable and efficient. MikeThe answer to your question is very simple ... the company pays its overhead after successful sales using the legitimate business model of charging no upfront fee. It's not the client's responsibility to pay the company's overhead before they've done one single thing to sell their timeshare.You pay your salespeople a commission and a percentage to the company after they have worked hard to sell a timeshare. What's so hard about understanding this business model? It's actucally common sense.
Why people would pay a company an upfront fee to list their timeshare in a computer database is beyond my understanding when the comapny has done absolutely nothing to earn that upfront fee.
eric572 wrote:So here is the challenge, you are saying that you want a company to promote it's website so buyers can find it BUT you don't want to pay for it until the property is sold. So your stuck in a catch 22, how can a company achieve top search engine results, pay it's employees and operation costs without having any revenue to do it with?