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Original Message:
Re: rental payment transaction (by KC):
mccabin wrote:=======================================I am about to list our week for rent for the first time. I am wondering about this new "timeshare escrow" vs. a private transaction for securing the rental agreement. Would appreciate any info others may have regarding experience in completing the transaction and is it advisable to use the timeshare escrow? Or is Pay Pal the best way to go? I have read through all the discussions on this thread and it looks like Phil was not happy w/Pay Pal... Thanks for any help! We are owners at the Maui Ocean Club and want to get our week up and posted asap...we are new at this and grateful for all the other info...just need some help with best way to secrue payment aloha, mccabin
You've already been given some good advice which I need not repeat in response to your inquiry.
However, in specific regard to PayPal, my suggestion is NOT to make it a requirement for any renter to pay for the rental by PayPal. People are slowly (but correctly) learning (unfortunately, sometimes the hard way....) that PayPal affords the renter absolutely no protection whatsoever in a "non-tangibles" transaction. In a "non-tangibles" transaction (and a rental is indeed regarded as a non-tangibles transaction) PayPal guarantees that the recipient gets paid, but PayPal guarantees absolutely NOTHING for the person actually parting with their money --- except that their money is indeed GONE. Quite a one sided arrangement, which a smart renter should summarily refuse to accept.
My point is that if I was interested in renting a week and the owner insisted upon PayPal as the only accepted method of payment, my own reply to that requirement would be.... "No thank you, goodbye". I would (actually, I hereby openly do) recommend that a prospective renter NEVER agree to use PayPal to pay for ANY rental under ANY circumstances.
That all said, there are certainly alternatives to PayPal which can satisfy the protection and comfort levels of BOTH owner and renter, several mentioned here already. One benefit of an escrow service is that it places an objective third party in the middle of the transacation. The down side, of course, is that there are costs associated with employing that service. Good luck.