Timeshare rental ad fees

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Original Message:

Rental ads and rentals on RedWeek... (by KC):

danielg383 wrote:
Thanks ken.... Do you know how it works? Have you posted rental ads? Other timeshare sites provide several free ad postings before you have to pay......the only payment is your site annual dues, It would obviously increase the number of rentals offered and if they get successfully rented it would keep them (me) coming back if they were not able to use their timeshare.

I can offer a few relevant observations based upon my RedWeek membership of the past ten years and having (successfully) advertised and rented some of my owned (fixed) weeks on this site on multiple (8--10) occasions during those years (including two weeks just this year). I post on TUG as well (at no cost as a TUG member), but most of my renters have responded to my ads on RedWeek. Frankly, I don't choose (or need) to ever advertise anywhere else besides TUG and RedWeek.

1. Anyone can VIEW RedWeek ads, but only paid RedWeek members can RESPOND to sale or rental ads posted on RedWeek. This practice, which I fully support, does a LOT to drive away spammers, scammers and "tire kickers", none of whom will "pay to play" and none of whom I personally want to waste any of my time with.

2. RedWeek is probably the best site available to advertise timeshare rentals or to find timeshare rentals. This is not just my personal opinion and experience. There are 85,000 registered participants on Timeshare Users Group (http://www.tug2.net) and a search of RedWeek related posts there will easily reveal widespread support and endorsement fror satisfied users. Payment to advertise and payment for membership on RedWeek is "a cost of doing business" (although TUG members can post ads on TUG at no cost). For other free advertising, you can always use Craigslist at absolutely no cost --- but you then have to deal with all of the spammers, scammers, semi-literate inquiries and far too many insincere, idly curious people. To each their own, but I decline to deal with ANY of those types. No thanks.

3. The real problem people face with renting out "floating" weeks, regardless of the advertising venue chosen, is that in order to advertise a rental, the owner basically needs to have already made the reservations in order to advertise / rent them out. It's not particularly useful or helpful to advertise by asking "What would you like me to TRY to reserve for you with my "floating" week ownership?" (although I have seen exactly such ads). People understandably want to clearly understand exactly what it is (and when it is) that is being offered for rent. If it's going to be a lengthy and complex exercise involving "only maybe" getting the reservation they want from a floating week owner, they will simply look for something else which is already firmly reserved, and the transaction therefore faster and easier to conclude. This obviously requires some "crystal ball" effort on the floating week owner's part, essentially having to guess what weeks and unit sizes people might want to rent, then reserving those unit / weeks, then advertising those reserved unit / weeks for rent. I've personally never had ownership of (nor any interest in) the uncertainty of the reservation gyrations required with "floating" weeks, but what I have described above is the shared wisdom of many experienced "floating" week owners expressed on other timeshare sites. Personally, I choose to own only fixed weeks in specific units, with guaranteed annual access without any need for any annual reservation calls or gyrations and / or uncertainty. Everyone has different ownership preferences, of course --- to each their own.

That's really all I can tell you. I own my "fixed" timeshare weeks to use them and to enjoy them. Only when a family schedule conflict arises do I rent out any of my weeks, but when I advertise, (that's been about 8--10 times over the past decade) I always use RedWeek and my rental success rate is 100%. I've simultaneously advertised the same weeks on TUG as well, but always with much less response and success. Keep in mind that your rental must be both desirable in date and location --- and competitively priced. If the exact same week at the exact same place is available from someone else for less money, your ad will most likely yield only "crickets".

By the way, I am not associated with RedWeek (or TUG) in any way, other than as a paying member on BOTH sites. If I seem to be waving RedWeek's flag here, it's simply to express that I am very satisfied with a 100% rental success rate here when I've had to advertise and rent out any of our owned weeks during the past 10 years. Your mileage may vary.

Hope some of this helps you. Good luck!

danielg383 wrote:
Thanks ken.... Do you know how it works? Have you posted rental ads? Other timeshare sites provide several free ad postings before you have to pay......the only payment is your site annual dues, It would obviously increase the number of rentals offered and if they get successfully rented it would keep them (me) coming back if they were not able to use their timeshare.