The One Really Big Issue . . .

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

. . . that is standing in the way of timesharing being what it could be is no exit strategy.

We can talk forever about value, and accomodations, and econmics, and resales, and sleazey sales tactics, and trading power, and points and weeks and minisystems, and escalating fees, and the myriad of negativity associated with timesharing.

But, the one big thing, the one thing that really matters, is that when anyone is done with theirs, not only is it not worth anything . . . not only can they not give it away . . . but they either have to keep paying for something they do not need, or endure the consequences of just not paying any more.

Solve that problem, and most of the others will go away, probably including JLB.

[puppymommo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close puppymommo]

I agree that no exit strategy is a big issue if not THE big issues for timeshare ownership. More important than whether it is cheaper to rent than buy. There can be intangibles than work into that equation.

Exit strategy is why the first timeshare I bought (resale) was a RTU in Mexico (Wyndham). I figured if I didn't like it, at least I wouldn't have it forever.

Since then I have acquired 2 more timeshares. To me that's more than enough, since I will eventually have to get rid of them. But I plan on enjoying them for at least 20 more years. By then the whole t/s industry will have changed again, maybe several times.

I would love to have more weeks once we retire, but I sincerely doubt we will ever buy or even acquire for free weeks or points again. When we need more time, we will rent.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I agree that the biggest issue is not being able to easily get rid of the TS when you don't want it anymore. When I bought my timeshares 20+ years ago, that really wasn't an issue like it is now. Had I known what it would be like now, we would never have purchased timeshares.

Now I can see no reason to own a timeshare. If you want to stay in a TS, there are tons of rentals at good resorts, often less than the M/F cost.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

I guess I am fortunate. I will be down to one timeshare in a few weeks. I have been able to find someone to take all of the others I have owned and there have been some that I thought I would really have a hard time getting rid of, like Week 51 on the beach in North Carolina and week 5 in the Poconos. The one I thought had the most value, 92K RCI points, took the longest to move, over a year.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I sold one of my timeshares about 4 years ago. It sold quickly and I got my asking price of $5,000. I also sold a bunch of weeks separately that I had banked at SFX. Today, it is much different.

[akparsa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close akparsa]

You're right!

This was the first question I went to the computer to study after I walked out of the timeshare presentation on my first trip to Big Cedar.

How do I get rid of this thing if I ever buy one?

Luckily that led me to the robust resale market and I purchased that way instead of full freight.

I don't worry as much *yet* about how I'll get rid of it since we're 46 and hopefully have many years of traveling ahead of us. When we're done, I'm just going to hope that BocaBum is still alive and he can help me sell

Anita

[sbkyoshi Member Find all posts View Profile Close sbkyoshi]

This question is mainly for discussion, but why do you guys think Timeshares have such an extremely low value in the resale market? I know that with some companies the actual value of them is lower, but I've seen easily 20,000 dollar ownerships up for as little as 15 dollars on Ebay.

Also, how can it be helped?

[ace2000 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ace2000]

This question is mainly for discussion, but why do you guys think Timeshares have such an extremely low value in the resale market? I know that with some companies the actual value of them is lower, but I've seen easily 20,000 dollar ownerships up for as little as 15 dollars on Ebay.

Also, how can it be helped?

Maintenance fees... maintenance fees have gone up so much, that people can't rent for more than what they owe each year. Thus, they are forced to hold onto a product that has no monetary value or they choose to not pay at all.

Obviously there are exceptions to this, and I'm speaking in general terms.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I sold one of my timeshares about 4 years ago. It sold quickly and I got my asking price of $5,000. I also sold a bunch of weeks separately that I had banked at SFX. Today, it is much different.

Of our original 2 EOYs and 2 weeks, we were unable to sell the 2 weeks and 1 EOY. The other EOY went to the German Language School.

Yup, those days are gone.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

This was the first question I went to the computer to study after I walked out of the timeshare presentation on my first trip to Big Cedar.

In my 5000 days, m/l, on internet timeshare forums, you are the first one who has ever said that, who actually thought about how to end it when they were beginning.

I think a lotta folks just assume they can get out, somehow, so don't think about it.

Now that I re-read stuff, puppymommo was first.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

This question is mainly for discussion, but why do you guys think Timeshares have such an extremely low value in the resale market? I know that with some companies the actual value of them is lower, but I've seen easily 20,000 dollar ownerships up for as little as 15 dollars on Ebay.

Also, how can it be helped?

To begin with, their value "new" is a fraction of the sales price.

Then, now there is a glut on the resale market as many are wanting to leave for a variety of reasons.

Supply and demand.

The amazing thing is that "new" is still overpriced.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Also, how can it be helped?

Yes, when the industry, whether it be those who sell, or the management company, or the resort, provide a system to market resales for their owners.

As has been mentioned in the numerous other threads about this topic, which seems to be the timeshare topic du jour, there are some of all of the above who provide an exit strategy.

Most don't, which is simply to say that most of the industry only care about you when you are giving them money.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

This was the first question I went to the computer to study after I walked out of the timeshare presentation on my first trip to Big Cedar.

How do I get rid of this thing if I ever buy one?

Ditto. Well, actually it was, "Do I want to be paying that 'til I die?" and then it was "How would I get rid of it?"

This question is mainly for discussion, but why do you guys think Timeshares have such an extremely low value in the resale market?

For most people, interest in any impulse buy plunges after a while; cheap stuff people just throw away, while pricey stuff they usually hang onto way after they don't care about, or try to sell. The fact that you have to pay fees on a Timeshare and can't throw them away means they go back on the market instead of into the trash.

Remember that timeshare salespeople are selling a dream to people who usually have nothing to compare it to and are imagining "what's this worth?" in a total vacuum. The customer is thinking, "What is this worth to me?", not "How much does this cost in the market?" The goal of the TS salesperson is to get that customer into a mindset where their product is the only one on the market, so there is no market value, only what it's worth to the purchaser in the abstract. A surprising percentage of people are happy with their purchase even after they find out at resales, especially if they find out about resales after paying off the purchase price. It's the ones who're still paying who get particularly wound; now they're paying off a dream they could have had way cheaper.

The real market doesn't care what the product is worth to an individual. To the producer, prices have to be higher than the cost of producing it and low enough to get enough people interested enough to buy it. Anything they can't sell at a profit, they quit producing. But to someone who already owns something, who purchased it in the first place for their own use, there are no production costs. They may regret what they paid for it, but the purchase prices was not a production cost and so not connected to the sale price, because some people will always be willing to get rid of anything for next to nothing, just to get it out of their hair. The more expensive it is, the fewer people willing to give it away. OTOH the more hassle it is to own the more people want out.

Resales are sold to people who are not thinking "What's this worth to me?" in any abstract sense, but rather "How cheap can I get it?" and "Is there something cheaper that would work just as well?" Since there are no production costs, there is a sense where the floor cost is always zero. After that, it's pretty much a matter of how popular the item is, and how many are for sale.

Most TS resales go to people who already own a timeshare, and most people who own a timeshare aren't interested in getting another one (I have known a number of TS owners in real life; never met one who wanted another TS until I hit TUG and TS4MS), meaning few buyers. And I would guess most people who own a TS want to get rid of it before they die, and only a small percentage end up passing it on to their kids, so lots of sellers. So unless your TS has particular appeal for some reason, so you're not competing against the entire market (like DVC), if you're willing to wait you might get a bit for it, but if you're in a hurry, sell it for nothin'. The more people are in a hurry, the closer the average price gets to zero.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Where the gets blurred is when the sales people say something like, "Last year this was $22,500. This year it's $23,500. . . "

It is an intentional misrepesentation of the real value.

They don't say, "It's $23,500 here, and a buck on eBay."

It is not like real real estate, like the billboard for one of the nice gulf condo projects near here, "50% of Original Pricing."

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Where the gets blurred is when the sales people say something like, "Last year this was $22,500. This year it's $23,500. . . "

It is an intentional misrepesentation of the real value.

Yep. They do a lot of iffy stuff to create that fantasy world, IMHO.

I know some people think your first purchase in a points system should be direct from the Developer, because some of that money goes into developing new resorts. I can kind of see their point, but my problem is that a fair percentage of the cost of Developer points is paying for the salesforce, and I hate the thought of my money going there. That's like financing your own torturers.