Do you think Timeshare is really a good deal for users ??? or only for the companies

[CEDOJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CEDOJ]

Do you think Timeshare is really a good deal for users ??? or only for the companies
I own a timeshare and I really think it is a ripoff....
Can anybody help me to understand why to pay $10K in front and then yearly $750... if you can go anywhere and
pay $100 to $200 per night .. the days you want .. the time of the year you want ??

What is the advantage of being a owner ?? and pay perpetually yearly "maintenance fees" ... that will increase and on top suddenly they can add a "special assessment" ?
How many times do you think a company sell over and over the same hotel ? how they can continue selling years and years the SAME timeshare ??

What do you think ?

Don't you think we should stop this ?

[scootr5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scootr5]

Can anybody help me to understand why to pay $10K in front

Most of us don't think you should pay that $10K up front, except in very rare circumstances.

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Don't you think we should stop this ?

Stop what? Timeshares work for many people. If they don't work for you, that's ok. Unload it. Take a loss if you have to because you probably have to. Then jump into rentals. If that stops working, try something else.

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

My timeshares are way more affordable than owning a vacation home that will sit empty and create lots of work for me.
Plus, it forces us to go out and play - something we went many years without doing.

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

It all depends on a person's situation and preferences. There is "no one size fits all".

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

Timeshares are the greatest thing since sliced bread (an Iowan invention first used commercially in Missouri).

You can't have too many of them.

Want six more?

(By the way, how should you best fight a war? . . . Ban sliced bread. Google it.)

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

A developer purchase is often a bad deal. A resale purchase if you buy the right thing that works for you can be a great deal, especially if you buy somewhere you want to regularly vacation and do not have to add exchange fees to the cost.

In a developer purchase, 50-60% of what you pay is the developer's marketing cost.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Timeshares have been great for our family as we have a few children and must travel during school holidays generally. Hotels would just be too expensive and inconvenient for our family. We bought resale which makes the overall cost economical. Granted, we have spent more money on levies and timeshares than we would otherwise have for holidays if we didn't have timeshare. However, that's because without timeshares, we'd probably take less holidays. We still do family camping but love the comfort of timeshare accommodation and facilities. It really depends what works for you. If you don't think it is beneficial for you, then by all means sell up. Simple really.

[CEDOJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CEDOJ]

Thanks for the comment, can you tell me where did you buy yours from resale ?
I will sell mine and on that market of selling there is a lot of scam.
thanks.

[CEDOJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CEDOJ]

I agreed with you.. but... today with that many internet engines to find good deals in hotels the prices you can get are maybe the same or lower of what you paid every year you keep the timeshare.. so the money you paid in front is the part that is ripoff.
take a look of your resort in expidia.com, or hotels.com or tripavisor, even now in groupon there are always specials in low, mid and high end resorts... then you will pay for a week between $700 to $1000 that is near of what you pay in maintenance and taxes every year...
I think that industry is doing too much money from people like you and me... more when they sell and over sell the same hotel for years !!!
think about it.

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

Do you think Timeshare is really a good deal for users ???

It has been an excellent deal for us, but we waited until we'd researched things before making a permanent commitment, and then we bought resale. We did buy a "sampler" direct from the developer, but that was a short term commitment and I think it cost just under $1000. It's been a while.

Can anybody help me to understand why to pay $10K in front and then yearly $750... if you can go anywhere and
pay $100 to $200 per night .. the days you want .. the time of the year you want ??

We need at least two hotel rooms for our family, and can frequently find deals for 2 BR condos with full kitchens for less than one hotel room would cost us. I used to regularly compare prices when and where we were going; sometimes we paid more than some other deals I could find, but overall we saved considerable as owners.

However, we did not pay $10K upfront. I've known plenty of people who did who were happy with their purchase, though. The fact that it "forces" people to go on vacation regularly (if you don't, you lose money!) is a definite benefit for some people, and counteracts the fact that they didn't shop around and get a better price. Others like the perks you get by buying direct -- our points system has all kinds of stuff connected to buying direct that you don't get buying resale. None of them are things that interest us much, but a surprising percentage of people who know about resale are willing to pay for them.

and pay perpetually yearly "maintenance fees" ... that will increase and on top suddenly they can add a "special assessment" ?

Special assessments don't hit as hard with most points systems, just because the cost is spread over a much larger number of people (for instance, I don't own in Florida, but I help pay for the Florida resorts I have access to if they're hit by a hurricane). Special assessments on weeks ownerships also vary considerable, depending on management style and owner preference. Maintenance fees increase regularly, what ever you own, but so do the costs of other forms of vacationing.

Timeshares either work for you, or they don't. They work for us better than anything else we know about.

Thanks for the comment, can you tell me where did you buy yours from resale ?

If you just want to get rid of it, list it here or on TUG as a freebie (buyer pays transfer fees). Timeshares are an impulse buy for a lot of people, and, since timeshares carry an ongoing cost, lots of those impulsive buyers want to get rid of them. Unfortunately for those sellers, not only is the resale buyer is much more informed than most people who're buying from developers, but there are more sellers than buyers, meaning that, unless you have something that's special, you aren't going to get any money out of it.

[CEDOJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CEDOJ]

How do not pay money up front ?
buying it from resale market... right ? did you buy from there ? any recommendations ? I would like to sell mine and I need to find a trusty company to do it with...

[CEDOJ Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CEDOJ]

I agreed and thanks for the comments, this works for some people... but make the mathematics.. I know it will depend of what you paid but I'm sure the
timeshare companies are doing so much money, and they are selling a problem for the people having to pay EVERY year a FEE..
Today with all the vacations or hotels web engines I"m sure you can find your resort and get it for lower or same price of what you pay for maintenance+taxes (without taking in
account special assessments), so why to own ?
if you can choose where to go, check-in any day of the week, stay many days as you want, and ... No pay "exchanges fees", "saved fees", "RCI Fees" etc.etc..

I realized this too late ... and I want to share it ...

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

Today with all the vacations or hotels web engines I"m sure you can find your resort and get it for lower or same price of what you pay for maintenance+taxes (without taking in
account special assessments), so why to own ? .

Sometimes I can find rentals for less than I pay, but not usually.

if you can choose where to go, check-in any day of the week, stay many days as you want, and ... No pay "exchanges fees", "saved fees", "RCI Fees" etc.etc..

This is why we were not interested in timeshares until we discovered points systems. With most points systems, you have multiple places to go and can check in any day of the week and stay two days, seven days, or ten days (or other combinations of days -- most of our resorts do have a two-day minimum, though). In our system all that is covered by the usual yearly fees; some other points systems break it down and charge exchange fees or maids fees for short stays or whatever. We can also trade into RCI, just as a weeks owner can, but so far we haven't made use of that. We have used RCI Extra Vacations, which is like renting a week except you have a corporation to yell at if things go wrong. Even when we haven't planned to use the entire week, Extra Vacations are often a good deal financially compared to anything else we could find.

But it depends on where you go and what you want to do. Timeshares fit our style; maybe a different kind of timeshare would have worked better for you, or maybe they just aren't your style.

[Brogers92026 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brogers92026]

Sometimes I can find rentals for less than I pay, but not usually....

Extra Vacations are often a good deal financially compared to anything else we could find.

But it depends on where you go and what you want to do. Timeshares fit our style; maybe a different kind of timeshare would have worked better for you, or maybe they just aren't your style.

I agree with you.

My last stay at Marriott Newport Coast (an exchange) cost me $800 for the week ("all in" - MF, taxes, exchange fee) and when I checked tripadvisor, the best that I could do was $297 a NIGHT. Or about $2100 for the week.

I can often find a 250 square foot room at a motel 6 for less than what I pay for a night in a timeshare (which is often over 1000 square feet and comes with a full kitchen. But we (or the OP anyways) would not be comparing apples to apples.

Last minute vacations and Getaways (RCI and II) are often bargains. Every year I spend a week or more at one of the Marriotts in Palm Desert using a "getaway" and pay between $250 and $400 for a week (or $35-60 a night). The best price that I could get through a place like Hotels.com is usually $150-200 a night (1 or 2 BR units).

So I don't agree with the OP. But if he/she doesn't have the time/interest to do the research and/or is satisfied with a 250 square foot hotel room, then perhaps they shouldn't be a timeshare owner.