Have you ever tried to explain timeshare and how it works in a short time?

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

This is a funny conversation with someone who doesn't know anything about timeshare. You cannot explain in an hour, or even two hours. You have to have days to tell others how to best use timeshare.

It is also impossible to advise someone on what to buy. I find I change my mind every few minutes during the conversation. I have no answers for people who are thinking of buying a resale somewhere. The poor person walks away as confused as when we started.

[SOS8260456 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close SOS8260456]

Yes, very frequently. I have started to learn though to sometimes just keep my mouth shut. The worst ones are those who see how we maximize our timeshare use and think I can explain THAT in 5 minutes or that they can easily do the same thing overnight. They don't understand that we took what we learned from these wonderful websites and went to "super timeshare ownership" over a long term period of time by absorbing what we read and also by making mistakes and learning by trial and error.

Lisa

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

Yes, it is difficult. to explain it to someone in a casual conversation. The more you talk, the more questions come up. I have enough trouble explaining it to my own family since I do most of the searching and booking etc.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I just keep it simple and tell them what's possible and it usually gets them intrigued if not interested. What usually locks them in is when they actually stay in one and find out what it cost me to get it for them. Then, they become mooches and want free vacations all the time. Then, I show them how to do it for themselves just to get them off my back.

I have encountered people who are absolutely dead set against timesharing and its negative connotations and they are certain that its a bad deal for everyone. Those are the easiest to turn from negative to neutral. All it takes is asking them a few basic questions and showing them how they can REALLY save a ton of money buying or renting timeshares.

It just depends on how convinced you are that timeshares are the single best value for accommodations for families of all sizes. If you truly believe that and can back it up with a mountain of facts, your enthusiasm alone will win people over. I am a believer.

My average cost for a 2 bedroom unit for 7-nights is less than $350 including maintenance fees and exchange fees. And, I am staying in Four Seasons, Marriotts, Hiltons, Hyatts and Disney's. I've got the pictures to prove it. The economics are just way too compelling.

As long as there are droves of people buying from developers at double the underlying market value, it will be possible to buy them for half the underlying market value. The spread is the profit potential of timesharing. The wider the gap, the bigger the opportunity. Right now, that gap is HUGE. So, we should consider this as the golden age of timesharing for those who want to make a business out of it. It won't be as good 5-10 years from now when lots more players are in it to make a buck.

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

90 minutes is all it takes

[cmb Member Find all posts View Profile Close cmb]

I couldn't...

I'm still learning after years and I can't imagine trying to explain it in simple terms to anyone else

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

90 minutes is all it takes

That is until you actually read the terms and conditions for your cheap vacation and learn that it is actually 120 minutes.

[I-DE-HO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close I-DE-HO]

A little OT

It's kind of like trying to explain to people how they can quickly accumulate enough FF airline miles to fly free, or almost free, to their annual t/s vacations. Standard replies are: "you have how many credit cards?" & "doesn't it kill your FICO credit score?". I usually refer them to flyertalk.com

Phil

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

The last few times I've been asked, I've realized just how many hours online I've spent learning...nope, I cannot explain it all in a short time...
Connie

[chubby Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chubby]

I would say you will never explain to any one timeshare they change the rules all the time maintenance fees go up exchange fees go up rules change to make money by the big wigs all the time but by saying that I will say we have had very good holidays with time share and I know some people scrach there heads to how you go to places for the money you say it costs you.
I do think timeshare is going to be not as good in the future as in the past with costs going up all the time.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Spence, as usual, has the right answer. 90 minutes is it. My first timeshare presentation took 6 hours, though.

Try explaining Fairshare Plus in 90 minutes. You don't. The best timeshare sales people don't even talk about the product. They talk about the pains in your life and how vacationing using their product takes them away.

Here's a real example that I saw first hand. I couldn't believe it worked. But it did.

Last Christmas, a woman came into a sales presentation at a resort I was at. She was single and had 2 children with her. Her story was that she loved the product, but she couldn't buy it because she couldn't even afford to buy her children Christmas presents that year.

She bought. You know why?

Because the very shrewd sales woman bonded with her immediately. Showed true empathy for how she felt (even though it was a total acting job. I know because I saw her the next day and I asked) and told her to focus on what she is feeling right now. She asked her to describe in detail how badly she felt not being able to buy her kids presents. She told her in detail how it made her sick to her stomach. She cried a lot.

Then, the sales woman told her that she knew exactly how to prevent that feeling from ever happening again. By buying her product, she would NEVER, EVER have to feel that way again because every year at this time, she would be able to take her kids on a vacation that they would never forget.

Evidently, she was able to pull together enough room on credit cards and cash out of her purse to buy the $13000 timeshare.

After I saw that, I was sick to my own stomach and I was absolutely convinced that great timeshare salemen are the best salesmen in the world.

[I-DE-HO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close I-DE-HO]

Evidently, she was able to pull together enough room on credit cards and cash out of her purse to buy the $13000 timeshare.

After I saw that, I was sick to my own stomach and I was absolutely convinced that great timeshare salemen are the best salesmen in the world.

I hope she came to her senses and rescinded.

What % of buyers rescind? Answer:not enough.

Phil