How many of you bought their time share after actively seeking to do so?

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

Hi to everyone!
I want to ask a question: How many of you purchased their time share as a result of concise ,rational thought? We here so much about people who got “sucked into “ it, or bought under pressure in the resorts.
How many of you actually went on a “Fly and Buy” excursion or any other active form of seeking to buy a time share?

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

I did actively search on E-bay to purchase retail points from Wyndham.
I heard about the internal exchange system.....however,
still learning the goods and bads about RETAIL and WYNDHAM....
Never took a TS sales pitch with Wyndham!!!!!
But did at least 1-15 with others, like Summer Bay, Westgate, BG....

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

moved this response to the more appropriate thread

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Bought on my first presentation, thought it over, crunched some numbers and went back and rescinded. Since then I've bought several(resale) and sold them all. Still have the one my wife bought before we married and still looking for some special places and times to buy again if the price is right.

[bjones9942 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bjones9942]

I took a cruise and liked the area. Came home and figured out what I wanted. Researched timeshares online. Joined this, and one other forum. Googled the resorts of eBay auctions that fit what I was looking for. After two months of watching eBay (and doing research) I bought my unit for $1 + the maintenance fees.

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

Applauds!!

After two months of watching eBay (and doing research) I bought my unit for $1 + the maintenance fees.[/QUOTE]

Applauds!! Ther isn't any icon for tow hands clapping, But thats exactly what i wanna put here. these kind of stories i like to hear.

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

We have purchased several timeshares after researching. We do not do the "fly and buy", we surf and buy!

We bought our first Mayan Palace at the resort and still have it, but overpaid. We liked these resorts so well that we started watching eBay and purchased 6 additional weeks for less than the cost of the first one and then used 3 of those weeks to upgrade at the resort for 2 Grand Mayan 2 bedroom weeks.

We bought a 2 weeks at the Buganvilias in 2003 for a great price becuase when we went on an exchange, we loved it. Last year while there, found a 2-bedroom unit on eBay for $5.50 including closing and transfer fees. We had just turned down an offer to upgrade to a smaller unit for $13,000!

We have bought and sold several timeshares on eBay over the past 7 years. We now own 14 weeks and most were purchased intentionally via resale. While we knew better, we did buy 5 weeks from developers in 2008. Both have had issues, but are very nice and we have had the opportunity to use our units at both. My husband absolutely fell in love with both locations and I could not talk him out of them, but I will say that we got good deals on both. At least we have learned what a good deal is since we buy one eBay a lot.

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

We have bought at resorts, paid too much of course and we have also bought resale. On the whole we are happy with our timeshares.

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

2 of the 3 timeshare properties we have owned were purchased at the conclusion of a conscious, deliberate, informed process. Of course, the first one was bought from a developer, but it was a long time ago in a lower-demand area, and a 1BR blue week to boot, so it only cost us $3,200.

Current week: a Jr Suite at Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan, RTU through 2017, bought in 2006 on eBay for under $500, including transfer fees.

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

First purchase was resale, thanks to a co-worker who coached me to look for resales when I asked her how she took all those great vacations.

However, our first exposure to timeshares which ignited out imagination was several years prior while on a trip to La Paz. A couple there had a much better room and proudly showed us their RCI exchange book.

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

I took a number of timeshare tours and liked the idea. I might have eventually bought from a developer but on a trip to the OBX, I saw a sign advertising resales from the late Marvin Beard, the local broker at Outer Banks Resort Rentals. I went to his office and looked over his listings. I saw an August 2BR week listed for $3,800, the lowest summer price on his list. I decided to make an offer and start low to have some negotiating room so I offered $2,000. To my surprise, that was accepted with no counter. Since I primarily wanted to trade to Europe, with the Caribbean second, I noted some of the times I wanted to go to Europe were blue or white in the RCI book, so my second and third purchases, within the next 6-8 months were HOA resales, also through Marvin of a blue week for $100 and a white week for $500, both 3BR. From TUG, I later learned that South Africa weeks were much more cost effective for those off season Europe trades, and so ditched the blue and white week and bought SA to replace them. All of my purchases have been from resale brokers or individuals, never from a developer and none have cost as much as my first purchase. I have owned red weeks in North Carolina (4 different resorts), Europe (2 resorts in different countries), Australia, the Caribbean, and South Africa. I have never bought on eBay but did buy one of my South Africa weeks from the SA internet auction site BidorBuy. I have also never sold on eBay, but have used MyResortNetwork and the local shopper advertising paper in eastern North Carolina. When I have sold, I have at least broken even except for a slight loss on the Australia week.

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

How many of you purchased their time share as a result of concise ,rational thought?

It wasn't "concise", and may not have been rational, but it was very deliberate.

We came to it after several years of renting whole-ownership homes/condos. Finding just the right rental was hard work. I was under the (mistaken, in hindsight) impression that timeshare would be simpler, and cost about the same. It's actually been a better value, and allowed us to take some vacations that would not have been within our "affordable" range any other way, but about the same amount of work if not a little more.