Timeshare resale scam-E.A.T. Shares?

I was recently contacted by this company E.A.T. Shares in Boca Raton, FL who expressed an interest in purchasing my timeshare in Virginia Beach. They made a nice offer (a couple grand more than I paid for it). In order to close the deal they say they need $1,400 to do an appraisal and other closing costs. I Googled them and came up with nothing. Has anybody had any experience with this company?

There multiple threads, stickies, and FAQ's on the subject of upfront fees elsewhere on this Board.

The combined wisdom is that one should NEVER pay an upfront fee (except in the $20-$50 range for advertising). Think about it: after you pay the $1,400, what incentive will E.A.T. have to sell your timeshare? They will already have your money.

If you want to test this hypothesis, make them a counter-offer: suggest you will pay them $2,800 from the actual sale escrow. See how fast they run.

This Pitch, Yes. This Company, No.

boodang said:

I was recently contacted by this company E.A.T. Shares in Boca Raton, FL who expressed an interest in purchasing my timeshare in Virginia Beach. They made a nice offer (a couple grand more than I paid for it). In order to close the deal they say they need $1,400 to do an appraisal and other closing costs. I Googled them and came up with nothing. Has anybody had any experience with this company?

Click to expand...

The way it works is, you give them $1,400 or so & they list your timeshare on some lame web site somewhere & that's it.

When you ask what about the person who was going to pay a tidy sum for your timeshare, they explain that the buyer backed out at the last minute.

The purpose of the lame web site is so that when you complain, they can refer you to the web site where your timeshare is listed. In other words, the web site is (a) Eyewash & (b) gluteal drapery for the company.

Once they have your $1,400, they know that's all they'll ever get from you, period. So they have no incentive to do anything beyond making it look like they're doing something -- creating the appearance & the illusion, that is.

This particular hornswoggle is known as the Up Front Fee bamboozle.

Nobody on TUG-BBS has ever reported selling a timeshare that way.

Plenty of people on TUG-BBS have complained bitterly about being juked out of their up-front fees by some variation of this pitch.

Click here for a hypothetical nightmare scenario illustrating how the Up Front Fee bamboozle fits into the overlapping layers of multiple timeshare scams.

Don't say you weren't warned.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​