Ways To Find A Buyer and/or Use Your Timeshare
To earl1379ann and others who come across this thread:
Those Sellers who come to TUG, in today's market, for the purpose of selling their timeshare should quickly realize that selling to someone who has visited TUG is going to be difficult unless the Unit in question is exceptional because of the Developer, the Location, and the Season. (High demand season includes periods when Kids are out of school and the peak of the Ski Season for Ski oriented resorts.)
There is an on-going albeit weak market for selling timeshare in this economy where you can get a fair but not exceptional price (probably somewhere south of 50% of original retail) if you are fortunate enough to find a buyer who specifically wants what you have to sell and is aware that you are in fact selling.
Examples:
1) Individuals who are not Internet Savvy; but have bought into the concept of timeshare and want to add to their portfolio. These folks can usually be found as owners at a desired Resort where you currently own. They may be someone who already owns the same Week that you own but a different Unit or someone who owns a Week prior to your Week at the same Resort or a Week following your Week at the same Resort. As their extended family has grown they have found that their particular accommodations have also been out grown and to them it may make sense to buy an additional Week to accommodate the people they care most about. I sold a Sands Ocean Club 2-BR Unit to just such a person in March of 2009 which was right at the height of this poor economy. My original purchase price was $8,000 for a Week 30 in 1998 and I was fortunate enough to get $5,500 net in 2009.
2) Individuals who are on vacation, maybe staying in a hotel for the umpteenth time, who have recently been through a timeshare presentation and been bitten by the "I want a timeshare bug;" but definitely do not want to pay the high prices that developers want them to pay are also within your Market. Those folks leave the sales presentation primed and eager to buy; but they are going to look elsewhere.
You as a Seller, have to get their attention! One way to do that is to cut a deal with a re-seller who works on commission and has a location preferably across the street or up the block from the Resort. You should NOT pay an exorbitant listing fee and until you find a broker you are comfortable with you should keep on-looking.
3) There are individuals who simply have not discovered that E-Bay has a market for timeshare and most of those folks have never become a buyer or seller on E-Bay. They get interested in timeshare because of friends, family, or whatever, and start looking in classifieds offered by resorts, newspapers, craigslist, and bulletin boards in such places as Mexican Restaurants, local gathering areas such as Libraries, Hospitals, and Churches and where ever people can see advertisements. When someone gets the itch to buy, they are not always going to go to the Internet and if they do go to the Internet they may not find TUG or E-Bay before actually pulling the trigger.
4) There are friends of family members who through verbal networking can be found who develop an interest in buying thinking they are getting a bargain simply because they are getting your great timeshare that you paid heavily to acquire for pennies on the dollar.
5) It is extremely rare to find someone looking to buy a timeshare and actually advertising that fact; but they do exist. Even here on TUG we periodically see folks advertising in the TUG Classifieds and specifically stating that they want this or that timeshare.
Don't give up hope in selling in this Market. To the contrary, learn from folks here who have done what you are trying to do and consider their advice.
Meanwhile, learn new ways to use your timeshare each year. If you have never rented, learn how to go about renting. If you have had trouble exchanging, learn how to be more flexible and consider other exchange companies that are mentioned here on TUG.
Consider offering the use of your specific Week of Timeshare in a Barter transaction. There are folks who have, in lieu of renting, simply given up their use in return for items of value that the other side of the Barter may have acquired wholesale. What is not so valuable to the other person may be of relatively high value to you and such a scenario is ripe for a Barter transaction.
Bottom Line , if you want to Sell, Rent, Barter, or Use your timeshare efficiently you may have to "think outside of the box." It takes patience and assertiveness; but you can get value for what you have.
They were at a resort with low maintenance fees so I didn't expect to get it for free because it's considered desirable.
