[2015] Redweek dead

[TUGBrian]

http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_rental_verification.html

 

[vacationhopeful]

I like Redweek clients ... they see the price, compare mine to the other listings for that resort and other TS resorts in the same city, and can contract me .. who they know paid a membership fee and paid for an ad. And the amount is enough to limit 'fishing' ads and inquiries.

In the last hour, I had a "shopper" from another timeshare rental web site ... no cost to either response or place an ad. My personal experience with THAT website is very poor ... offers WAY below my MF costs much less my transaction costs. Told me they would just wait til I came down to their offer. And that is how EVERY inquiry plays out ... in that exact same way .. with it being a total WASTE of my time. And acting like they are doing me A BIG FAVOR.

And it is not just Craigslist ....

 

[Fasttr]

Figured it was likely not coincidental regarding the timing of this communication and this thread, but an email received today from Redweek contained the following....

Is RedWeek Dead?
You may have noticed that our new Web site shows fewer rented/sold weeks than the old site. It's true... but, not for the reasons you may have assumed. Truth be told, there have been SO many rented/sold units recently that they were overwhelming the lists of available weeks! However, since several owners have shared that they use rented/sold information to help price their units, we're actively working on a way to make that information available again in a much better way.

 

[GaryDouglas]

Is RedWeek Dead?
You may have noticed that our new Web site shows fewer rented/sold weeks than the old site. It's true... but, not for the reasons you may have assumed. Truth be told, there have been SO many rented/sold units recently that they were overwhelming the lists of available weeks! However, since several owners have shared that they use rented/sold information to help price their units, we're actively working on a way to make that information available again in a much better way.

Don't be surprised if "a much better way" will be associated with a fee...

 

[gblotter]

I have a Redweek listing trying to rent out my unit. While Redweek has been very productive for me in the past, I'm getting little interest this time. It is a prime week in a prime location, and my listing is priced the cheapest. It's not just me - I don't see hardly any listings changed to "Rented" status. And there is much more rental inventory available on Redweek it seems (at least for my resort) - many weeks available but nothing getting rented out.

Has Redweek lost is effectiveness for others folks as well? Are you finding other rental marketplaces to be more productive?

I had to drop my price by 20% from last year's rental amount, but I finally found a renter on Redweek. I made a few hundred dollars more than my maintenance fees, so I'll consider myself lucky given the current high airfares to Hawaii.

 

[Quilter]

I like Redweek clients ... they see the price, compare mine to the other listings for that resort and other TS resorts in the same city, and can contract me .. who they know paid a membership fee and paid for an ad. And the amount is enough to limit 'fishing' ads and inquiries.

In the last hour, I had a "shopper" from another timeshare rental web site ... no cost to either response or place an ad. My personal experience with THAT website is very poor ... offers WAY below my MF costs much less my transaction costs. Told me they would just wait til I came down to their offer. And that is how EVERY inquiry plays out ... in that exact same way .. with it being a total WASTE of my time. And acting like they are doing me A BIG FAVOR.

And it is not just Craigslist ....

I had a contact similar to yours from my TUG ad. My ad was a reasonable request. High demand week. I got 5 requests notices all at once from same long-time Tugger. They offered half of what I was asking since it was so close to check in. However the reality was, there was more than month to check-in and the activity had significantly ramped up on my Redweek ad. It had been recently rented.

p.s. I have tried to mark my ad as rented and even tried deleting it but those features won't "light up" when I hover over them.

 

[Quilter]

Figured it was likely not coincidental regarding the timing of this communication and this thread, but an email received today from Redweek contained the following....

Don't be surprised if "a much better way" will be associated with a fee...

Redweek just added a new feature and, yes indeedie, they are looking for more ways to make money. $14.99 to add the feature "Redweek Verified". Sure that is a value added for the rentees but just more fees for the renters.

I was recently contacted by someone interested in my ad and responded right away. He said I was 1 of 2 who responded from his 6 contacts, even though we had both rented our weeks (mine had just rented that morning). "Redweek Verified" doesn't help the rentee if the person with the ad won't answer their request or has already rented. It's a gimmick similar to "bolding" your ad just to charge more fees.

I'd like to know how Redweek is adding value for the renters as they find new ways to market the website.

 

[NTP66]

Redweek just added a new feature and, yes indeedie, they are looking for more ways to make money. $14.99 to add the feature "Redweek Verified". Sure that is a value added for the rentees but just more fees for the renters.

I was recently contacted by someone interested in my ad and responded right away. He said I was 1 of 2 who responded from his 6 contacts, even though we had both rented our weeks (mine had just rented that morning). "Redweek Verified" doesn't help the rentee if the person with the ad won't answer their request or has already rented. It's a gimmick similar to "bolding" your ad just to charge more fees.

I'd like to know how Redweek is adding value for the renters as they find new ways to market the website.

That feature has been available on Redweek for many months now, FWIW; it's not new.

On a related note, of the 5 people who have contacted me on Redweek about my Maui rental, only one has gotten back to me letting me know that their plans changed. Everyone else has just ignored me when I ask if they're interested in my reply. I did get one reply from my Tug ad, but it was from Preston Green, and I'm not even going to go there. My ad on MyResortNetwork has generated zero interest.

 

[TUGBrian]

p.s. I have tried to mark my ad as rented and even tried deleting it but those features won't "light up" when I hover over them.

what is the ad number? were you on an ipad by chance?

 

[Sunbum]

I have a couple weeks listed on Redweek and I would say that inquiry's are down by at least 50% this year. Same weeks and same prices as last year.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I had a Maui studio (Mar26-Apr2) sit on RW for a while and only had low ball offers. Then when the ad was set to expire, I reposted for $60 less in price ($1950 to $1890) so it would show as 'new', and also spent money to Bold. Within a day I had 2 offers - one at asking without many questions and paid in full immediately (PayPal).

I have rented all of my weeks on RW without issue for 8+ years. Only hits I had with TUG board were people looking for a bargain (since us Tuggers are 'looking for a deal' by nature...).

 

[Tank]

DavidRobin wrote
"Only hits I had with TUG board were people looking for a bargain (since us Tuggers are 'looking for a deal' by nature...)."

I would call a deal, getting a rental unit @ ones cost. or we would not have them.

I just rented 4 units, asking price, for Easter thru Redweek. No hits from TUG.

I think TUG might be hurting themselves with the low $100 "last minute rental section"
I like this section a lot, i don't want it to go away. I think this dictates the market.
I shudder at the loss some have to take because of plans falling thru.
Especially at prime times when the price is up!

I wander how many years it has been at the $100 price ?
How much has fee's gone up in that amount of time?

I'm lucky I'm points, if something doesn't rent I'm out very little.
Week owners suffer most.

There are thriving businesses being run in this section at our expense.
Sometimes you might only be able to get that $100, and be happy.
Prime time is another story.

 

[dotnetnerd]

2 factors come to mind why rental interest may be low.

-the Canadian dollar is horrible right now. We're in Florida now and I can count on one hand the number of Ontario plates I've seen the entire time here, including along the drive down.

-the weather up north has been unusually mild compare to the last 2 horrific winters

 

[NTP66]

My rental is less than two months away now, so I'm getting a little nervous. Temps may be up everywhere, but I figured the recent crazy flight deals to Hawaii would offset this. We'll see, I guess.

 

[DavidnRobin]

DavidRobin wrote
"Only hits I had with TUG board were people looking for a bargain (since us Tuggers are 'looking for a deal' by nature...)."

I would call a deal, getting a rental unit @ ones cost. or we would not have them.

I just rented 4 units, asking price, for Easter thru Redweek. No hits from TUG.

I think TUG might be hurting themselves with the low $100 "last minute rental section"
I like this section a lot, i don't want it to go away. I think this dictates the market.
I shudder at the loss some have to take because of plans falling thru.
Especially at prime times when the price is up!

I wander how many years it has been at the $100 price ?
How much has fee's gone up in that amount of time?

I'm lucky I'm points, if something doesn't rent I'm out very little.
Week owners suffer most.

There are thriving businesses being run in this section at our expense.
Sometimes you might only be able to get that $100, and be happy.
Prime time is another story.

I meant - for example - listing my OF studio at Westin Kaanapali for $1900, and from TUG getting an offer at $1400, or an offer for exchange into a lesser VOI.

I did get $1900 on RW.

I do not see on LMR my types of TS weeks. My MF/week are much greater than LMR - so if I am on LMR, I am losing big. Not sure if LMR does a disservice to TUG as a whole, but if I were able to travel at last minute - bargains often show up. That would be a benefit to me.

I rent 3 TS weeks (my extras) on RW with great success for around $2000/week. My OF studio goes to help cover 1Bd OF side (that has a huge MF), and my other 2 (Westin Kierland) I get well above MF. These two have paid for themselves and are worth what I originally paid on resale market (not inexpensive). My strategy has always been to own high-end VOIs - I find more value in these for both vacationing and renting ease.

I find that with renting that it is best to set a fair rate, having a desirable location and week, and describe the rental appropriately. I see so many RW ads that lack in description.

 

[TimeshareTraveller]

I am seeing the same decline in rentals at Redweek, as well. But like you, I am not sure if it is Redweek or just the lousy rental market these days. Ten years ago, I was able to rent my week 52 studio in Cabo for $1,400/week. This year, I was only to get $750, just enough to cover my maintenance fees. It's been like that since the 2008 housing crash.

I think it's a combination of a weakening/softening rental market, other options like AirBnB, the lousy economy, and redweek has been falling in Google's listings so it isn't always first on a search. I think they may be trying to get by with just word-of-mouth, but with AirBnB pressure, that isn't working so well.

 

[chuck1955]

Besides the uncertainty of the economy, air fares are pretty high all around. For a family of 4 having to fly somewhere, the air fare ends up being as much or double the rental cost. There also seems to be a glut of availability, probably due to those who have bought up a lot of the resale for rental purposes after the 2009 recession whereas the original owners were using them for their own vacation and not renting them.

Chuck

 

[vacationhopeful]

.... There also seems to be a glut of availability, probably due to those who have bought up a lot of the resale for rental purposes after the 2009 recession whereas the original owners were using them for their own vacation and not renting them.

Chuck

The killer this winter season is the Canadian exchange rate for US Dollars. Not gas prices, not airline fares, not rental car prices ... the 40-45% loss to convert to US Dollars. Whose fault? Their government or the world economy or our INFLATED dollar (by the "just expand the budget.. print MORE money").

I am staying in Ft Lauderdale/Pompano for the last 4 nights ... the Canadians are NOT HERE. Not their cars in the parking lots or on the streets. My 9th year...

PS I have had MULTIPLE former (and "I never talked to YOU before") guests ask as much as a 50% reduction in my rate (usually 25-30% figure asked) ... and NOT booking.

 

[rudyr]

or our INFLATED dollar (by the "just expand the budget.. print MORE money").

Printing more dollars, near 0% interest rate, and other monetary actions by the government all serve to weaken, not strengthen our currency. The dollar is strong because globally our economy has done well while others haven't, so despite our debt we're still the country most likely to be able to service it with growth.

 

[grupp]

I have place 10 ads (all Marriotts) on Redweek for 2016 and all have been rented. I would say the number of inquiries may be down, but the inquiries I did receive were serious renters and usually rented to the first person who contacted me. I also have several brokers (Concierge Realty, Stay PC and Travel Scout) who contact me through Redweek to rent my weeks.

My prices for 2016 for most weeks were slightly higher than 2015.

I am very happy with Redweek.

 

[suzannesimon]

I agree. Most of my 2016 weeks rented within a week of placing the ads on Redweek, a year early. The only ones left are Christmas weeks. So far, so good.

 

[grupp]

One thing I would like to add, is I have found the most active time for my summer weeks is from Thanksgiving through the 1st two weeks in December. So, I have started placing my ads around the 1st part of November and they are usually rented before Christmas, which is nice since the fees are due in January.

This year I had on week that did not rent as fast, so I dropped the price by $150 last week and had multiple renters within days. I still got $50 more than last year, so it was all good. But I think it does show that pricing is very important to getting responses.

Most of my Redweek inquiries are willing to pay my full asking price. I feel the majority of them are just looking for a fair price and don't want to waste time haggling over price any more than I do. So, I list my weeks at the price I want and don't bother with people who try to low ball me or send the "what is your best price" message. If I am not getting responses, I may lower it slightly to see if that generates some responses.

 

[NTP66]

How many of you have renter your unit inside of 60 days of the reservation? I'm getting close to the point of really dropping the price substantially so that I don't let the reservation go to waste. I've had 6 or 7 inquiries about it, but nothing has panned out yet. I do see that most of the 2BR units around my timeframe were rented, so it's not like they're all just sitting out there available.

 

[suzannesimon]

I've never cut it that close, but I think if I was close to the 60 days, I'd either decide to rent it or deposit it in II.

 

[NTP66]

Exactly 40 days after posting my unit on Redweek, TUG, and MyResortNetwork, I finally rented it out tonight. In total, I received 10 inquiries - 9 from Redweek, and 1 from TUG (Preston Green, so that one was immediately ignored). The funny thing was that all of my inquiries came in batches of 2-3 on the same day.

Ah well, I basically got three years' worth of maintenance fees for the rental, so I'm pretty happy about it.