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Disrupting Resale Timeshare Industry

Would you digitize your timeshare ownerships to the blockchain to disrupt the resale industry?

  • Yes

    Votes: 8 38.1%
  • No

    Votes: 13 61.9%

  • Total voters
    21

kaio

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This is all way over my head.
It will be more simplistic that management company or resort systems (front end and backend as well as admin). If you can use any of their online portals; or rci or ii; or redweek; or even Tugbbs.com website; you'd have no problem utilizing the new technology with an easy user interface (and likely would later be connected via api to communicate with owner accounts of said timeshare platforms).
 

kaio

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Nope, not ostentatious AT ALL. You poop out better ideas than we dream up in a year.


Reading this thread reminds me of the hitchhiker in Something About Mary ranting about his "Seven Minute Abs" concept.
Great Story. Thanks for jumping on the 'that guy' bandwagon. Someone already said that. I responded to why I put that out there.. I don't need to generate profit... that makes a big difference in asking for feedback.. telling you i'm not worried about money is different than assuring you im not worried about it. nonetheless, it still didnt stick. do you know how much seven minute abs workout have generated in sales revenue for said business models? fortunes that changed the industry imo, so your validating an analogy point you didn't intend to make out of pure criticism.
 
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brianfox

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do you know how much seven minute abs workout have generated in sales revenue for said business models?
wow... You might want to take 2 minutes (from your the 1% of your time you are not working) and click the video link to see how you are being perceived around here.
 

WinniWoman

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It will be more simplistic that management company or resort systems (front end and backend as well as admin). If you can use any of their online portals; or rci or ii; or redweek; or even Tugbbs.com website; you'd have no problem utilizing the new technology with an easy user interface (and likely would later be connected via api to communicate with owner accounts of said timeshare platforms).

I still don't get what we need this for- whatever it is. Heck- I don't understand what a block chain is anyway, though i did consider purchasing Bitcoin and some other cryptos a while back then changed my mind. I even set up an account.
 

jeffwill

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This has been an interesting read. Good exercise for a 73 year old brain. I naturally resist the future since I have been successful and happy during, and with, the past. A lot of us are just tired. I have no doubt you represent a "new age" entrepreneur in advanced tech. and have the savvy to stay in the forefront lead. I'd like you to incorporate yourself and I'll buy some stock. I'll give it to my grandchildren. They already understand what your talking about. BTW I voted YES in your poll since I CRS.
 

vice

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I voted yes in the survey as well because I think the technology could be a benefit to making transactions easier and more secure. I don't think it would necessarily shrink the price difference between resale and developer pricing for timeshare sales, which you mentioned may be a benefit of your blockchain based system. "Timeshares are sold, not bought" is a good quote I have seen on this site, which is the biggest reason for the price differences and the second, which blockchain wouldn't influence, is that most timeshare developer systems remove many of the "perk""vip""metal" or "executive" status and benefits that go along with buying from the developer once that owner sells their timeshare on the resale market.

Best of luck to you. Many people thought and still think Elon Musk is nuts or trying to scam investors but I love my Tesla Model 3 and I never would have guessed 15 years ago that i would be letting an all electric car self drive me down the interstate.
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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....and some other cryptos a while back then changed my mind. I even set up an account.

I am sticking to TPU’s - IMO - they are a RCI weeks version of a crypto currency .

********

That said - if the OP can create Stub Hub for rentals -
I could see booking President’s Week in my Mexican RTU float week system and trying it out . Why not compete with - (Wyndham ) “Extra Holidays“. - if the backend headaches are eliminated .
 

billymach4

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It will be more simplistic that management company or resort systems (front end and backend as well as admin). If you can use any of their online portals; or rci or ii; or redweek; or even Tugbbs.com website; you'd have no problem utilizing the new technology with an easy user interface (and likely would later be connected via api to communicate with owner accounts of said timeshare platforms).
Just like Starwood and Marriott.
 

billymach4

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You will of course design a system with a bullet proof, hackproof , encrypted with state of the art algorithm's so our information will not end up on the dark web. Multifactor authentication will be a requirement since we are entrusting our precious investment to a new system.
 

Miss Marty

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What is a blockchain

A blockchain is a database
that is shared across a network of computers. Once a record has been added to the chain it is very difficult to change. To ensure all the copies of the database are the same, the network makes constant checks.

Everything you need to know about what blockchain is, how it works, and how you can get started building a blockchain network today - check out - IBM Limited Edition Blockchain for Dummies
 

Panina

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Every new new technical idea has it risks versus rewards for implementation. Things that we could never imagine 20 years ago became great successes and things we thought would be successful flopped. As abstract as this idea is you never know what the outcome will ultimately be. Many new advances in the past had low probability of succeeding yet they did. That is how progress is made.
 

chapjim

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With no respect at all, you started this string but that doesn't give you rights to police it. We have monitors to keep people in line.

billymach4 has just as much right to post nonsense as you do.

With all due respect; this retort was nonsense. Yes or no would suffice; supporting opinions or questions helpful.
 

Ralph Sir Edward

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This is a great response. And it supports the need for the technology advancement in the industry, because all of these things concerns can be addressed imo. The crash and burn is a common trend; yes... but that does not mean that you cannot succeed.

Here's the thing.. if you are complacent on the industry to stay the same or go in ways the devs control it; that's cool... that's how it's always been essentially. If you want it to change; who is going to change it? who is going to support it? and progress it in all aspects? most of the time; it falls on the back of few work horses who are dedicated to making their vision a reality... and there are always the 'impossible' conditions to overcome along the way.

What value are you going to capture with your system? Every successful technological system captures a value that existed in the system before the the system was built and installed. What is yours?

For any new system to come into use, there must be an existing inefficient system already existing, that can be "springboarded" off of. You have located one.

However, you have a tremendous marketing problem in front of you. If you build a better mousetrap, the world will only beat a path to your door - if the world knows about it. You won't change the primary marketing methods of the big players, they already have a vested economic interest in the status quo. II and RCI have the corporate advantage of "seeding" of unsold/unused corporate weeks - they control them. They won't feed you system at the loss to themselves. And they will keep high-pressure selling of new inventory. (When a timeshare in Hawaii cost $500K to build and sells (split into 50 weeks) for 3.75 million total, that model isn't going to give up. Those are actual numbers for the most recent Hilton Wakiki high rise timeshare.)

So the question is not how efficiently you can build a bitchain based system, but how are you going to be able to take over the II/RCI businesses, with your system. How much better can you make the customer experience over what already exists? Can you gain the critical mass of customers in order to maintain enough cashflow to keep the business running? And do this in an existing business that already has an extreme negative public perception?

I know this has nothing to do with your design, but it has everything to do with long-term success.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
It's the full-freight timeshare industry that needs disrupting, not the resale market.

( Just saying. )

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

jimkin

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My suggestion would be to create a needed business model and then work your magic with technology.

The sites/technology out there for trading have their issues and are owned by companies that have an interest in selling as developers. The sites for owners selling is scattered all over the place with no one place for listing your timeshare on your own. Creating a state of the art trading/selling/rental model that timeshare owners can use and trust using documentation submitted with proof of ownership is lacking for owners. The biggest problem with any new timeshare technology is acquisition of customers, getting the word out and becoming a trustworthy place one will use.

Tug is a great user place for loads of information around for years yet almost all people I meet at timeshares never heard of TUG which shows how hard it will be to get any timeshare model created with success.


I also see great potential benefits here. Removing barriers and simplifying confusion does nothing but make the lives of individual owners easier. Centralizing data is good for everyone except those that are currently profiting from the current structure. Even if individual owners only make a few transactions over their lifetimes there are still many thousands of transactions every year.

Looking at the whole industry and seeking areas to improve efficiency could become very disruptive to today's big players. Also remember the TUG posters seem to be closer to retirement age than the age of starting a family. The younger folks are much more comfortable with technology and would probably readily accept consummating a purchase from an app on their phone. The closing company would have all the purchasers information from the app, all the owners information from the database. I don't know if electronic signatures would be valid for real estate but they are for everything I do from banking to my employers HR and COI forms.

The next step (or opportunity) would be the recording of the deeds. A roadblock but the system has value even without that. And this is one superficial example. Big data could find many efficiencies not obvious at the outset.

Transparency makes it easier for newbies to comfortably enter the timesharing world. A more open marketplace with a more knowledgeable customer base would impact the demand from he developers probably forcing them to lower initial purchase prices while raising resale prices. At least for units that have value.

Over time it could also help legacy associations as some (not all) owners updated their current addresses, contact numbers etc in the database. For you naysayers it's not perfect and would never be 100 percent but it has the potential to be much better than the status quo and would probably morph into something unforeseen at this point.

I think it could be a very fun ride.
 
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jimkin

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What is a blockchain

A blockchain is a database
that is shared across a network of computers. Once a record has been added to the chain it is very difficult to change. To ensure all the copies of the database are the same, the network makes constant checks.

Everything you need to know about what blockchain is, how it works, and how you can get started building a blockchain network today - check out - IBM Limited Edition Blockchain for Dummies
As a soon to be retired IT geek I love this post. It reminds me of what I was told many time as a young guy asking lots of questions. RTFM lol.
 

JudyS

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I don't see how blockchain is going to help with timeshare resales. If there were a problem with people being sold fake deeds, then yes, blockchain would help. But, I've never heard of that happening.

It would be great if buyers could more easily locate resale timeshares. But what is needed for this is a Multiple Listing Service for timeshares, not blockchain. Also, advertising would be needed to make potential buyers aware that the resale market exists.

People here on TUG would benefit from a Multiple Listing Service for timeshares and a more robust resale market. Almost all of us own timeshares and many of our timeshares have little or no resale value -- not because they aren't worth owning, but because potential buyers either don't know about these particular timeshares, or don't even know a resale market for timeshares exists. Being better able to find resale purchasers might dramatically raise the value of the various timeshares TUG members own.

What would be great is a database of available timeshares to buy, an automated survey that help buyers narrow down the timeshares to those reasonably suitable for them, and advertising to make buyers aware of the resale market. The hardest part would be the advertising, which would be time-consuming, or expensive, or both.

Possibly, people on TUG would be willing to contribute to creating or publicizing a Multiple Listing Service for timeshares. Would enough TUG members be willing to contribute, so that this is feasible? I don't know. It would be a good question for a survey.
 

Jason245

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I admit in didn't read all of this so forgive me if it has already been brought up but.

On sale side: deeds governed by states and cities are still involved. Good luck getting block chain there..

On exhange side: general problem is not concern that exchange won't happen but that people don't plan early enough to get what they want when they want.

On the rental side : similar ro exchange side. . Except now you also have to search out customers..problem has less to do with cash transfer and more tobdo with renter finder. . Lots of marketing and competition.

Good luck. . If you decide to list a company to get quick cash there are a few that have been very humerus to me.

There was one a few hundred years ago listed with the business being something along the lines of "I can't tell how ibam doing it, but I will make you lots of money"

During dot.com mania there was one that literally said something like "we haven't figured it out yet, but management is going to make a lot of money from Internet businesses "

And a similar one recently where they more or less said the same thing but with block chain instead of the word Internet. ..

The only thing I can tell for sure is that I can't wait for the live broadcast in 2020 of McAfee eating a certain piece of his anatomy when bitcoin doesn't hit $1m.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

JudyS

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Since we are speaking about blockchain, let me say what I understand blockchain to be, using simple terms. If I am right, this will help other Tuggers better understand blockchain, and figure out what is being said in this thread. And, if I am wrong, others here who know more will correct me. That will help me better understand blockchain, and figure out what is being said in this thread! :)

As I understand it, blockchain uses complex mathematics but the concept behind it is simple. It is a way to authenticate something, and help prove that it is genuine and not fraudulent. For example, it is used in Bitcoin to prove that a piece of internet currency is real currency, not counterfeit currency.

In blockchain, users (who could be a person, or a business) sign a file associated with something of value. Additional signatures can be added, but the earlier signatures are almost impossible to remove or change. Adding more signatures helps to vouch that the thing of value is genuine.

The thing of value must be in the form of a piece of information. These days, the thing of value is often a piece of internet currency such as a Bitcoin. However, vouching for something such as a bank account or credit card report could also be done with blockchain. A timeshare deed is also information, so it could be vouched for in the same way. (Although I think vouching for a timeshare deed, or any deed, with blockchain is completely unnecessary. Deeds already have a system for making sure they are real, and it works fine.)

The signatures used in blockchain are in the form of complex mathematical codes that are very hard to break. Therefore, blockchain only became available recently, because computers that can generate and read such codes only recently became readily available.

I have never heard an explanation of why it's called "blockchain," but I would guess it's because each signature is a block of numbers, and eventually a chain of them builds up.

OK, here's a part I'm not sure of. (Not that I'm all that sure of the above parts, either!) Bitcoin requires even more computing power than would, say, using blockchain to vouch that a credit report has not been tampered with. Each individual bitcoin is a mathematical code that is extremely hard to generate. Essentially, a bitcoin consists of an extremely long number that must have very rare mathematical characteristics. The only way to find a number that meets the requirements is to take many, many numbers and keep testing them until you find a number that meets all the rules. This is called "mining" for bitcoins, and involves huge amounts of computer processing. As time goes on, all the easier numbers are found, and "mining" bitcoins becomes more and more difficult.

OK, tell me how I did!
 

CalGalTraveler

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BTW...If you can figure out how to do this, it will be disruptive to resale, but not to the developers.

Making a resale market is similar to how Carmax took a disorganized and risk-laden car resale market and created a more efficient market which further legitimized buying a resale car. The new car market has not gone away. However some new car buyers will now consider resale. Same will happen for timeshares.

Tech alone will not be sufficient to make this happen. This will entail educating the market which will require significant investment.

I hope you can figure this out. Good luck.
 
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