Could We Have a Direct Exchanges Forum?

[CalGalTraveler]

I like this idea. Perhaps this has been covered elsewhere in TUG but it would be helpful to understand step by step how a successful direct exchange would work. Also are there sample contracts that lay out terms if one side is not able to execute their side of the agreement?

 

[PrairieGirl]

As a TUG member I'm in the minority but I would prefer for TUG to not do this as a forum. In my opinion one of the best things about TUG is that advertising for buying, selling, renting and exchanging timeshares is severely restricted. The Marketplace may not be as easy to navigate as the forums but it already exists.

As a TUG moderator, I know there's already enough work for the mods of the existing buying/selling/renting/exchanging forums. We don't need to encourage yet more scammers to visit what might come to be seen as just another clearinghouse website.

First of all, thanks for all the work you do as a moderator! I'm sure that it can't be an easy job.

I'm a bit confused about your concern of a direct exchange forum giving access to scammers. IF it is limited to members only (which most have advocated for), how is that any different than access to the Marketplace?

 

[TUGBrian]

there will not be a forum for exchanges, im sorry.

if you would like improvements in the exchange section of the marketplace, im all ears. however id gander that out of the 20 or so folks who have replied in this thread, less than 1/4 of them have active exchange ads in the marketplace.

While it may indeed take "5x" as long to post a direct exchange ad vs a forum post....it truly takes less than a minute or two to post a direct exchange ad. that isnt a terribly fair comparison IMO.

as was mentioned in the past, many of the arguments come from not being able to search, and every time we mention that matches are automatically sent to you via email notification, it appears to be ignored.

My only explanation for that is some folks simply want to see whats out there vs actually submit their own ads for exchange (ie just want to send people offers, without actually creating ads themselves).

 

[PrairieGirl]

OK, we've got our answer now folks, let's help Brian make the MarketPlace more functional for direct exchanges!

Brian, do you remember in the old days the way the exchange forum page listed all the ads with a column of what was being offered and another column with what you were looking for so that you could just look at the page and decide which ads to research further?

So for example, mine offering Sedona Springs said "anything" because I was open to any offer that sounded good and actually made trades that I might never have thought of when I posted the ad. I think this is what members are trying to get back to, because many of us aren't looking for anything specific and are interested to see what will come our way.

But if you truly are looking for something specific it would indicate that also.

Just my $0.02

 

[alwysonvac]

there will not be a forum for exchanges, im sorry.

if you would like improvements in the exchange section of the marketplace, im all ears. however id gander that out of the 20 or so folks who have replied in this thread, less than 1/4 of them have active exchange ads in the marketplace....

Improvements ideas for the Marketplace Exchange section only

(1) Make the TUG Forum username a Mandatory field on Exchange ads.
Today it only lists how long the person posting the ad has been a member.
Some folks are also interested in the # of post if that’s possible to display that would be nice.

For example today the ads only displays the following:
#212796 - member since Feb 2019
#211851 - member since Jan 2019

In the past, the TUG Forum login could be different than the Marketplace login. Is that still the case? Or are they the same login now and the “member since” information is truly from the TUG forum? I can’t tell since I’ve always used the same login for both.

Or even better, can the ad show the Tug name with avatar and info like the forum?


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(2) Allow all parties to provide their TUG Forum member name as the single source for contact if they desire.

For example I only want to provide my TUG Forum username, today it shows the following:



Ideally it would be nice to simply allow the interested party to start a TUG Forum conversation with a direct link instead of providing their TUG Forum username on the contact pop-up.


​

 

[Panina]

In the past, the Tug Forum login could be different then the Marketplace login

Still is the case, both of mine are different.

 

[alwysonvac]

Still is the case, both of mine are different.

Thanks for the info.

Hmmm... so maybe the “member since” information is showing how long they have established that separate login

 

[Panina]

there will not be a forum for exchanges, im sorry.

if you would like improvements in the exchange section of the marketplace, im all ears. however id gander that out of the 20 or so folks who have replied in this thread, less than 1/4 of them have active exchange ads in the marketplace.

While it may indeed take "5x" as long to post a direct exchange ad vs a forum post....it truly takes less than a minute or two to post a direct exchange ad. that isnt a terribly fair comparison IMO.

as was mentioned in the past, many of the arguments come from not being able to search, and every time we mention that matches are automatically sent to you via email notification, it appears to be ignored.

My only explanation for that is some folks simply want to see whats out there vs actually submit their own ads for exchange (ie just want to send people offers, without actually creating ads themselves).

If I could have one change it would be to be able to show the Tug forum username. I would then be able to start a conversation with them in the tug forum rather then having to use my privated email. It would also give me the comfort of who it is.

I do feel others are hesistant to post what they have. As I said before I got a few replies to my posted permenant exchange ad but only one had an exchange ad posted. Maybe you can try a promotion, such as place an exchange ad....get another ad fee or extend your membership 3 months or get in raffle for a tee shirt, etc.

 

[DeniseM]

You don't have to be a forum member to use marketplace - many are not.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

 

[klpca]

You don't have to be a forum member to use marketplace - many are not.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

This is exactly why I hesitate to use the direct exchange ads in the marketplace. It's just over my personal limit line. If I could see their forum username it would make me a bit more comfortable going forward.

 

[elaine]

I will never use marketplace again. Glad it works for others, but I tried 2X with prime weeks and had people emailing me with garbage. Sometimes if I see someone who is searching for what I have I pm them and have done a trade that way and vice versa, which worked out for all of us.
I have no desire to rent to the public, which can include those on TUG marketplace. So, I deposit great summer beach weeks into RCI as a last resort. I don't need the RCI TPUs or points, but that's where I'm at. I would be happy with some fair exchanges, esp for systems like Marriott that don't trade via RCI.

 

[TUGBrian]

you could simply type your forum username in the description field if you wanted to display it on any of your ads...many do that now.

 

[A.Win]

I am a member of homeexchange.com. I give people my timeshares and hotel points and I stay at their primary or vacation home typically. I really wish homeexchange had more timeshare inventory, because I prefer staying at professionally managed resorts.

HomeExchange has much better search functions. If TUG/Redweek could develop something similar, perhaps by working with or copying HomeExchange, it could compete very well with RCI, II, SFX, etc.

 

[TUGBrian]

does everyone in this thread have an existing direct exchange ad? if not, what is the main reason for not posting one?

 

[bizaro86]

if you would like improvements in the exchange section of the marketplace, im all ears. however id gander that out of the 20 or so folks who have replied in this thread, less than 1/4 of them have active exchange ads in the marketplace.

I've had exchange ads in the past. I no longer do for a couple of reasons. The marketplace doesn't have the social proof of the forums. It is way more anonymous, which makes it a low trust environment. That also empowers people to submit lowball offers, which is all I ever received to my marketplace ads. When I've exchanged with people through the forums offers have consistently been fair to both sides, or at least in the ballpark.

Also, I don't think the search really works, because it requires too much specificity. As an example, I posted an Oahu unit week 52 with a request for worldmark points. However, someone else posted a worldmark unit (at a specific worldmark resort) which didn't match to my search. I'm not likely to put all 60+ worldmark resorts into my search, even though someone could list under any of them.

Anyway, your ball of course, but I think the marketplace has structural deficiencies that make it unsuitable for exchanging that an exchanging forum would address. It isn't a good use of my time to craft multiple exchange ads for a system that doesn't work, so I don't.

I would need many ads: one to offer my Oahu units, one for sheraton desert oasis, plus multiple ads for worldmark and shell. And that would be just on the offering side. I could spend hours putting up ads and have a low probability of a match. With a forum I would put something like:


W: XXXXXX H: SDO, Worldmark, Shell, Oahu

(Xxxx being what I wanted, which is redacted to follow the rules)

 

[Panina]

Giving the option to show our

you could simply type your forum username in the description field if you wanted to display it on any of your ads...many do that now.

Having the option to put it or see it in a field quickly, possible in title, would make one not have to scroll everything. I will start putting “tug mem panaina” in my listing title but many might not remember to do it, whereas a field entry is staring us all in the face.

 

[TUGBrian]

you could put it in the ad title field then, that is both i bold, and displayed even in a minimized ad.

the problem as mentioned above, is twofold:

1. not all TUG members ever register on the forums
2. when the marketplace was developed, tuggers (on the forums) voted overwhelmingly to NOT include their usernames or any contact data by default on any marketplace ads.

while it is still an option for anyone to put their own contact data in the ad description fields, the vast majority do not even to this day.

 

[TUGBrian]

I've had exchange ads in the past. I no longer do for a couple of reasons. The marketplace doesn't have the social proof of the forums. It is way more anonymous, which makes it a low trust environment. That also empowers people to submit lowball offers, which is all I ever received to my marketplace ads. When I've exchanged with people through the forums offers have consistently been fair to both sides, or at least in the ballpark.

Also, I don't think the search really works, because it requires too much specificity. As an example, I posted an Oahu unit week 52 with a request for worldmark points. However, someone else posted a worldmark unit (at a specific worldmark resort) which didn't match to my search. I'm not likely to put all 60+ worldmark resorts into my search, even though someone could list under any of them.

Anyway, your ball of course, but I think the marketplace has structural deficiencies that make it unsuitable for exchanging that an exchanging forum would address. It isn't a good use of my time to craft multiple exchange ads for a system that doesn't work, so I don't.

I would need many ads: one to offer my Oahu units, one for sheraton desert oasis, plus multiple ads for worldmark and shell. And that would be just on the offering side. I could spend hours putting up ads and have a low probability of a match. With a forum I would put something like:


W: XXXXXX H: SDO, Worldmark, Shell, Oahu

(Xxxx being what I wanted, which is redacted to follow the rules)

while I see your argument, I dont think that any exchange system provides a simple and easy way to trade "resort a" for "worldmark or shell points" IMO.

perhaps we can come up with a solution to easily add "all resorts in a particular system" to the want section vs having to add them individually.

although admittedly you are the first to ever mention this particular issue, its never once come up in the past as far as i can remember, if its something we can do on our side...im happy to implement it.

 

[klpca]

does everyone in this thread have an existing direct exchange ad? if not, what is the main reason for not posting one?

I like searching for opportunities just like I search on Interval. I am certainly not committed to doing a direct exchange because I have other options, but for the right location with the right person, I would consider it.

 

[bizaro86]

while I see your argument, I dont think that any exchange system provides a simple and easy way to trade "resort a" for "worldmark or shell points" IMO.

perhaps we can come up with a solution to easily add "all resorts in a particular system" to the want section vs having to add them individually.

although admittedly you are the first to ever mention this particular issue, its never once come up in the past as far as i can remember, if its something we can do on our side...im happy to implement it.

I think the issue is on both sides of the matter. I've traded worldmark for HGVC units a few times with multiple people. Inevitably it's someone who wants a specific resort that they don't have access to (New Orleans, Yellowstone, Anaheim, whatever.) But most people don't know which systems have resorts where, my offer of "worldmark points" may not get taken up. I could pick something, but then I'm looking for a needle in a haystack, when the huge flexibility of points makes finding a trade exponentially more likely. If there was a way for my offer of worldmark points to come up for anyone searching a location that worldmark has that would be useful. Similarly for other systems (shell, marriott DC points, etc)

The other side of the coin is when I tried to trade my Oahu week for worldmark points. I agree that is something I couldn't do through a traditional exchange system (which is why I wanted to try TUG for it in the first place). I would put a lower priority on that, as not too many systems have transferable points.

 

[alwysonvac]

you could simply type your forum username in the description field if you wanted to display it on any of your ads...many do that now.

Yes, I’ve done that as well on my previous ads.

 

[alwysonvac]

I just replied to one of the exchange ads.
Here’s what I did. Others may want to do something similar to determine if they want to proceed.

Note: The name, phone and email address are required fields but it looks like you can type in anything

 

[alwysonvac]

while I see your argument, I dont think that any exchange system provides a simple and easy way to trade "resort a" for "worldmark or shell points" IMO.

perhaps we can come up with a solution to easily add "all resorts in a particular system" to the want section vs having to add them individually.

although admittedly you are the first to ever mention this particular issue, its never once come up in the past as far as i can remember, if its something we can do on our side...im happy to implement it.

Can we have the resort name field optional under “OTHER” Ad type?
For example I provided the following TUG ad information but it’s requiring a resort name.

 

[TUGBrian]

I like searching for opportunities just like I search on Interval. I am certainly not committed to doing a direct exchange because I have other options, but for the right location with the right person, I would consider it.

there is no commitment involved with posting a direct exchange ad on TUG. just as with any other marketplace ad, you can choose to ignore any matches, or edit/remove your ad at any time. all the direct exchange ad does is make it known you are looking to trade (and notify you of matches)..nothing more.

 

[TUGBrian]

Can we have the resort name field optional under “OTHER” Ad type?
For example I provided the following TUG ad information but it’s requiring a resort name.

View attachment 10426

the resort name has to be filled out and chosen from the drop down menu, its the only way the matching system will work. I will see if its possible to add drop downs for say "all marriotts" or "all wyndhams" etc.