I would very much like to see a "direct exchange" forum. Maybe put it under sightings to make it a Tug member perk.
I often want something specific, and would be willing to offer anything I can book with Worldmark/Shell, or one of my other ownerships directly.
The exchange marketplace has a very low rate of success. It takes at least 5x as long to post an ad as it would to make a forum post. It also takes at least 3x as long to search. You basically have to click and load each ad to see what it is, and it's quite a bit slower than the forum. I've done lots of exchanges with people I've connected with on Tug, but I think they were all from conversations in the forum. Usually where someone said they were looking for something I knew I could get and offered it to them.
I think a new exchanges forum would be a significant benefit to Tug membership. What would it hurt to try it for 6 months and see if there is interest? Worst case nobody uses it and shut it down. Best case it's popular and drives Tug membership purchases/renewals.
If people resources are an issue, I'd be excited enough about an exchanging forum to volunteer to moderate it. (No pressure on that one, obviously, I might not meet the current very high standard for TUG mods...)
I would suggest a format like what is used in Flyertalk's coupon connection for titles, where both what you want and what your offering is in the title.
Examples:
W: S Calif 3/23/2020 H: worldmark, shell
Or
W: MVC Maui summer H: HGVC Kohala wk 51
That way users can skim the titles quickly and see if they have a match. I think the number of happy traders would go up by a factor of 10x under this system compared to what is used currently.
**just examples, not actual offers...
I often want something specific, and would be willing to offer anything I can book with Worldmark/Shell, or one of my other ownerships directly.
The exchange marketplace has a very low rate of success. It takes at least 5x as long to post an ad as it would to make a forum post. It also takes at least 3x as long to search. You basically have to click and load each ad to see what it is, and it's quite a bit slower than the forum. I've done lots of exchanges with people I've connected with on Tug, but I think they were all from conversations in the forum. Usually where someone said they were looking for something I knew I could get and offered it to them.
I think a new exchanges forum would be a significant benefit to Tug membership. What would it hurt to try it for 6 months and see if there is interest? Worst case nobody uses it and shut it down. Best case it's popular and drives Tug membership purchases/renewals.
If people resources are an issue, I'd be excited enough about an exchanging forum to volunteer to moderate it. (No pressure on that one, obviously, I might not meet the current very high standard for TUG mods...)
I would suggest a format like what is used in Flyertalk's coupon connection for titles, where both what you want and what your offering is in the title.
Examples:
W: S Calif 3/23/2020 H: worldmark, shell
Or
W: MVC Maui summer H: HGVC Kohala wk 51
That way users can skim the titles quickly and see if they have a match. I think the number of happy traders would go up by a factor of 10x under this system compared to what is used currently.
**just examples, not actual offers...