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Could We Have a Direct Exchanges Forum?

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bizaro86

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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...
 

Sandy VDH

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I started this discussion as an alternative. LMR is not really the place, but it is the only Non Ad location we have.

Trying to foster, "I will help a member if you help me" where it can be supported.
 

Panina

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I would like it tested too. I think marking if it is available for permanent exchange would be good too. I posted exchanges in marketplace for a permanent exchange. I know most think its a long shot but I got multiple responses, not for what I was looking for but for other high demand areas. None that emailed me posted their week on permenant exchange.

I think a quick post will get more to participate and if someone is interested in something they see contact could be initiated through conversation in our inboxes to not clutter the posts.
 

alwysonvac

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I like the idea of placing it on the Sightings Forum and a brief standardized format :thumbup:
I also prefer to know a little about the person I'm dealing with (which the Tug member post will provide :cool:).
 

PrairieGirl

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I think that this is a fabulous idea! I totally agree that the format of the direct exchanges in the MarketPlace is cumbersome and a forum would likely increase participation. I especially like the idea of putting it in the Members Only section. While I have had success with my direct exchange ads in the current format, I have had nowhere near the response rate that I used to get before the platform change.
 

Coach Boon

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Interesting idea. I have never rented off of Tugs before but just ran into this situation where I saw a rental ad which I like. I contacted the person and was phoned by a company that rents these on behalf of the owner and it's not Redweek. How do I determine if they are a legitimate renter? Perhaps this new forum could also help in that area. If your curious the company who called me is vacationshome.com (I think I got that right).
 

dsmrp

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Sounds good to me!

I suggest if technically possible, to have a way, eg a checkbox, to see if exchange has already been made without opening up the post.

Alternately, have an editing standard for changing the post title. That means of course, the poster would have to go back and edit. But I think we could be pretty disciplined about the follow thru, especially if Tuggers help in monitoring compliance :D
 
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CalGalTraveler

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I like this idea. With the acquisitions of II by Marriott it's only a matter of time before they destroy II with a thousand "paper cuts" in the form of fees and resort fees. Same with Wyndham and RCI. There is a growing need for an independent third party to make this work. TUG could fill this niche.

It seems that the exchange function in the TUG timeshare marketplace does this but the format does not lend itself to easy search. Perhaps fixing the search to enable a topline function described above and then linking private forum to the marketplace would be another way to solve this.

It will take more than 6 months to test and establish because reservations are set for a year or more and will depend on personal planning cycles. It will take time to develop.
 
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CalGalTraveler

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P.S. If it hasn't been addressed already, it would be helpful to have guidelines on how to value an exchange.

Perhaps by MF? However what if you have efficient Hilton and Hyatt with lower MF vs. expensive Marriott and Vistana for equivalent quality units?

Although bedrooms is a start it doesn't always make sense. For example, I own a NYC studio and pay $1700 MF a year. Anyone who exchanges would get access to the owners lounge as my guest (free breakfast an evening drinks for you and family in expensive NYC - a $75+ daily value). RCI traders do not get access to the lounge - only owners and their guests. This would be nowhere equivalent exchange for a Florida or Vegas studio.
 
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Panina

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P.S. If it hasn't been addressed already, it would be helpful to have guidelines on how to value an exchange.

Perhaps by MF? However what if you have efficient Hilton and Hyatt with lower MF vs. expensive Marriott and Vistana for equivalent quality units?

Although bedrooms is a start it doesn't always make sense. For example, I own a NYC studio and pay $1700 MF a year. Anyone who exchanges would get access to the owners lounge as my guest (free breakfast an evening drinks for you and spouse in expensive NYC - a $75+ daily value). RCI traders do not get access to the lounge - only owners and their guests. This would be nowhere equivalent exchange for a Florida or Vegas studio.
I think value is determined by the parties. If one sees something that is listed and has what the other is asking, they communicate and if they both agree they both see value.
 

elaine

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I would love this! I agree that as a subforum on Sightings would be great, so only TUG members see it.
I have a 4th of July beach week I would post tomorrow in such a forum. I have to deposit in the next 2 weeks, so hoping TUG admin might give this a go??
 

bizaro86

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I think value is determined by the parties. If one sees something that is listed and has what the other is asking, they communicate and if they both agree they both see value.

I agree with this completely. I've made trades that seemed lopsided on the face of it, but where I was happy to trade because I got exactly what I wanted and saved an RCI/II fee.

I've also had trades where someone basically just helped me out. They could have gotten comparable value without trading with me, but did so as a favor, which I appreciated.

I think a forum has the opportunity to save TUG members money, increase the feeling of community among TUG members, and be a valuable recruiting tool for new members.
 

bizaro86

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I started this discussion as an alternative. LMR is not really the place, but it is the only Non Ad location we have.

Trying to foster, "I will help a member if you help me" where it can be supported.

Exactly! Wasn't trying to steal your thunder, but thought this idea was a good one, and one that shouldn't get buried in another set of complaints about the LMR board.
 

alwysonvac

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I think there could be some helpful tips offered in the first post.
Here are the things I’ve tried to provide with my private exchange arrangements.

Helpful tips to increase your odds of success:
  • Request like for like (trading up may be possible with exchange companies but generally not for one to one exchanges. No one really wants a trade down)
  • Provide timely responses (remember you want someone to feel comfortable that you will be there if an unexpected problem occurs)
  • Provide common courtesy (life happens to everyone, if your situation changes where you can no longer commit to an exchange notify the other party as soon as possible so they can make other arrangements; please don’t wait until the day to make the reservation to let them know)
  • Offer a willingness to be flexible (again life happens to everyone, reservations could by made by both parties and airfare booked but someone needs to make an unplanned change. To avoid any last minute surprises, discuss the rules beforehand regarding your Timeshare’s cancellations policy and any restrictions that may apply if you need to rebook. One would expect that the party that needs to change still provides their end of the bargain if reservations were made and airfare booked.
 

klpca

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I like the idea. The direct exchange section of the marketplace while well intentioned is somewhat unwieldy. I like the ideas suggested above, but would also like to see a minimum post count (maybe 100?) to have some sense of who we are exchanging with, and that they are contributing to the board in some way.
 

silentg

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We have had really good luck with the Direct Exchange, but I am willing to help if we change the format.
Even if you just want advice on how to do a direct exchange?
I’m here to help!
Silentg
 

heathpack

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I like the idea. The direct exchange section of the marketplace while well intentioned is somewhat unwieldy. I like the ideas suggested above, but would also like to see a minimum post count (maybe 100?) to have some sense of who we are exchanging with, and that they are contributing to the board in some way.

I love the post count minimum idea.

And this idea in general.
 

alwysonvac

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Interesting idea. I have never rented off of Tugs before but just ran into this situation where I saw a rental ad which I like. I contacted the person and was phoned by a company that rents these on behalf of the owner and it's not Redweek. How do I determine if they are a legitimate renter? Perhaps this new forum could also help in that area. If your curious the company who called me is vacationshome.com (I think I got that right).

Hi Coach Boon
This thread is concerning exchanges (not rentals). You should start a separate thread regarding this particular renter.
 

rickandcindy23

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This is a great idea. I think we could put SFX out of business.

It should be a separate forum here on the BBS and not in the ads, and we can just put what we have that we can reserve, and maybe we can save one another the ridiculous exchange fees of RCI and SFX. I still love II, however.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was placing my ads on Redweek and Craig's List to rent my Shell points at Peacock Suites, I was thinking how I just want to get my maintenance fees back on these reservations and priced them cheaply enough. I have rented about 1/3 of my annual points' allotment already, but do you realize a one bedroom at Peacock Suites is only $680 my cost for a full week in summer, less during less busy times. Sure, there is a $70 cleaning fee, but if you got a week through RCI to stay at Peacock Suites, you would spend whatever the points cost, + the $239 exchange fee. So RCI is really expensive to use.

Wait, what was the point I was trying to make? :) I am saying that we can save exchange fees and literally save real money on exchanges.

I currently have a bunch of weeks reserved for summer at Sheraton Broadway Plantation, Myrtle Beach. This could be awesome.
 

rickandcindy23

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Do you know that Crystal DeHahn, the owner of II way back when, 1970's, used to keep a file box with weeks deposited and matched those without a computer? I read that by Carolinian once, and that fascinated me. Just a FYI.
 

alwysonvac

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Private Exchanges requires a level of trust. Before I sold my Four Season Residence Club Aviara week, I decided to try the TUG Marketplace for exchanges. I did have one successful exchange for the Westin in Maui. However I got all sorts of low ball offers during that search as well. Several folks offered their least valuable week first then after their initial low ball offer was rejected they would followed up with their higher demand premium weeks. I guess these folks were trying to get the best deal possible but I just viewed their action as an integrity issue. I simply didn’t want to deal with someone who thought it was ok to take advantage of another owner that way.

Now, I simply reach out to longtime TUG members when I come across a post specifying an exchange location that I have access to. I can use the search function to determine what they own and then decide whether I want to send a PM to see if they would be interested in a private exchange. :cool:

Having exchange requests in a sticky thread or sub-forum in the Sightings forum.
- allows us to see who is offering the private exchange and their TUG history
- allows us to use the forum search function to locate possible matches
- allows us to easily communicate via PM regarding the exchange specifics
- allows us to perhaps use the individual TUG profile page to provide references for successfully completed exchange requests (similar to eBay feedback).
 
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SueDonJ

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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.
 

alwysonvac

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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.

Good point as well :cool:

But I would be willing to give up the LMR forum for a members only exchange forum :thumbup:
 

alwysonvac

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klpca

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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.
While I completely understand your concerns, with enough speed bumps (membership fees/minimum post counts) it should keep out the run of the mill scammers. My problem with the existing marketplace is that the search function does not allow you to cross reference what you have to offer *and* what you are looking for in an exchange. You have to open each ad to see if the poster is interested in something that you have to offer in exchange. It is slow and tedious. Also, you have no idea who the posters are because anyone can use the marketplace so you could be working with someone who just stumbled on the marketplace and doesn't understand timeshares and is offering a trade using an exchange week instead of an owned week.

As a user, I want to know who you are (tug user name), I want proof that you are offering an owned week (easy enough to figure out from post history), and I want to be able to easily determine if you would be interested in something that I own and want to exchange. Without that information I won't use the direct exchange, as is. I did do a successful exchange once with Terry (Silentg) and the only reason that I went forward was because she is a regular poster. I look at the ads every once in awhile but since I have no idea who is posting the ad, I'm pretty wary.
 
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