You are quite wrong about where the big excesses of supply in the system are. They are in overbuilt areas like Orlando, Branson, or the Canary Islands.
That is why it is so easy for a blue week most anywhere to trade into ''red'' times in Orlando. The market forces of supply and demand say that they have equal value.
Where artifical value is being created in the Points system is by overpointing the overbuilt area. I can see why someone owning in such an area might like the points system. Points props up something that the market says has much less value than they would like it to have. Arbitrary points numbers can attempt to create false value where the market would speak the truth. That is the same reason they don't want a points system with its valuation mechanism made public. They want a hidden points valuation mechanism, and no regular market adjustment, so the arbitrary numbers racket of RCI Points can continue to prop up false values for overbuilt areas, just like the myth that everything in overbuilt Orlando is red. A public valuation system cannot prop up false points numbers.
Rigged values exist where they are arbitrarily set and remain frozen, like in Points, not where they adjust for supply and demand like Weeks.
For those who want to run down blue weeks elsewhere, they should remember that the market says they have the same value as many of the phony ''red'' weeks in Orlando.
A system based on the principles of a command economy, with the central authority arbitrarily setting the value of everything, which rarely if ever changes, is anything but an open market. Soviet customers could see the prices, too, but that did not mean they were fair or reflected market forces of supply and demand.
The market decides what has value. If what is otherwise a desirable area gets overbuilt, then too much supply diminishes its value on the market. Points attempts to repeal these market forces by setting false and arbitrary values for such areas. Again, if I owned in such an area and was looking at my own self interest, I might be beating the drums for points, too.
When a supposedly ''good'' week is still sitting on the shelf shortly before use date, then the market has said its value is less than what was assumed so it is given a firesale price to move it. That is called the 45-day window, and it too reflects market forces. Points does NOT make that sensible market adjustment for Points inventory. It is designed to funnel inventory into rentals to the general public instead.
Saying that 2/3 of weeks at eastern beach resorts have very little value may be true of the far northeastern beachs. It is certainly NOT true in the southeast.
timeos2 said:
You are getting very close to the reality that 2/3 of the weeks at seasonal resorts are very low value. Not to say they can't be made viable - they can - but it takes affirmative action by the resorts to create a demand (value) from use time that has very little naturally. The weeks advocates want RCI/II to artificially create that value, at no cost to the owners, by freely giving up more valuable trades to those poor value periods. Thus the "fairness" of the hidden valuations of II/RCI in the secretive weeks exchange systems. But each resort needs to stand on its own. If there isn't enough demand in a free, not manipulated or hidden "market", then those times go unused (at a cost to the owners of the better times who currently get subsidized by the secret valuations), need to have their value raised (build all season attractions or tie use to local festivals or other reasons for guests/owners to want to visit in otherwise slow times), close the resort in slow periods or let the resort fail.
The reason weeks advocates are so defensive isn't to protect a perfect system but to perpetuate a system that gives value to otherwise worthless time at others expense. If the system were as good as they want us to believe then resale values for white and blue time would be skyrocketing as a great deal. We know the reverse is true and it is obvious hidden valuations help support that deception. You don't even have to look at the hot button of weeks VS points - just study the operation of the two major weeks only systems and the problems are painfully clear. The alternative systems have risen to address the problems - they did not create them. All the bluster about frozen values and other smokesceens are merely attempts to continue the old ways vs a true, open market where owners - not the backrooms - decide what has value and to whom. The seasonal areas know they lose big in a free market and will fight long and hard to prevent exposure of the system of rigged values hidden from view for over 20 years. It won't work much longer as the Internet has already exposed the deception that lack of information used to hide. With or without points the weeks systems as they used to exist are heading to extinction. With a little justice it will be the touted class actions that hasten the demise as they force the exchange players to reveal the currently secret valuations. Then everyone will realize there has always been a points system in play but many weeks just weren't valuable enough to take part without the truth being hidden from the players. It won't be the result the supporters thought they'd get from exposing the facts but it would result in a change. Be careful what you wish for.
