Last week, SeacoastOnline ran an article about Sell My Timeshare NOW. Here’s part of what they had to say about us, “Sell My Timeshare NOW is among the many Internet-based companies speaking out loudly about the Nov. 1 expiration of the Internet access tax moratorium.

…Although the company has a storefront at its Dover corporate office, it primarily reaches its customers via the Internet. Last year, SellMyTimeshareNOW.com presented over $233 million to timeshare owners who wanted to sell timeshare or rent timeshare they no longer used. An Internet access tax could hit this timeshare resales and rentals company with a double-whammy, subjecting it to new taxes while also adding new taxes on the company’s customers who need Internet access to reach it.”

The article captures our feelings precisely here at Sell My Timeshare NOW. As businesspeople and as individual consumers, we don’t want to pay taxes for internet access. We don’t think you want to either.

On Thursday, Sept 27, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat, pulled the Internet Tax Freedom Extension Act from a list of bills scheduled to be amended and approved that day. Inouye was quoted by Grant Gross of IDG News Service, as saying, "further negotiations are warranted."

You will probably never have an opportunity to get all those existing taxes removed from your phone bill and other communications services, but here’s a chance to speak out and put a stop to the internet access tax before the current moratorium expires.

Are you ready to start paying taxes for surfing the net?

How about a tax when you send or receive e-mail messages on your cell phone?

Or taxes because you are a telecommuter, who saves the planet a little bit every day by being one less automobile on the highway during rush hour.

Sell My Timeshare NOW doesn’t think much of the idea either.

Currently, a ban exists that (1) prohibits taxation of internet access; (2) prohibits double taxation (which is taxation by two or more states or entities on a product or service bought over the internet); and (3) prohibits discriminatory taxes that treat internet purchases differently from other types of sales.

The moratorium, or ban on an internet tax has been in place since 1998. In 2004, Congress extended the ban. But on November 1, 2007, that ban expires.

According to a Reuters news article, “Internet service providers say the price of internet access could rise by as much as 17 percent if the moratorium on state taxes were allowed to expire.”

Most of us recognize that the internet is the most powerful communication and education tool in the world and has potentials that we have only just begun to tap. Because of internet access, you have at your fingertips, an instant connection to news, health information, financial resources, global research, friends, family, strangers, and the vast worlds of sports and entertainment. No one is too geographically isolated, too time-constricted, or too young, old, or impaired to benefit from the endless fountain of renewable information that flows not minute by minute but nanosecond by nanosecond via the world wide web.

The internet brings you images of natural disaster on the other side of the globe, videos of your grandchild sent moments after her birth, and vital information your doctor needs to accurately diagnose your illness.

Why would anyone think it is a good idea to make internet access more complicated, more costly, or even inaccessible?

If this issue matters to you, contact your United States Senator or representative to Congress and speak up. Urge him or her to do more than reinstate the moratorium. Let’s ban this tax permanently.

You may recall that last week I shared with you the fact that Sell My Timeshare Now is celebrating our fourth year in business.

In our Timeshare Owners Blog I told you that we now have four years of incredible hard work and incredible company growth behind us. Today we are the leader in helping people who want to sell timeshare connect with those who want to buy timeshare or rent timeshare.

It’s been an amazing four years. Even though we are also a bricks and mortar business, most people come to Sell My Timeshare NOW via the internet.

We keep our internet strategists working in high gear to stay on top of the best ways to make it easy and efficient for timeshare owners to sell timeshare and for people who are ready to start enjoying great vacation deals to buy timeshare resales.

The photo of me cutting the company “birthday” cake proves that we do occasionally take a little time off to celebrate our accomplishments.

I am also adding a You-Tube video that has nothing to do with the Sell My Timeshare NOW celebration, but is one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. This video will give you a whole new perspective on where computers are taking all of us.

The video is a little long – about 6 minutes – but I encourage you to watch it. Stay with it all the way to the end. It will have you thinking about internet-based businesses in a whole new way.

Did you notice anything different about the Timeshare Owners Blog last week?

Our goal with the blog has always been to bring you news, advice, insights, and opinions about the timeshare business and timeshare resale industry. We want the Timeshare Owners Blog to be a place you come, not only when you want to buy timeshare or sell timeshare, but when you want to learn more about the opportunities of timeshare rental, timeshare resorts, and the range of opportunities and options associated with vacation ownership.

If you are a regular reader of the Timeshare Owners Blog, you know that we don’t just write about timeshares only, but we also provide you meaningful news about travel, vacationing, and the hotel and leisure industries, as well. And none of this will be changing at the Timeshare Owners Blog!

What has changed is that we have started bringing you the timeshare vacation news—not just four times per week—but now on a five and often six-times per week schedule.

You can expect to learn more about all that’s good (and not so good) about timeshare sales, timeshare exchange, timeshare promotion, and generally what’s hot and what’s not in this business. Along with the industry news, we will go on sharing travel tips, and talking about real estate, sports, social trends, weather, and current events that we know are also on your mind and part of your life.

When I started writing the Timeshare Owners Blog, now more than two years ago, our company, Sell My Timeshare NOW was still very new. And while I founded this company because I a saw a genuine need to help improve and expand the way people buy, rent and sell timeshare, I don’t know that I ever realized how responsive and enthusiastic people would be to both our business and our blog.

Thank you to the thousands of readers who visit our blog each week. Your readership tells us that you like what we are doing. So in response, we are now providing you more timeshare news and timeshare views, more often. And more reasons to read the Timeshare Owners Blog!

As floodwaters subside in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, I want to take this opportunity to express our compassion for all the people who have been affected by this devastation to property, loss of livelihood, and most tragically, loss of lives.

If you’ve never been through a flood, it can be hard to imagine the destructive power of the moving water, how quickly it can rise, and how filthy flood waters really are. A raging current of water ceases to be rain water or even river water, and becomes a moving torrent of sewage, carrying with it garbage and wastes of all kinds, animals that have drowned, dangerous floating or submerged debris, and in most cases, snakes, rats, and a host of vermin.

When the waters finally go down, what is left is nasty and bloated beyond comprehension. My heart breaks for everyone who is facing this tragedy. Even sadder, because flood insurance is only required of properties in certain areas, the vast majority of the people affected by the flooding will have no insurance coverage to fall back on.

Lest we think that our problems in the US are singular, a brief search of the news reminds us that, in recent weeks, thousands of farmers in the Orissa district of India have lost their crops due to flooding. Over all, more than 1.5 million residents along or near the Bay of Bengal have been impacted by flash flooding, including the collapse of thousand of mud homes. In Norway, floodwaters have polluted drinking waters for hundreds of residents. Seasonal flooding in the Sudan of Africa has been much worse than usual this year, and thousands are homeless as both the Nile and the Al-Gash rivers have overflowed their banks.

Residents near Victoria, Australia, have recently faced some of the worst flooding in that area’s history, as trees are down and roads are closed by the high waters. In the North Cornwall area of England, flash flooding has collapsed buildings and forced the evacuation of approximately 1000 residents. In Japan, Typhoon Man-Yi has created massive flooding, loss of homes, and again, loss of life. And in China, with its burgeoning population, millions have been affected by flooding this summer, including the deaths, according to some resources, of nearly 400 people.

Sadly, in my accounts of this summer’s flooding, I may have omitted areas I should have mentioned, and I apologize. We’ve had our own experiences with floodwaters here in Dover, NH at our Sell My Timeshare NOW offices and our hearts go out to everyone around the globe who is now dealing with flooding or its aftermath. If you can do anything to help someone whose life has been forever changed by floodwaters, please do. If you don’t know where to start, remember there is always the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.

1-800-RED CROSS

For an interesting take on the flooding problems in Great Britian, read Peter Black’s blog.

To learn more about the National Flood Insurance Program visit their website at http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/index.jsp

And if you have any updates on timeshares in the areas affected by the flooding, please share it with us by leaving your comments.

If you assume that married couples with children own the majority of timeshare units, you are correct. The average timeshare purchaser is likely to be middle to upper income, married, and somewhere between ‘fortyish’ and ‘fiftyish’. A large percentage of the timeshare vacation property sold today is to people in this demographic, and quite honestly, it accounts for a lot of timeshares.

According to an article published recently by Hotel Interactive, the sales of new timeshare units in the US climbed by 16 percent in 2006 to a total of $10 billion. The article, which is based on a study conducted by Ernst & Young, LLP, and released by ARDA International Foundation, also said that among the 625 US timeshare resorts surveyed, timeshare sales are up 81 percent over the past five years. But as you will quickly realize if you look at the vast inventory of timeshare resales available at Sell My Timeshare NOW, while many people are buying timeshare, many people are also selling timeshare.

Dennis Serpone, president of Singles Marketing Group adds an interesting twist to the topic of who’s buying timeshare units. In an article published in the June 2007 edition of Perspective, A Timeshare & Leisure Property Magazine, Serpone suggests that timeshare sales today should be directed more toward singles than couples. In “The Singles Experience,” Serpone describes singles as the, “largest group of the most receptive overlooked people in the world”. Serpone says that most singles hate the way they currently vacation, traveling alone or with a friend to a resort where they are left to mingle primarily with families or couples. He points out that singles generally “have more disposable income, more time and desire to travel, (and) less family obligations…”

The article also announces plans for “the first totally dedicated singles resort”, which I suppose means first totally dedicated singles timeshare resort. The resort is planned for Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands and will feature fifty beachfront timeshare units, anticipated to sell for $15,000 to $25,000 per timeshare interval week.

It’s all an interesting idea. While I don’t anticipate that timeshare developers will ever neglect couples because couples represent the heart and soul of the timeshare vacation market, it would be nice to see the needs and interests of the millions of adult singles also addressed by the timeshare industry. Choices and options are always a good thing.

Don’t criticize timeshares because they are not something they were never intended to be.

Last week, the blogsite http://www.channel4.com/, an independent news agency based in Belfast, Ireland, published a post titled, “Timeshare Properties ‘Worthless’“. Channel 4′s blog posting was based on a PA News release that came on the eve of the European Commission issuing proposals to tighten legal protections for consumers who buy or resell timeshare vacation properties.

But the loud banging noise you hear as you read this, is the sound of me, jumping up and down on my soapbox.

The Channel 4 blog posting frustrates me because it depicts the timeshare resales industry as a floundering failure. The blog describes a situation that has come about, in their words, because of the, “apparent market slump in timeshare second-hand prices…now so poor that ‘existing timeshare owners are having very great difficulty getting rid of their ownership.’” The post goes on to say, “Far from keeping pace with house price inflations, the value of a partial stake in a holiday home has slumped in parts of Europe.” Channel 4 also quotes Sandy Grey, of the Timeshare Consumers Association, who says, “…timeshare owners who thought they were making an investment are now finding there is no residual value in something they may have spent £10,000 on.”

My frustrated response to this is: wrong, wrong, wrong! The timeshare resales industry is far from floundering. In 2006, timeshare owners who advertised their timeshares units or timeshare intervals for sale or rent with Sell My Timeshare NOW received $229,962,492 in offers to buy or rent their resale timeshares. And while Sell My Timeshare NOW is the best timeshare resales and timeshare rental advertising company in the business, we are certainly not the only company. Think about it—that’s a quarter billion dollars in offers generated by one timeshare resales company alone. You just can’t put timeshare resellers on a list of failed or failing industries.

Now let’s look at the second part of this misunderstanding. Timeshares have never been intended to be an investment for financial return. No one should buy a timeshare with the idea that it will appreciate in the same way a residential or commercial property may appreciate. As I have often said, even implying that a timeshare is an investment vehicle, is a breach of Security and Exchange Commission law.

Timeshares are an investment in quality vacations, an investment in a lifestyle. Timeshares greatly encourage holiday time enjoyed with your family and friends or as a much-needed quiet getaway. Because timeshares afford you the opportunity to lock-in the price of vacation accommodations, they may even net you a savings on the cost of vacationing over your years of timeshare ownership. And timeshare vacation ownership is one of the easiest ways for busy people to plan and book vacation accommodations. But the fact that something does not appreciate doesn’t, and shouldn’t, stop you from enjoying ownership of it. If that were the case, who would ever purchase an automobile? Criticizing timeshare ownership or lambasting the timeshare resales industry because timeshares do not typically increase in value is pretty much like saying a thoroughbred horse is a worthless animal because it doesn’t have wings and fly around the stable.

Understand and enjoy timeshares for what they are. And to help keep timeshare depreciation to a minimum, don’t pay the developer’s price for new timeshare. Buy resale timeshares that accurately reflect the market value of the property.

Help for college students interested in hotel and timeshare careers.

Are you facing the high cost of sending a child to college? The Princeton Review breaks down the cost of one year of college tuition like this:

• $31,717 at a private university
• $11,918 at a public university.

And these numbers do not include lodging, meals, or other expenses that are part of the expense. So congratulations to so many forward-thinking companies in the hospitality, lodging, and vacation ownership industries that are committed to helping students earn higher educations. One of the noteworthy programs I wanted to share with you is that of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Foundation.

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF) that is the fund raising and fund management arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. For 2007, the programs AHLEF will administer include:

1. Arthur J. Packard Memorial Scholarship Competition
2. Ecolab Scholarship Competition
3. Hyatt Hotels Fund for Minority Lodging Management Students
4. Steve Hymans Extended Stay Scholarship
5. The Rama Scholarship for the American Dream
6. American Express Scholarship Competition
7. Annual Scholarship Grant Program
8. Lodging Management Program (LMP) Scholarship
9. Pepsi Scholarship
10. AAA Five Diamond Hospitality Scholarship

The application process for the AHLEF programs has been streamlined. For 2007, it is easier than ever for students who are interested in management, sales, marketing, administration, or food and banquet service at a hotel or timeshare vacation resort to complete the application process. The applications no longer need to be accompanied by tax forms and either official and unofficial transcripts are acceptable.

In 2006, the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation awarded $430,000 to more than 300 hospitality management students.

If you, or your son or daughter, is interested in the great career opportunities available in the hotel and timeshare industries and want to learn more about the AHLEF scholarship program, you can contact:

If you are considering buying a timeshare vacation property, but can’t decide if timesharing is right for you, here are some interesting new facts that may help you with your decision.

According to industry statistics recently released by ARDA, the American Resort Development Association, 80.3 percent of all timeshare owners express satisfaction with their purchase. Even more significant is the fact that among those who have purchased a timeshare, only 4.4 percent say they are highly dissatisfied with their timeshare deal. When you consider how difficult it is to please all of the people, all of the time, the timeshare vacation industry is creating some amazing success.

One in four owners of Interval timeshare or a timeshare vacation club membership indicate they are interested in purchasing additional timeshares. Nearly 76 percent of current owners also say that timesharing has enhanced their anticipation of vacation time. Among those who own timeshare, only 9.5 percent of all properties went unused during the last twelve months, with over 83 percent of owners either personally enjoying their timeshare or banking it for future use.

While you can’t gauge your personal satisfaction on the happiness of others, the low incidence of dissatisfaction among timeshare vacation property owners is worth noting. And of course, the most cost-effective way to become a timeshare vacation owner is to purchase your timeshare directly from the current owner. Timeshare resales offer the best values and the most hassle-free way to join the more than four million people in the US alone who own and enjoy timeshares.

I recently had the extreme pleasure of meeting some exceptional college graduates, the kind that make you sit up and say — wow, this is what can be done with an education!

SellMyTimeshareNOW is proudly endowing a scholarship at Southern New Hampshire University and my business partner and I were invited to attend “The President’s Circle Event, A celebration of food and wine.” Talk about delicious! SNHU grads from the undergrad and graduate schools were there, preparing food, teaching, sharing delectable treats and showing us what their educations have done for them and for our community. Many of them are restaurant owners, proprietors, and some are Master Chefs, of which there are only about 110 in the United States. One of those Master Chefs taught us how to make fabulous strudel. Current students assisted.

The juxtaposition of career pinnacle (Master Chefs) and budding potential (students) really made me realize what a gift a good education can be. And it encouraged me to expand our efforts with timeshare donation. We can all do something to improve our communities and our world. Timeshare resales just happens to be my area of expertise.

What can you do? Well, if you’re reading this, you presumably either own a timeshare, or you want one. For owners who want to donate timeshare, there are the clear tax benefits of write-offs and the release of associated financial obligations. See our blog post on the tax benefits of charity donation timeshare-style. And yet, while tax deductions certainly are beneficial, the intangible aspect of helping someone up in the world is even greater. Karma goes a long way. And what a great thing to be able to see the impact your money can have on your community. From caterpillar to butterfly, it’s cool to see bright-eyed kids not knowing exactly where they’re going turn into unbelievably successful people.

At SNHU, this scholarship money will enable those with financial need to attend undergraduate or graduate classes full time, including online classes. Half of those recipients will be student athletes. SNHU is located in Manchester, NH but through its online courses serves qualified students anywhere in the world with internet access. As they say, “SNHU offers more than 40 undergraduate and graduate programs at [their] 300 acre campus; on location at six continuing education centers; and online through one of New England’s largest distance education programs.”

Mike DeBlasi, Director of Alumni and Donor Relations, and, by the way, graduate of the class of ’70, told me that he’s “ecstatic to have this unusual opportunity and we’re very grateful. Your idea of donating timeshare to charity is a great example of thinking outside the box. We’re thrilled with this new way of supporting the University’s mission.”

We at SellMyTimeshareNOW started developing the practical application of timeshare donation early this year and have since worked out the details of its implementation. We’ve got it down pat now, and would love to facilitate your participation. Donate timeshare, post a comment, ask a question, or email buzz@sellmytimesharenow.com for more information. We’re very proud of the relationship we have with SNHU and the world at large. Do something that you’re proud of and donate your timeshare today.