Timeshare Sales

In their online edition (www.deseretnews.com), Salt Lake City’s Deseret Morning News recently ran a series of three articles about timesharing. Here are some of the points made by author Lee Davidson:

“Developers sell timeshare for far more than what they are worth on the open resale market. Value of units easily drops 40 percent or more when the purchaser walks out the door after a sale…High-pressure sales are still a staple of the industry…Developers often charge high to astronomical interest rates to finance timeshare loans and sometimes make deceptive claims…”

Such harsh criticism of the way the timeshare industry in general, or any timeshare company specifically, conducts business is hard to hear. But I want to take this opportunity to remind you that such searing critiques about timeshare promotion or timeshare financing are NOT directed at resale timeshare or timeshare by-owner marketing companies like SellMyTimeshareNOW.

SellMyTimeshareNOW.com affords timeshare owners a marketing platform from which to sell timeshare or rent timeshare to smart buyers and renters who have learned that it is not necessary to pay the marked-up prices some timeshare companies charge. Timeshare resales are competitive. They provide an excellent way for people to become satisfied timeshare owners and take advantage of the opportunities and flexibility afforded by vacation ownership. Best of all, when buyers deal directly with the current timeshare owner, they skip the middleman and they avoid paying inflated developer prices for great timeshare vacation property.

Presentations take forever. Or at least it feels that way, if what you’re primarily doing is waiting for the freebies to kick in. And you can get some very good ones from attending a timeshare presentation — a weekend stay, dinner, tickets to a local attraction, car rental. But I once heard about a couple who spent 5 hours being hammered by sales people and dragged (well, not literally) around a resort they weren’t interested in because they had been promised a boat in exchange for their attendance. What type of boat was it? Turned out to be a blow-up rubber dinghy, with leaks. And then there’s the guy in New Zealand who just didn’t like being pressured to spend about what he would on a car without having a chance to read the fine print. Caveat emptor.

While I recommend going to presentations in order to research a particular resort, you can most definitely buy or rent a fabulous timeshare easily, from the comfort of your own home.

How? Buy resale timeshare online!

Resale by-owner timeshares are available at dramatically lower prices than timeshares bought through a resort or developer, and you’ll save far more by buying resale. Dinner, tickets or a boat won’t come close to making up the difference. Well, depending on the boat. Trying to deal with a large resort and their highpressure salespeople can be quite a hassle. But when you buy timeshare resale by-owner, you work directly with the person who owns the timeshare, which is much easier.

Look over the short, easy-to-understand contracts at your own pace. There’s no pressure: make your buying decision on the schedule that is comfortable for you. And, although it’s not necessary, you have the time and flexibility to run things by your lawyer or financial advisor.

It’s about doing what works for you.

Where? Check out our website www.SellMyTimeshareNOW.com for thousands of listings. New ones come in every day and they’re updated regularly.

And bring a calculator.

Attending a timeshare presentation is a great way to check out a resort you’re interested in, whether you buy directly from the resort or buy from a reseller.

Many buyers of timeshare resales go to timeshare presentations on a fact-finding mission. In addition to touring the resort property and getting answers to timeshare questions, sitting through a timeshare presentation often means free or discounted vacation time at the resort—a real chance to try before you buy.

But if there is any possibility that you might make a decision to buy while attending such a timeshare pitch, here’s the best piece of advice you’ll ever receive: take your calculator. Most people need to see numbers in front of them, not just hear them, in order to understand the terms of the deal. Just as importantly, timeshare sales people are human—they make mathematical mistakes, just like everyone else does.

Always have a calculator handy so that you can check the math of the salesperson quoting your deal. It’s also a good idea to use that calculator to compare how much you can save if you buy your timeshare as a resale, instead of purchasing it as a new development property.

A strong standard of timeshare control is about to get even tougher.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation regarding its Timeshare Directive, seeking to plug loopholes that have become evident since the Directive’s 1994 release. The original intent of the Timeshare Directive was to create a standardized cooling off or rescission period for timeshare buyers wishing to change their minds. Additionally the Directive sought to reduce pressure sales techniques, while ensuring that timeshare buyers receive adequate information about the properties they purchase. The Directive addresses timeshare contracts that are 36 months in duration or longer.

During the years that the Timeshare Directive has already been in place, timeshare sales practices in Europe have improved greatly. Yet some new timeshare-like products have been developed seeking to take advantage of gaps or loopholes in the Directive’s language. New products are being sold for 35-month memberships along with certain vacation clubs that also fall outside the guidelines established by the original Commission action. The 9-week consultation, which began earlier this month, seeks to plug these gaps, as well as prevent future problems from developing.

The Timeshare Directive is presently applicable to any contract made for timeshare purchase (36 months or longer) under the law of a European Union country or when the property is in the European Economic Area. The European Union countries include: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, all of which grant timeshare buyers a 10-day rescission period. The United Kingdom, (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) has an additional specific ruling that typically gives buyers a full 14 days to change their minds.