What Everyone Should Know
About Timeshare Resale Companies
A timeshare resale company should be licensed with the state they are operating in. However, this does not necessary mean they are regulated closely. You should check with your states to see how this works and to see if there have been any registered complaints of timeshare resale companies. In the state of Florida you can check with the (FDBPR) Florida Department of Professional Regulation. Click here for a complete list.
This licensure means only that they are regulated in what they must disclose in a “resale agreement contract”. As they state on their website; some resale companies may provide “legitimate” resale services, while many do not. This is why it is so important to read one of those contracts throughly before signing and if you don't understand the wording, don't sign.
Pricing resources for time shares simply do not exist. Timeshares sell for what the market will bear and the industry is over saturated with sellers. As in any market where the supply is much greater than the demand re-selling prices drop dramatically. If someone gives you a figure of what they can sell your timeshare for and it sounds too good to be true, know that it's exactly that. You need to throughly check out the market prices by researching the market. Make your research independently of the timeshare resales companies. Places, like e-bay, ads placed either in the papers or on the internet that are for sale by owners. Check out blogs and places where they are talking about timeshares and where people actually buy, sell or rent timeshares. You will get a much better picture of the market this way.
Keep in mind however, that people that have purchased a timeshare have often bought based on emotion so naturally they are wanting to sell their time share with sometimes that same emotional attachment involved. So make sure you do comparison shopping, which includes locations, maintenance fees, share time, etc. No one wants to hear this, but regardless of your findings, it's unlikely that you will be able to sell for what you want or when you need to - even if you think you have the deal of the century. That's just the hard cold facts. Click here to learn more about timeshare values.
The same is true for renting your share time. Most of these companies simply do not have people who are waiting to rent a timeshare. However they do like to give you what is called a “guaranteed life-time rental agreement”. Now this is were you have to be careful in your understanding of what they actually mean. Most people hear the “guaranteed rental” and assume that this means they are guaranteeing to rent your timeshare every year you don’t use it. However, what they are really saying is that they “guarantee the life-time agreement.” This agreement means they will guarantee to “list your timeshare for rent every year for a life-time” or better understood as long as they are in business, unfortunately this may not be all that long. Do you see the difference? The wording is very subtle. They are making a guarantee not on renting your timeshare to someone, but just on marketing it yearly for a one-time fee. If you do not understand this it can cost you even more because they usually charge you more for this service since it’s a “guaranteed yearly listing.” Will they rent your timeshare? It’s unlikely because remember again you can only get what the market can bear and there are many more timeshare owners wanting to rent out their time than there are renters.
Remember most time share resale companies are targeting time share owners who want to sell or rent. They are in the business of collecting up front fees to “list”. However, they may call it other things, like “advertising fee”, “internet fee”, or “exchange or appraisal fee.” To learn more about up front fees, click here; Alert Flag #1 - Collecting Advance Fees. It may sound good to a naïve owner who wants relief of his or her timeshare burden, but it is usually only a good telemarketing scheme with no validity.
Their sales people are given very general information about the timeshares industry. Their training usually involves listening to another telemarketer make their sales pitch. These types of companies make thousands of dollars on the unsuspecting. What does the timeshare owner get in return? They will list your time share on their website put a flyer at a news stand or airport usually nothing more. They do not spend time marketing your “personal timeshare” to anyone. Does the listing help to sell your timeshare? It’s not likely because yours is just one of thousands that they have listed.
It's sometimes hard to understand for sellers, but a lot of these resale companies are simply telemarketing schemes. They spend their time and resources contacting potential timeshare owners who through their market research have at some time shown they want to sell their timeshare. That is where the main focus in their sales is spent, obtaining the "listing".
This licensure means only that they are regulated in what they must disclose in a “resale agreement contract”. As they state on their website; some resale companies may provide “legitimate” resale services, while many do not. This is why it is so important to read one of those contracts throughly before signing and if you don't understand the wording, don't sign.
Pricing resources for time shares simply do not exist. Timeshares sell for what the market will bear and the industry is over saturated with sellers. As in any market where the supply is much greater than the demand re-selling prices drop dramatically. If someone gives you a figure of what they can sell your timeshare for and it sounds too good to be true, know that it's exactly that. You need to throughly check out the market prices by researching the market. Make your research independently of the timeshare resales companies. Places, like e-bay, ads placed either in the papers or on the internet that are for sale by owners. Check out blogs and places where they are talking about timeshares and where people actually buy, sell or rent timeshares. You will get a much better picture of the market this way.
Keep in mind however, that people that have purchased a timeshare have often bought based on emotion so naturally they are wanting to sell their time share with sometimes that same emotional attachment involved. So make sure you do comparison shopping, which includes locations, maintenance fees, share time, etc. No one wants to hear this, but regardless of your findings, it's unlikely that you will be able to sell for what you want or when you need to - even if you think you have the deal of the century. That's just the hard cold facts. Click here to learn more about timeshare values.
The same is true for renting your share time. Most of these companies simply do not have people who are waiting to rent a timeshare. However they do like to give you what is called a “guaranteed life-time rental agreement”. Now this is were you have to be careful in your understanding of what they actually mean. Most people hear the “guaranteed rental” and assume that this means they are guaranteeing to rent your timeshare every year you don’t use it. However, what they are really saying is that they “guarantee the life-time agreement.” This agreement means they will guarantee to “list your timeshare for rent every year for a life-time” or better understood as long as they are in business, unfortunately this may not be all that long. Do you see the difference? The wording is very subtle. They are making a guarantee not on renting your timeshare to someone, but just on marketing it yearly for a one-time fee. If you do not understand this it can cost you even more because they usually charge you more for this service since it’s a “guaranteed yearly listing.” Will they rent your timeshare? It’s unlikely because remember again you can only get what the market can bear and there are many more timeshare owners wanting to rent out their time than there are renters.
Remember most time share resale companies are targeting time share owners who want to sell or rent. They are in the business of collecting up front fees to “list”. However, they may call it other things, like “advertising fee”, “internet fee”, or “exchange or appraisal fee.” To learn more about up front fees, click here; Alert Flag #1 - Collecting Advance Fees. It may sound good to a naïve owner who wants relief of his or her timeshare burden, but it is usually only a good telemarketing scheme with no validity.
Their sales people are given very general information about the timeshares industry. Their training usually involves listening to another telemarketer make their sales pitch. These types of companies make thousands of dollars on the unsuspecting. What does the timeshare owner get in return? They will list your time share on their website put a flyer at a news stand or airport usually nothing more. They do not spend time marketing your “personal timeshare” to anyone. Does the listing help to sell your timeshare? It’s not likely because yours is just one of thousands that they have listed.
It's sometimes hard to understand for sellers, but a lot of these resale companies are simply telemarketing schemes. They spend their time and resources contacting potential timeshare owners who through their market research have at some time shown they want to sell their timeshare. That is where the main focus in their sales is spent, obtaining the "listing".