Trying to sell...so confusing!

[JLB]

Yesterday I came back to act a caveat to my suggestion to try craigslist and other free ad opportunities, to test the market. Then, someone had bally-hooed them, so I didn't post.

Now I will say what I was going to say and that is that it is that you are more likely to find interest from those who are already familiar with timeshares, and, more specifically, those who already own what you have. 99.999999% of the general population cares even less than less about timeshares, so pick sites/opportunities to target a specific market.

[chriskre]

I recommend trying redweek. Although there are only a website I know that I posted my timeshare on there and almost sold it but then changed my mind because decided it was working as a great trader for me instead of selling it. I think they were charging $15 for a 6 month ad. I haven't listed anything in a while there but I think they give you a free ad with new membership. I've also used this site to get nice rentals at hard to find places that I couldn't trade into with RCI like Riverside suites in San Antonio and other places like Manhattan Club.

[T. R. Oglodyte]

At some point if you put up an ad you are likely to get contacted by one or more companies that charge an up-front fee, most of whom will also "assure" you that they can sell the unit for much more than you have it listed for. It's not uncommon for these outfits to say they have a buyer lined up, waiting to buy for unit $10,000 or $20,000 or some such sky high price. (Though the price might not seem sky high to you as it will probably somewhat close to what you paid for it initially.) All you need to do is pay them some amount of money (usually $500 to $1000) to cover their marketing expenses and they will complete the sale.

Invariably people who do this find that the deal falls through for some reason. At some point they may realize there never was a buyer; it was all a ruse to get them to pay that advertising fee.

*****

Don't get suckered in by one of those outfits.

[chriskre]

Also if you advertise on Craigslist for sure you are going to get the Nigerian scammers to want to send you more than your asking price in a certified check which they want you to cash for them and then send them the leftover. It's ridiculous after a while but I think it must work because everytime I post an ad on Craigslist I get inundated with this crap. Very few legit buyers. And I'm not just talking about timeshares but anything you list on Craigslist. I love Craigslist but be ready to weed out lots of spam & scams.

[JLB]

I have six ads right now on craigslist and have for a couple of years. Surprisingly I have never gotten any scam/spam. I have from another regional site doing stuff similar to CL.

What I do have a problem with with CL, is people flagging, and CL not being polite enough to tell you why they deleted an ad. I recently had one expire. When I renewed it . . . the identical ad in the identical category . . . it got flagged.

That and being limited to just one craigslist when an ad would be appropriate to several locations. I have stuff for sale in Branson that would be appropriate to lots of markets, but I have to pick one, so I pick Springfield, MO, one of the smaller ones, because it is closest.

Originally Posted by chriskre

Also if you advertise on Craigslist for sure you are going to get the Nigerian scammers to want to send you more than your asking price in a certified check which they want you to cash for them and then send them the leftover.

[Pstreet1]

I have a friend who got a quit claim deed form from Legalzoom.com and simply did a quit claim to the resort. The resort had previously told her that wasn't possible, that the resort would have to initiate a legal process to take it back. When her quit claim arrived at the resort, they called to tell her they had received it and recorded it. Don't know if it matters or not to the whole process, but she had originally received the week from the resort via quit claim directly from them.

I can't imagine that it is possible to simply quit claim anything to someone else without the entity's knowledge-----but apparently, in her case, at least, it was possible.

[chriskre]

Originally Posted by JLB

What I do have a problem with with CL, is people flagging, and CL not being polite enough to tell you why they deleted an ad. I recently had one expire. When I renewed it . . . the identical ad in the identical category . . . it got flagged.

That and being limited to just one craigslist when an ad would be appropriate to several locations. I have stuff for sale in Branson that would be appropriate to lots of markets, but I have to pick one, so I pick Springfield, MO, one of the smaller ones, because it is closest.

JLB, I have encountered that problem too and have noticed that if you change the ad a little and put up different pictures then you can post it in more than one city. I've had to do that to post my ad in several cities before. Just use different pictures and a different title.

[JWC]

I would sell it myself. I had no problem selling one of my timeshares myself for my asking price. I sold it in just a few weeks/ It is ridiculous to pay any upfront fees or sales commissions.

I did the following:

1. Did a search for my resort to determine the price to ask.
2. Placed ads on "myresortnetwork.com" and "RedWeek.com". They just charge a very nominal fee.
3. I had several replies from serious buyers and NONE from spammers and timeshare sellers.
4. I picked the best offer combined with who I thought was the best buyer. Several made offers and I got my full asking price.
5. Used one of the on-line closing companies to close the sale. It went very smoothly.
6. After the sale was closed, I was able to sell 6 additional weeks I had banked at SFX to the same buyer.

There are many factors that will affect your ability to sell. First, is the demand for your week. A prime week in a high demand location at a quality resort is obviously much easier to sell than a low demand week. Times are much tougher now so you will definitely have to make sure that your price is reasonable.

Almost all buyers do a search for the resort on-line so your resort will be found. If I had to do it again, I would only list it on "myresortnetwork.com" and not "RedWeek.com" as well. "myresortnetwork.com" is cheaper and you don't have to be a member. "RedWeek.com" did get quite a few responders but not as many as "myresortnetwork.com" where my final buyer came from.

[JLB]

Originally Posted by chriskre

JLB, I have encountered that problem too and have noticed that if you change the ad a little and put up different pictures then you can post it in more than one city. I've had to do that to post my ad in several cities before. Just use different pictures and a different title.

Yeah, like I haven't tried all that.

We even set up a different account from a different computer. Then, the next time I logged on to My Account, they had them linked together under one account.

I know how it happens because I have been searching a couple dozen different CLs for stuff, and I see the same ads posted on several of them. If I wanted to be a jerk I could flag them.

About a month ago I picked up a waverunner on CL and tomorrow we are going 150 miles to pick up a jetdock for it. I have been searching from Little Rock to Ft. Myers to OKC to KC to Des Moines to Minneapolis to St. Louis to Springfield, so Lake of the Ozarks is pretty close.

Maybe I'm just missing it, and maybe I've seen something that may be it, but is there any way to search all CLs at the same time . . . sorta like eBay?

[JLB]

Less off-topic, but still about CL, I do have timeshares for sale and for rent on it.

I got an reply saying to try so-and-so, that they had with great results and no expense. Curiosity being what it is, I clicked the link, and filled out a form.

Next thing I know I got a call from a ripoff upfront fee company, not inexpensive either. I chewed them out for using a fake third-party referral system to by-pass the State and Federal No Call laws.

So they called three more times.

I posted a warning about them on CL, and it got deleted.
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Some of my sense of humor . . . when I called the lady with the jetdock this week, I started the conversation with, "This is your Craigslist stalker . . . "