Timeshare Deals Online - How to Find Timeshare Bargains

When most people think of buying timeshares, they think of the “old-school” methods: buying through timeshare brokers or real estate agents. However, more and more people are finding that there are many timeshare deals to be found online–especially in online auctions. timeshare companies have embraced this medium, as have private individuals.

However, it’s important that you exercise caution. There are stories almost weekly about someone who fell victim to an online scam: buying a timeshare that doesn’t exist or that is far below the quality that the average person would expect. Here are some tips for getting the best timeshare deals online.

1) Do your homework. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of bidding in an auction, and many people wind up paying more than the timeshare is actually worth. Before you bid, find out what similar units in the desired area are going for. Then make your bid appropriately.

2) Most of the good auction sites have followed eBay’s lead of offering a feedback system. Be sure to use them. Never buy a Timeshare from someone unless his feedback score is almost perfect. Remember that when a person is leaving feedback, if they were even moderately satisfied, they tend to give the person a perfect score. It takes deliberate effort and thought for a person to leave a negative score, so think carefully about buying property from someone who has even a few negative marks.

3) Ask questions. There should be a feature on the site that allows you to send messages to the sellers or timeshare companies. If you have any doubts whatsoever about what you’re bidding on, ask. And if the person does not respond to the email, this should send up warning flags in your mind.

4) If someone else wins the auction, but you believe (or know) that your bid was in second place, send the seller a message offering to buy the timeshare if the winner does not follow through. You would be surprised how many times the winner will simply vanish–and how many times the seller would be willing to sell to the runner-up, if he expresses an interest. This can be an excellent way to get a great timeshare deal, below what you might expect to spend.

5) Learn patience. Whether buying a timeshare or anything else in an auction, many people get in this mindset of feeling like they have to buy now. They therefore bid more than they should, or settle for a property that doesn’t quite meet their needs rather than wait. If you decide to find a timeshare deal via online auction, allow yourself a couple weeks to find and win one. This way, if you don’t find one that suits you today, you can look again tomorrow–and then the next day, and so on. And if the bid on a property goes more than you want to spend, that’s fine; you can try again in a couple of days.

Follow this strategy for finding your timeshare online and you’re more likely to be satisfied with the results.

Tags: Auction, Bidding, EBay, Internet Marketing, Online auction business model, Real estate, Sale, timeshare

Where Are the Best Timeshare Vacation Deals?

If you are familiar with timesharing, you already know that developer’s prices for timeshares tend to be through the roof. But there are definitely deals available. So if you’ve been wondering where the best timeshare deals are, we’ll take a look at some of your options here for buying timeshare resales. Timeshare resales are definitely the best way to get a timeshare vacation deal.

While occasionally you will find owners advertising their timeshares in the real estate section of your local paper, if you really want to get the best price, online is the best place to start your search. Of course, if you do want to keep an eye on your newspaper, that might be a good way to find a timeshare another owner needs to get rid of because they can’t afford it anymore. Even if it isn’t a property that you want, you might be able to sell it yourself online and take that cash and put it towards the resort you really like!

But assuming that’s too much hassle, let’s take a look at where to find the timeshare deals online. Here’s a few of my favorite places to scout for bargains.

Ebay

I’ve picked up one timeshare on Ebay already and I’m always on the lookout for another deal. I bought a Royal Holiday Club timeshare for $100 plus closing costs and transfer fees. After adding up everything, I paid a total of $800 for a timeshare membership that includes resorts located in lots of urban locales such as New York City, San Diego, London and Paris. The original owner probably paid twenty or even thirty thousand dollars for this timeshare, but I picked it up for a song.

So it definitely pays to shop Ebay if you know what you are looking for.
Just make sure you add up the winning bid amount plus the other costs involved to make sure that you are truly getting a good deal. I’ve seen some auctions that didn’t look so hot after you added in closing costs, transfer fees and the maintenance fee. Beware of any supplemental charges. This occasionally happens at resorts that suffer some weather damage - such as hurricanes, etc.

CraigsList

While I think the sellers on Ebay have a better understanding of the timeshare resale market than Craigslist sellers do, that’s primarily because Ebay sellers tend to actually be real estate companies. If you see a timeshare listing on Craigslist though, it is likely the owner selling their timeshare directly. Now often, the initial asking price is overinflated, but if you keep track of the listings that interest you, it can be worthwhile getting in touch with the seller a month or so down the line and see if they are ready to accept reality yet. If they are, then you might be able to avoid any heavy closing costs for the sale by either doing the due diligence yourself or searching for a closing company that won’t charge you an arm and a leg.

Timeshare Owners forums

Have a particular brand of timeshare you are interested in buying? Use your Google search skills to find an owners forum, message board or mailing list for your favorite brand of timeshare. There are forums for Worldmark owners and forums for Hyatt owners and message boards for DIsney Vacation Club owners. So search around. Also there are general timeshare message boards too, such as the TUG forum (Timeshare Users Group). Most timeshare forums will have a Buy/Sell section on the boards so owners can trade or sell to each other. It’s a good place to find a really nice timeshare that may never wind up on Ebay.

Tags: Auction, Craigslist, DIsney Vacation Club, EBay, Google, Google Search, New York City, timeshare