Timeshare Rentals

I did a very casual survey last week.  I asked 25 friends and co-workers at my part-time, non-timeshare related job, if they had ever considered renting a timeshare for vacation instead of booking a hotel room.

I received only two (2) responses:  1)  “I didn’t know you could rent timeshares”  2) “Timeshares?  No, I don’t want to deal with the sales pitch”

This seems to clearly indicate some basic issues that timeshare is having…but the good news is that both of those answers are easily overcome.  It just takes getting the word out there.

If you’ve rented a timeshare on vacation, tell people about it—assuming you had a positive experience.  Sure, everyone knows that you can book a hotel room, but obviously people don’t know you can rent a timeshare and more often than not, save money and get more in terms of amenities, space, luxury, etc.

If you have a timeshare for rent, talk about it…don’t rely on the resort to rent it for you…I hope that you are NOT doing that as you give away all of your control and some of your money to the resort.  Everyone likes to talk about vacation plans so if you have a timeshare in a place where someone is going on vacation, don’t be shy!

As for the dreaded high-pressure sales presentation…I certainly hope that by now, all timeshare owners know that unless you are visiting a timeshare on a promotional package OR you accept whatever the resort is offering as compensation for your time, you do NOT have to attend a sales presentation, an owner update, a breakfast to talk to owners, or whatever they are now calling these sales presentations.  The same thing goes for anyone renting a timeshare.  Timeshare sales presentations are NOT mandatory.

The interesting thing is, as I can attest from being in resort sales for 5+ years, is that far and away, the people who were not required to take the sales presentation were the most open to finding out more about timeshare ownership; something that the almost 2,000 resorts in the United States have been slow to understand.

So, for you timeshare owners who have had your timeshare on the market for some time, don’t be like the timeshare resorts.  Understand the psychology behind this.  You may want to offer a “try it before you buy it” program and list your timeshare for rent.

If you’ve had success renting your timeshare, we’d love to hear your ideas.  If you’ve purchased a timeshare after renting one, we’d also love to hear from you.

Happy vacationing!