Timeshare Auctions - To Bid or Not To Bid

Timeshare Auctions offer owners a way to sell or rent their timeshare while deferring most or all fees until the close of bidding. Most timeshare owners, however, will not place their timeshare up for auction with an open bid because they risk to loose too much. A reserve auction assures a minimum price (if it garners a winning bid), but so does a classified ad, and with a modified pricing model, timeshare classified ads with no up-front fees might be a better, more cost effective choice.

There is a lot of discussion about the best business model for marketing your timeshare. Most will agree that paying an up-front fee to rent or sell your vacation property is not advisable. This article will focus on the differences between Reserve Price Auctions and Results-Based Classified Ads, mainly, they're not that different, and the latter is likely more cost effective. Results based classified ads introduce a slight, yet compelling, variation to the classic definition of a "paid" classified ad. Imagine if a classified ad could be placed "FREE", and the only time you have to pay any money is when you get an offer for what you've advertised. Now, if this fee is reasonable, paying for each offer actually makes a lot of sense. The owner can rest assured that without a response to the ad, no payment is ever made, thus making the concept very low risk.
Some would argue that you could continue to pay for offers endlessly until a valid sale is made, costing an unknown amount of money. The results-based model addresses this issue by limiting the number of paid offers, after which the ad automatically upgrades to allow for unlimited offers for the balance of the ad's subscription period. Included with this upgrade comes complete control of your contact information, custom title, and description, all without further payment.
If an offer costs $4.95 for the privelege of contacting a prospect, the possibility exists for the sale or rental of a reasonably priced vacation property to be concluded for nothing more than this minimal fee. Compared to an auction ending fee of $50.00, this is over a 90% savings. Considering that five offers only cost $24.75,

even after paying for the maximum number of offers, the total amount paid for a results-based classified ad is less than half the amount of an ending fee for a reserve price auction at Bidshares. There is also the matter of convenience. TimeshareGateway's results-based ads runs for a full year. Most auctions run from 5 to 14 days. There is a lot of maintenance involved in an auction since it requires frequent visits to the site to see how the bidding is going and to re-start the auction (if it receives no winning bids). As offers arrive for your ad on TimeshareGateway, you'll automatically receive an email informing you of each offer, allowing you the opportunity to pursue it if you're still selling or renting. Since there is no obligation to pay for any offer, the owner can either use our free utility to decline the offer, or pay the small fee to begin negotiations with the prospect. There is no easier, or safer, way to introduce prospective buyers or vacationers to timeshare owners.

As a result of the ongoing quest for a perfect marketing machine, companies continue to derive new ways to balance the need for a revenue stream and the responsibility of delivering value for the money that is spent by owners seeking to advertise their vacation properties for sale or rent. The only time an auction makes sense compared to a results-based classified ad model is if the owner is willing to run a "straight" auction with no reserve and no minimum starting bid, and this is simply too risky.

TimeshareGateway.com is a self-service timeshare classifieds web site for owners, agents, buyers, and vacationers. Our philosophy is founded on the belief of earning your business, not on making promises that may not be fulfilled. Our fair and balanced approach offers owners the industry's first and only "pay-per-offer" program, deferring any costs until there are results generated from our marketing efforts. Place your ad, and when you get an offer, we charge $4.95 to follow up on the lead and to contact the interested party.

No other timeshare resales or timeshare rental company offers this type of results-based program. In fact, other companies may charge an upfront fee, a membership fee, or a software licensing fee for their auction software. Take an auction, for example, when you sell your timeshare through an auction site at $50.00/auction, you'll be paying the equivalent of 10 (we only charge for 5) leads generated for you by TimeshareGateway.com, and it may only take one lead to sell or rent your timeshare. Other up-front fees can range from $35 to $600 for the various services offered by these companies.

Since it doesn't cost you anything to place your ad, this is an opportunity to expand your advertising range, even if you've already enlisted the services of other resale companies or websites. Timeshare and vacation rentals the right way!