What you see: Free tickets to Disneyland (or a show, or a cruise, or some other attractive bait) for listening to a two hour sales pitch on a timeshare. Only it might not be called a timeshare. It might be a vacation resort package, or a resort condominium, or a deeded unit, or a travel package, or any of a number of creative names.
What you don't see: The free items have been paid for by the front-end money the timeshare company got from a previous buyer under contract. In effect, front-end money is extra money they get as a down payment. The real money comes to them in perpetuity by way of maintenance and other fees. This leaves any front-end money free to use for incentives to get more bodies into the sales room. They leverage front-end money for marketing and make their profits on long term fees.
What you know: You know you're a skeptic. You've heard about timeshares and you aren't going to fall for the pitch. You are fairly successful at what you do and are confident in your ability to spot a scam. So, you know you are just going to sit and listen and not buy. You know you are resistant to high pressure sales.
What you don't know: Timeshare selling is about psychology. This is their expertise. If they can have an hour or two of your attention, they can reshape your feelings and change your mind. They know they aren't selling a timeshare as much as they are selling a life style. They are selling dreams, and they are very, very good at it.
Don't believe it? Have you ever watched an infomercial? Maybe a half hour commercial for something you have no use for? Why? Why did you watch it more than the 30 seconds it took to identify it as a sales pitch? Because they know how to grab your attention and make their product, not just reasonable, but indispensable. And be honest, didn't the product seem like a neat idea (at least) after your exposure to the script? Now, imagine how much better the presentation will be for, not just a $19.99 gadget, but a long term contract for thousands of dollars.
What you hear: You hear about value, investment, travel and ownership. You hear about discounts if you act immediately.
What you won't hear about: Worthless timeshares that people are willing to give away, just to get out from under the perpetual fees. Your ownership is virtual - in effect, you own the right to pay, and keep paying, under contract. All for a week-long opportunity to stay somewhere for more than you could stay a block down the road. You won't hear that promises made during the sales presentation are void - only the contract counts. You won't hear that all the discounts apply to the up front money (the initial 'investment') and it's the maintenance and other fees that generate profits for the timeshare company.
What they will get you to believe: You are buying an asset.
What you should believe: You are buying a liability. Why all the freebies to come listen to a presentation? If they had a worthwhile product, people would come to them.
An experiment - If you are the least bit attracted to a timeshare offer in any particular location, search the internet for timeshares for sale in that part of the world. Look for private people who have already been burned by the very 'deal' you are considering. The chances are that they will be willing to give you the 'opportunity' for nest to nothing - just to get out from under the contract they are in. The contract that doesn't die, but keeps them paying fees long after they have lost all interest in spending a week in sunny Florida every year.
The Outs: If you've already fallen victim to a timeshare scam, most of the above isn't news to you. The question becomes, "How do I get out from under?"
Unfortunately, it isn't always easy. Resellers are notorious for charging fees up front that don't turn into sales. Real estate brokers (those few that accept timeshares) charge as much as 35% to sell your 'investment'. Even the traditional dodge of giving a timeshare away to a charity (to at least recover something for the charitable donation) has fallen on hard times. Charities found out the 'value' wasn't real and quit accepting timeshares as gifts.
What you don't see: The free items have been paid for by the front-end money the timeshare company got from a previous buyer under contract. In effect, front-end money is extra money they get as a down payment. The real money comes to them in perpetuity by way of maintenance and other fees. This leaves any front-end money free to use for incentives to get more bodies into the sales room. They leverage front-end money for marketing and make their profits on long term fees.
What you know: You know you're a skeptic. You've heard about timeshares and you aren't going to fall for the pitch. You are fairly successful at what you do and are confident in your ability to spot a scam. So, you know you are just going to sit and listen and not buy. You know you are resistant to high pressure sales.
What you don't know: Timeshare selling is about psychology. This is their expertise. If they can have an hour or two of your attention, they can reshape your feelings and change your mind. They know they aren't selling a timeshare as much as they are selling a life style. They are selling dreams, and they are very, very good at it.
Don't believe it? Have you ever watched an infomercial? Maybe a half hour commercial for something you have no use for? Why? Why did you watch it more than the 30 seconds it took to identify it as a sales pitch? Because they know how to grab your attention and make their product, not just reasonable, but indispensable. And be honest, didn't the product seem like a neat idea (at least) after your exposure to the script? Now, imagine how much better the presentation will be for, not just a $19.99 gadget, but a long term contract for thousands of dollars.
What you hear: You hear about value, investment, travel and ownership. You hear about discounts if you act immediately.
What you won't hear about: Worthless timeshares that people are willing to give away, just to get out from under the perpetual fees. Your ownership is virtual - in effect, you own the right to pay, and keep paying, under contract. All for a week-long opportunity to stay somewhere for more than you could stay a block down the road. You won't hear that promises made during the sales presentation are void - only the contract counts. You won't hear that all the discounts apply to the up front money (the initial 'investment') and it's the maintenance and other fees that generate profits for the timeshare company.
What they will get you to believe: You are buying an asset.
What you should believe: You are buying a liability. Why all the freebies to come listen to a presentation? If they had a worthwhile product, people would come to them.
An experiment - If you are the least bit attracted to a timeshare offer in any particular location, search the internet for timeshares for sale in that part of the world. Look for private people who have already been burned by the very 'deal' you are considering. The chances are that they will be willing to give you the 'opportunity' for nest to nothing - just to get out from under the contract they are in. The contract that doesn't die, but keeps them paying fees long after they have lost all interest in spending a week in sunny Florida every year.
The Outs: If you've already fallen victim to a timeshare scam, most of the above isn't news to you. The question becomes, "How do I get out from under?"
Unfortunately, it isn't always easy. Resellers are notorious for charging fees up front that don't turn into sales. Real estate brokers (those few that accept timeshares) charge as much as 35% to sell your 'investment'. Even the traditional dodge of giving a timeshare away to a charity (to at least recover something for the charitable donation) has fallen on hard times. Charities found out the 'value' wasn't real and quit accepting timeshares as gifts.
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