Recently a current Worldmark timeshare owner called to ask questions about my Best Timeshare web site and our business. He asked, “What you’re listing seems too good to be true!” I get that, if you have been convinced that paying the developer over $2.00 per credit is reasonable. Our average credit sells for .30 to .40 cents, so there really is a massive price difference.
So, why the big price discrepancy with timeshare credits? Before I answer that, let me make a few statements about Best Timeshare. We have been in business over 21 years, completing nearly 2,500 Worldmark account transfers without a single complaint. Check our reputation as aa trusted Worldmark® Resale Broker on www.WMOwners.com. So, though what we are selling might seem too good to be true at first, realize that it must be true for us to 1) remain in business, and 2) for our business to remain in such great standing! Actually, once a Worldmark Owner looks at what a company like WMOwners.com offers, they realize that what Best Timeshare has been doing for 21 years is not only understandable but quite reasonable.
So why the price discrepancy between the developer and a resale broker? Here you go:
- Like Econ 101, it comes down to simple supply and demand. Resale brokers try to sell accounts as high as possible both for the seller of Wordmark and the industry as a whole. Why would we want to see the price continue to decline? Even so, supply and demand is the driving force and price settles where there is some form of equilibrium between supply and demand. As an example, it doesn’t do me any good to lower my prices and sell everything if I can’t replace it and have something to sell tomorrow. I cannot raise the price so high that nothing sells. Eventually we find that spot and it works until something moves the market to the next level.
- Why does the developer price start so high? If you look at their year-end financial statements that are made public to the owners you will see the following: each dollar collected is spent in 3 ways – 1) 50% goes to marketing/advertising/sales, 2) 25% is allocated to the purchase of land and the building of resorts, and 3) 25% is allocated to management and profit. This is the Timeshare Industry. Notice that they spend twice as much on convincing the public to buy as they do to actually build the resorts! Hard to believe but it is true.
- So, when this product hits the aftermarket, for whatever reason, the value of the Timeshare account seems to settle closer to the actual cost of the property itself. It ebbs and flows for various reasons but seems to be most stable around 25% of the developer price. Dues can move this % to zero if they get out of hand. (See my BLOG about Maintenance Dues)
So, if you are currently a Worldmark timeshare owner, and you need more Worldmark credits, buying them from another Worldmark Owner is, without question, the best deal possible. There is no downside to doing this despite the constant effort by the sales team to create one.
Some things are too good to be true, but not this time!