Live data from Hacker News

Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

thehustle.co

51–60 of 264 posts

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#51

I'm suprised they go to so much effort to get peoples info in 2022. Surely u can scrape as much of that as you want from social media or just buy it en-mass? Then u can spam people to your hearts content.

if you’re still giving your contact info to folks giving away cars in 2022, you probably go on the list of suckers, which are more valuable.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#52
post #19
post #11

How did timeshares become so deeply associated with slimy sales tactics?

Because the fundamental economics of time shares are a scam. They are pitched as "ownership" but what they really are are perpetual rental contracts with no way out. (The rent is called "maintenance fees" but it doesn't matter what label you attach to it. It's a sum of money that you are obligated to pay year after year after year. If it quacks like rent...) And you even have to pay a hefty sum up front for the privi…

Serious question: how has post-pandemic inflation impacted the economics of timeshares purchased pre-pandemic? Is there any particular point in time where we can look back with the benefit of hindsight and say that a timeshare actually would have been a good investment?

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#56

A friend of the family recently won a million dollar house in the hospital raffle. It was a house on the Gold Coast in Queensland, which he immediately sold. I think he might also have won $20,000 of gold bullion in another hospital raffle. And off topic but my brother won a years supply of Kentucky Friend Chicken in the footy tipping..... and he is a vegetarian. Imagine that - you win the sacrifice of 365 chickens f…

When you say 'footie' that makes me think you are Australian. "Raffles" in australia have very specific legal requirements.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#57
post #33
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the fundamental economics of time shares are a scam. They are pitched as "ownership" but what they really are are perpetual rental contracts with no way out. (The rent is called "maintenance fees" but it doesn't matter what label you attach to it. It's a sum of money that you are obligated to pay year after year after year. If it quacks like rent...) And you even have to pay a hefty sum up front for the privi…

Most of what you've described can also be applied to condominiums. The only difference is that you can occupy them year round, but I don't think that's a relevant difference. Are the "fundamental economics" of those also "a scam"?

They're pretty different in practice.

https://thehotelskills.com/different-between-time-share-and-...

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#58
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of what you've described can also be applied to condominiums. The only difference is that you can occupy them year round, but I don't think that's a relevant difference. Are the "fundamental economics" of those also "a scam"?

I have no idea what a timeshare is (sorry) but aren’t condos something you fully own? Like some of my friends live in condos, some lived in a condo for a few years and then sold them before moving into a house or some other city. Where I live the condos are usually similar in appearance to apartments (bed bath living room kitchen all on same floor) and there are townhomes which are a bit fancier and you might get an…

I think they're talking about the fact that you're required to pay condo fees to maintain your ownership of the condo, which does kind of make it a hybrid rental in a way. Obviously there's pretty good reasons for condo fees on some level (ignoring any mismanagement that may or may not be uncommon -- though sometimes the mismanagement is that they're too low), but it's something you have to factor in. You can never be completely free and clear with a condo that has fees.

Re: Why nobody ever wins the car at the mall (2018)

#60

I wonder how much money these scams net. Even if this outfit is fully owned and operated by a scuzzy timeshare company, do they really make enough money to justify the $1500/~=22 marks? The article only mentions people being contacted by the timeshare company, but I wonder if they might sell the info as a secondary revenue stream, especially given the waiver which claims to override federal do-not-call lists. How muc…

Yes. Timeshare sales orgs make a boat-ton of money. The average punter isn’t capable of doing the math to compute that a timeshare is among the worst deals anywhere.
Post reply on HN