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

thehustle.co

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

#61

Post by stormbrew »

paulgb wrote: post #11

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

Honestly I find it kind of a shame because there are places in the world I would actually love to own/rent a regular consistent shareable space in, but it's basically impossible to do, without it being a scam, unless you have a bunch of well-off friends who want roughly the same thing as you.

Probably the closest you can come is buying or renting a place and then airbnb-renting it out most of the time, but then you're getting yourself into some legally grey areas most likely (plus becoming a landlord, which may be quite a lot of work and/or morally questionable in itself depending on your views).

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

#62

Post by [deleted] »

Railsify wrote: post #40
saghm wrote: post #34

> Patrick collects a rolodex of her (fake) data — full name, age, marital status — then tells her she has to be at least 28 to enter the drawing. “Tell your parent to call me,” he says, and hangs up. > Her “dad” (our writer, Conor) gives it one last try. Patrick tells Conor that in order to win the car, he has to go to a local Great Destinations office and attend a 90-minute timeshare presentation. This is the only p…

Wouldn't people over 28 be more likely to have money for a timeshare?

[deleted]

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

#64

Post by chiph »

> There are other types of car giveaways run by more legitimate parties (charity raffles, event promotions) that do deliver the goods — but if you win, you’re liable to pay a hefty gift tax.

I don't think it's a gift tax, but ordinary income tax. A coworker won a living room sofa set on a game show, and the staff were waiting with a 1099 for her as soon as she stepped off the stage. The IRS says you need to pay tax based on the fair market value, but the shows will list the prize at it's full retail price.

So if you should happen to (and you won't) win the Acura, you'll owe 25% or more on it. Plus any state income tax. I'm not sure when the IRS actually wants their money, but a safe assumption would be "soon". Perhaps by the next quarterly estimated-tax date.

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

#65

Post by brailsafe »

Railsify wrote: post #40
saghm wrote: post #34

> Patrick collects a rolodex of her (fake) data — full name, age, marital status — then tells her she has to be at least 28 to enter the drawing. “Tell your parent to call me,” he says, and hangs up. > Her “dad” (our writer, Conor) gives it one last try. Patrick tells Conor that in order to win the car, he has to go to a local Great Destinations office and attend a 90-minute timeshare presentation. This is the only p…

Wouldn't people over 28 be more likely to have money for a timeshare?

In this economy!?

Anecdotally, I had 20000x more money at 22 than 28. If I remain employed for the rest of the year I might be on par by the end of it. Graphing my income over the last 10 years would look like a memory leak

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

#66

Post by Rebelgecko »

alexb_ wrote: post #41
MichaelBurge wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's legal, it seems like every business would do this. Your bank, the local McDonalds when you install their app, Uber & Lyft, every e-commerce site would bury in the terms & conditions, etc.

You really think that they aren't?

Yes. I've never gotten a phone call from McDonald's.

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

#68

Post by gruez »

lisper wrote: post #46
gruez wrote: 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"?

> The only difference is that you can occupy them year round, but I don't think that's a relevant difference. Most people think it's a pretty relevant difference. For one thing, if you occupy a place year-round, you can keep your belongings in it. That's a pretty significant feature for most people, which is the reason most people choose to live in a permanent domicile rather than moving every week. But different str…

The "a relevant difference" part was in relation to the sentence after, which is whether something is a scam or not. Regardless of what utility year-round occupancy affords you, I doubt that's the defining factor between whether it's a scam or not.

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

#69

Post by sokoloff »

gruez wrote: post #33
lisper wrote: 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"?

A condominium is an ownership structure, where each owner owns the exclusive rights to some portion of a building (or set of buildings) and share common ownership in the rest of the condo association. I fail to see how that's even passingly like a timeshare, except that both typically have fees and involve real estate.

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

#70

Post by sokoloff »

stormbrew wrote: post #58
moomoo11 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

By that token, you're not free and clear if there are homeowner association fees or property taxes. Technically correct is the best kind of correct.
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