FAQ's for vacation club owners

How can I modify my rental or resale listing?

Why do rental and resale listings have automatic expiration dates?

What do I lose out on by not buying from Marriott?

I paid for a rental listing but could not complete the listing. Now what? Top

If that happens, send the webmaster an email and he will send you instructions allowing you to bypass the payment screen since you already paid. Send your phone number also, so you can be contacted by phone in case you dont receive the webmaster's email. Sometimes people have spam filters that prevent them from being contacted by email and don't realize it. In that case, the only way we can contact you is by phone.

Who is behind Ownertrades.com? Top

Ownertrades.com was put in place by a Marriott Vacation Club^Ž owner like yourself, who saw the need for a system whereby Vacation Club Owners could exchange amongst themselves without incurring exchange fees, without having to "bank" their property, and with the ability to arrange an "equal" exchange -- not getting stuck with someone's lock-off unit when they are trading a complete unit. The proprietor of Ownertrades.com is its webmaster. Ownertrades.com is completely independent, and not affiliated in any way with Marriott. Top

Who can join Ownertrades.com? Top

Any person may search for Marriott ReSales at the ResaleCenter, but only those with a Marriott property for sale may list a ReSale in the Marketplace. The Exchange Center is restricted to the use of Marriott Vacation Club ^Ž Owners interested in exchanging with each other. Any Marriott Owner can participate in the Exchange Center by signing up a property they would consider exchanging. Go to the Exchange Center to signup a property you would consider exchanging, which gets your property into the database and allows others to find you as they seek Owners to exchange with. If you wish to do exchange searches yourself you must pay a $10 annual membership fee to gain access to the Exchange database. You are not "banking" your property or actually committing to anything by inputting a property when you sign up.
You cannot search the Exchange Database if you are not a Marriott Owner.
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I own at a comparable resort, why can't I join and trade with Marriott Owners? Top

We have had many such requests, which we can not accommodate because the search engines on this site are designed around the Marriott resorts and their season-based ownership. That, plus the relatively modest number of Marriott resorts in existence gives us a high member-to-resort ratio, and makes it easy for members seeking exchanges to conduct searches and find potential exchanges. Adding occasional members from other resorts would both dilute our member-to-resort ratio, and make the search drop-down menus more cumbersome. Top

Our resort was sold out, and Marriott no longer manages it, can I still join? Top

No, sorry you cannot. We did "grandfather" such resorts for many years but have now discontinued doing that. It was confusing to people finding exchange choices to resorts that were not on Marriott's list.. Top

Why should I join? Top

First, because with Ownertrades.com you can see the choices for trades available to you, and you can investigate them with the other Owners wanting to trade with you without having to give up or "bank" your week. So you never give up your week unless you have arranged exactly the exchange you desire. Second, it costs you nothing to make an exchange. Third, and maybe most importantly, an owner can reserve for you exactly what you are looking for -- no waiting around to see if someone happens to "bank" the property you want, and no other exchangers standing by to grab it if they see it first. Top

Can I exchange back into my home resort using Ownertrades.com? Top

Yes, you can indicate your own resort as one into which you would like to trade. Most owners are seeking to trade elsewhere, but there are some seeking to trade back into their home resort during a different season than they own. Of course, you could also use the search engines on the site to locate other owners of your resort who you could contact, even if they had not indicated an intention to exchange back into their own resort -- you might find someone willing to exchange. Top

Do I lose any privileges if I buy a resales listing I found on Ownertrades.com?

If you buy a resale property from a Broker / Real Estate agent or directly from an owner, you are not eligible to participate in the Marriott Points program. Of course, you usually are able to make the purchase for less $$ than if you purchase from Marriott, so that compensates for not getting the Points program. If you purchase a resale unit, but purchase it thru a Marriott saleperson, then you get all the privileges of ownership, including points. There may be some resales units listed on Ownertrades.com that indicate the Points program is available. That means the Owner is offering to sell it via a Marriott salesperson. Top

Cannot access the site using a good password Top

A few people (usually AOL members) have reported trouble accessing the exchange searches even though they have a current username and password. This appears to be a problem unique to AOL (so what's new!) and is usually solved by using a different browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Top

What is the cost of exchange membership in Ownertrades.com? Top

There is no fee to just sign up your property and exchange preferences for the Exchange database so other members can find you when they search for trading partners. But if you desire to do database searches for trading partners yourself, an annual membership fee of $10 is required. There will continue to be no fees for executing exchanges with other members. Your $10 payment will cover full membership through at least Dec. 31 of the year in which it is paid. Generally, the $10 payment covers the year in which it is paid, so the later in the year you pay, the fewer months access you will have, because we change the password each January. For example, someone paying on April 30 will have access to the exchange database from May 1 through Dec 31.

However, if you sign up and pay very late in the year (Nov. or December) we will credit you as paid through the entire next year. Naturally it makes sense to pay for any subsequent years early so that you have access for the full 12 months.

All resales and rental listings and Advertising sponsorships carry small fees which are outlined in the instructions on the Make a Payment page. Top

How can I find the season calendar for all the Marriott resorts? Top

Follow this link for instruction on getting to the season calendars

What if my property uses different "seasons" than Bronze / Silver / Gold / Platinum?Top

Generally Platinum, Gold, and Silver seasons trade as the "High" season, and Bronze trades as the "low" season. For example, Platinum, Silver, and Gold trade as the "Red" season of Interval International, and Bronze trades as a "Green" season. If you decide to join, you will find instructions from the Signup page about how to enter your property's season. Top

I own several properties I would consider trading - what should I do? Top

You can enter as many property / configurations as you own that you would consider trading. For example, if you have a 2 Bedroom Villa that has the ability to be traded as a "lockout", where one unit has a BR and full kitchen, and the lockout unit has a BR but no kitchen, you could enter each configuration you would consider trading onto the signup form. Fill out the signup form once for each property / configuration you would consider trading (but you still only pay the single annual $10 membership fee no matter how many properties you contemplate trading). If you have more than one week of a given property/configuration that you would trade, you only need to enter that property/configuration into the database once.Top

Do all the amenities come with the trade? Top

There are some sites that have features that do not come with the trade. For example, at Grande Ocean, some owners have signed up for the golf package. The golf package can only be used by the owners, so if you trade into Grande Ocean the golf package that belongs to the owner there cannot be used by you. Top

How can I make my membership payment to Ownertrades.com? Top

Membership payments are accepted by check, money order, or the preferred method is by credit card using PayPal, which is an organization that handles secure credit card transactions via email. It's the easiest quickest way to pay. Instructions are on the Make a Payment page,

If you do not know about PayPal, you will find that through them you can pay or send money to anyone with an email address (like your kids at school), so there may be other uses you find for PayPal . Ownertrades.com is not affiliated with PayPal in any way except that we use them. Top

I want to renew my $10 membership for next year - do I need to re-sign up? Top

No, you do not need to reenter your information on the signup form. Just go straight to the Make a Payment page and make your payment. Top

What information does PayPal need for me to send my payment? Top

You will need to provide PayPal with your credit card number and enough other information to allow them to verify it is your card. Top

I tried to pay via PayPal but the payment didn't go through - what's wrong? Top

You must use the links to Paypal on the Make a Payment page to get to PayPal (even if you already have a PayPal account). Those links are automatically set up to help you make your payment, to make sure you get confirmation of the payment, and to make sure your payment is received by us. You will still be able to use your existing PayPal account to make payment, or, if you don't have an account, you will still be able to make a payment with your credit card. If, for some reason, your system just wont let you pay that way, you can always pay by check as described on the Make a Payment page. Top

I am concerned about my privacy, what does Ownertrades.com do to ensure it? Top

Ownertrades.com does not share your information with any third party. As part of it's terms and conditions, Ownertrades.com commits that it will not make it's database information available to anyone in any form other than by the search engines which are on the site for the purposes of finding exchange partners, or locating ReSales or Rental properties. In all cases, those searches only display the data needed to accomplish their function. Top

I submitted the form but haven't received a password -- why? Top

Your password will not be sent until we have received the $10 annual membership payment and you have listed at least one Marriott property for potential exchanging. If you did send a check or money order, but did not include your email address on it, we may not realize it was you who sent the membership fee (remember -- all we get from you when you sign up is your name and your email address). Top

My password doesn't work when I go to the link "the resorts" Why? Top

That link takes you to the Marriott Vacation Club^Ž web site, and you must use whatever password you have put in place for that site. Your Ownertrades.com username and password have nothing to do with that site. Top

I want to change the data I have submitted for exchanging, how do I do that? Top

You can make changes to your data by re-submitting your property using the sign-up form. You will find that you can select a signup status that says you want to replace the property you have in the system with that which you are currently entering. If you have more than one property in the system, and/or there is any chance the webmaster might not know which one you are updating, the safest thing is to click here to view your current entries (you will have to enter your username, password, and email address to access your current database entries) and then send the webmaster the ID of the entry you want deleted. Top

I can't remember what I signed up, how can I review my current entries? Top

Click here to view your current entries (you will have to enter your username, password, and email address to access your current database entries). Or when you are on the page where you can do the exchange searches (you need your username and password), scroll down the until you find the link that allows you to view your own entries. Top

My search for a trading partner fails to find any -- why is that? Top

If the Precision Search returns no names, then the database currently contains no owners of properties at the exact location and Season to which you are seeking a trade that have indicated interest in trading to your location.
Broaden your search by trying the Season-Independent Search if you would consider some other Season, or, if you are completely open to possibilities, try the Wide-Open Search, which will list all the Owners in the database interested in trading to your location. Top

I tried to contact an Owner by email and never got a response! What gives? Top

First, some people read their email very infrequently, especially if they happen to be on vacation. And, unfortunately, it can happen that an Owner changes their email address without informing us, so that their address in our database is bad. In such a case, you have no way to contact them, they don't realize they can't be contacted, and we don't know their address is bad so we haven't disabled it. Top

What can go wrong in making an exchange? Top

The biggest "risk" in this process is that you and your trading partner are counting on each other to make the agreed upon reservations for each other's use. If one of you backs out of your agreed-upon arrangements, or fails to follow through, it could lead to disappointment.
It takes cooperating Owners to make this work -- it's up to you!! Top

Can I list a unit for sale if Marriott used to manage it but no longer does? Top

No, sorry, we no longer "grandfather" such listings.

How can I modify my rental or resale listing? Top

Send the webmaster an email indicating the property ID and requested change. The change will be implemented for you by the webmaster

Why do rental and resale listings have automatic expiration dates? Top

We found that people would forget to notify us if their listing were no longer needed, so we now automatically expire them after a reasonable period to ensure that the database is not cluttered with old, out of date listings.

What do I lose out on by not buying from Marriott? Top

When you buy a Marriott Resale unit from a non-Marriott broker, the only thing you lose out on is the ability to participate in the Marriott Points Program. Some owners think that the savings in cost is well worth having to forego the points program.

How do I pay if I buy a resale unit? Top

Payment arrangements are between the buyer and seller - Ownertrades.com plays no role in the transaction. Some people take advantage of the services of one of the closing companies that specialize in handling such transactions to make sure everything is done correctly. So they may pay a fee to such a company, but still avoid real estate commissions.

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