What Is a Timeshare OPC?

Purchasing a timeshare gives you the ability to pay for vacation bit by bit throughout the year while also providing a sense of satisfaction in owning a little slice of some vacation paradise. However, timeshare ownership is not for everyone and some individuals and communities have concerns with the sales techniques that timeshare companies use.

Timeshare companies own vacation property–condominiums or hotel rooms–in highly desirable areas and sell fractional interests of them to a number of consumers who then have a set amount of time they can use the property each year. One reason that consumers buy timeshares is as protection against price increases that may occur with vacation lodgings booked more traditionally. A consumer also may consider a timeshare because purchase automatically forces him to pay for his vacation throughout the year, rather than come up with the money all at once. Timeshares work in one of two ways: purchasers have a set amount of time each year at a particular site or purchasers earn points throughout the year that they can use in a variety of ways. Timeshares can be sold, rented and willed to others.

Timeshares have only been around since the mid-1960s. They emerged in Europe and quickly spread to the United States. The timeshare business has grown from approximately 45 projects with 10,000 members to nearly 5,000 projects and more than 5 million members. Timeshares can be found in 110 countries. Major companies such as Marriot, Hilton, and Disney now participate in timeshare programs alongside smaller, local companies. The timeshare business continues to grow, with companies finding new ways to combine vacation property with gaming and activities.

OPC stands for “Outside Public Contact” (or, more rarely, Off-Premises Contact). OPCs are the individuals who fill timeshare presentations with potential buyers by pitching them on the beauty of timeshare ownership and, often, offering a thank you gift for attendance. OPCs may be direct employees of a timeshare company or may be part-time contractors. These workers operate from high-traffic tourist areas, such as hotels, shopping malls, beaches and stand-alone local sites. OPCs do not sell timeshare units. Sales agents conduct presentations and perform all sales. Such agents must be registered with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and generally have significant training and experience in real estate.

Some individuals consider OPCs to be little better than con artists. Concerns exist regarding the techniques that OPCs use to get consumers to attend presentations, including lying about the nature of meetings, lying about the length of meetings and being extremely vague about the nature of a particular timeshare project and refusing to provide basic details like cost. Issues still exist from time to time, but OPCs do not broadly operate in the underhanded fashion associated with the industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Communities also have raised concerns about where OPCs target potential customers. Some communities, like Dennis, Massachusetts, even have laws preventing solicitation in certain cases—for example, when individuals are in automobiles.

Pay earned by an OPC is relates directly to his skill in getting qualifying consumers to view presentations. OPCs receive a moderate fee (e.g., $25) per qualifying attendee and a bonus of several hundred dollars when a lead makes a purchase. Individuals working as OPCs will need to live relatively near a desirable tourist location. However, travel may take individuals to other states and communities for large events such as fairs or to encourage timeshare ownership in those areas. Many companies contract with employees, rather than having them on the payroll full-time. As a result, many OPCs work without benefits such as health insurance.