Selling Timeshare

How You Became Involved in Timeshare

Remember how you became involved in timeshare? It was probably in response to a promotional offering with some type of free gifts or free holidays. Then you were probably only informed about the developer's property and prices — nothing at all about selling timeshare, even if resales were available at the same resort. Then, because of over-inflated prices and high-pressure sales tactics, many people bought without really knowing what they were getting involved in. Being shown a book full of thousands of resorts and being told they could trade any of them if they wanted — it sounded great!

How to Sell a Timeshare

However, as time went on the minds of owners began to have thoughts of selling timeshare — and though in many cases they had been told they had bought a valuable asset and there would be no problem selling it and getting their money back, the reality is very different. Where there are empty units, developers naturally want to sell them, partly because they make more profit and — very importantly — extra maintenance fees are needed to keep the resort viable. They already have the maintenance fee from the original purchaser, so why relinquish that? There is more to be gained by conducting new business.

Consequently, owners found themselves in an impossible situation. In other words, why lose an existing maintenance fee when a fresh buyer would bring in an additional one?

You've bought it and you're stuck with it. A sad result for the consumer in need of selling timeshare.

It is worth mentioning that about 50% of the selling price was to cover marketing and promotional costs, which made the true value of the property well below the purchase level.

Selling timeshare is not easy. Even more difficult when owners are looking to get their money back — at a high price level there is no incentive for the buyer to use a resale company; they might as well buy from the resort.

How Much to Expect When Selling Timeshare

Many owners want to sell their weeks — roughly 25% of total ownership — and the majority not because they don't like it, but because of an increased change in circumstances. Someone died, the husband left, they lost their job, or they are getting older and find it difficult to travel unescorted. Only a minority dislike it. Some bought on impulse and cannot afford it, then it becomes a nightmare. Many thought they could make money by selling timeshare and refuse to accept this is not the case. Others just put it up for sale but don't really need or want to sell it.

Now, due to regular advertisement in the national press and the internet, there is media awareness — but we frequently find that those who know about the resale market and are able to use it are usually a cast of very experienced timeshare owners or their friends, and only looking for real bargains.

So Where Does This Leave the Timeshare Seller?

Of all the factors — price, location, time of year, amenities, quality of resort, advertising, etc. — that determine if and when a timeshare will sell, you can only control two: advertising and price.

If you use a resale company, unfortunately they cannot spend hundreds of dollars on dinners, holiday breaks, and gifts for their prospects the way the developer did for you. There is no easy answer. The timeshare was sold on the basis that you would get your money back or profit on the sale — but that is not true in the majority of cases. Most vendors are not prepared to accept anything different. Others are persuaded to lower the price, as this seems at present the only way to increase demand. That and advertising — constant advertising — and that is not cheap, and the results are far from excellent.