When considering to sell your timeshare you need to be aware that it is unlikely you will get back what you paid for it. The next thing to consider is how you would go about selling your timeshare,
do you want to sell it yourself or use a professional? There are negatives with both options.
If you try and sell it yourself you could advertise in magazines or newspapers. You could also try selling to a friend who is eager to holiday in the same place each year but take into account that you will have to explain to your friend why you want to sell your timeshare and if you would want them to be in the same situation that you currently are.
if your brave enough another option is to go to your resort and stand outside the salesroom so you could speak to people leaving. You can ask them if they have either bought or are interested in buying timeshare and offer to sell them yours at a fraction of the price. If they have just bought timeshare you can remind them that they have 14 days cooling off period and it is possible to cancel the sale but be careful, the sales staff would not appreciate this.
You need to bear in mind that with all the negative publicity surrounding the timeshare industry there will be a lot of other people also wanting to sell their timeshare so you would have to be competitive with the price and your approach to selling. If you decided that selling your timeshare yourself would be too time consuming and stressful you could look into the option of using a professional. Using a professional could save you advertising fees as they should only recoup the costs once a sale has been successful. When considering a professional you should do your research to avoid being ‘scammed’. The professional you choose to use should be bound to the 2010 regulations, meaning they cannot take any up front fees until the timeshare has been successfully sold.
You need to take into consideration, that due to the bad press surrounding timeshare, not only are there numerous people wanting to sell their timeshare (as mentioned above) there are less people wanting to buy timeshare. The likelihood of selling your timeshare is less than 400-1, although it is possible that a professional might need your timeshare as a link to others, you may own week 2 and there could be a potential buyer that has weeks 1 and 3 that would like to buy your week. The only way you would be able to get the full value is if the timeshare you bought is proven to be mis-sold. Again look into the companies offering this service, you don’t want to be falsely lead to believe that all timeshare was mis-sold as this is not the case. A legitimate company will ask you various questions and should only help you if they feel you have a legitimate case.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk