My ex and I have a timeshare we paid in full about 10 years ago. Now neither of us no longer use it nor care to pay the maintenance fees. We want to sell it and do not want to get scammed with paying up front fees. Has anyone actually had success in selling their timeshare? How did you do it? Also, how long did it take to sell?

We own a deeded timeshare in Branson Missouri, its a 2 bedroom lockout, pay maintenance fees every other year. Is there a legitiment place out their to sell this? We have been ripped off once already by a timeshare selling place.

I’ve always been curious about this. I’ve been to just one timeshare presentation (when I was in fresh out of college, and I didn’t know that my coworker lured me to attend a timeshare presentation). I’m curious to go to another, as 8 years have lapsed since then.

Now, I’ve been to many car dealerships (because I have been interested in buying a used car), but haven’t really been subjected to such high pressure sales tactics–at least not the ones described to me that timeshare people use. For instance, no car sales person has ever said to me "well, you can always gift your car to your heirs when you’re done using it" or "buying cars are a great investment instrument!"

I’ve been to many blogs and websites on timeshares (Tug2.net, saveoneresorts, igougo.com, tripadvisor, stayhereplayhere.com, consumeraffairs.com, complaints.com, bbb.org, to name just a few) to get both sides of the story. I’ve seen some standard responses (I can’t afford it, it’s not for me, I don’t want to make a decision now, let me ask my wife, I don’t have kids) but those are easily answered by most timeshare salespeople. What other excuses have worked for you in the past that are truly ingenious?
Thanks Steph, for your answer!
Actually, I also read somewhere that the salespeople say that you can avoid your yearly maintenance fees by referring *just* 20 people to come and take a tour. I think that is how my coworker got me to go in the first place. She made no mention of a timeshare presentation–she basically had an ad in our work intranet bulletin board of a free vacation. I guess that’s how she paid for her maintenance fees, and I guess she also got to keep any of the extra perks, since I wasn’t offered any money or tickets after the presentation either! All of that for a 3 day/2 night stay in Charleston, SC.
To NCCMSS: Excellent post! That is one of the sites I’ve never been to myself. Thanks for the info.