Holiday makers do want to enjoy quality holidays, but mostly don’t want to be burdened by the costs of their timeshare any longer and would prefer to simply dispose of their holiday property and find an alternative.

It can seem very difficult to dispose of timeshare today due to the amount of diverse (and often misleading) information out there.

There are timeshare resorts and holiday clubs that provide customers with a good service, but the fact remains that it is quite a challenge for timeshare owners to dispose of their unwanted weeks or points and just enjoy the kind of luxury holidays that they deserve. The supply of resale timeshare properties far exceeds the demand and the economic downturn has affected the timeshare market just as severely as it has hit everything else.

The truth is that it is extremely rare – and pretty unlikely – that timeshare owners will receive 100% of the money they originally spent on their timeshare. However, they can at least get out of paying the annual maintenance fees, constantly increasing usage costs and resort exchange fees by selling-on their property.

Numerous timeshare owners were assured by “enthusiastic salesmen” that the value of their holiday apartment – as with real estate – would rise in the future, and therefore could be considered as a great investment. The contrary is the reality though – just like a new car – timeshares do tend to drop in value rather than appreciate and are basically just pre-paid vacations.

Another problem is that there are unscrupulous companies who charge high up-front fees under false pretences, often convincing you that they have already got a buyer for your timeshare “standing by”. These businesses only exist to obtain registration fees and once you have paid your money over, it is often the case that you never hear from the company again. All in all, it can be a bit of a “mine-field” so probably the best option is to ‘play safe’ and completely avoid up-front fees of any kind.

There are redemption promotions on the market though, which can help you – over a period of time – to reclaim some of the money that you have paid for your timeshare.

There are also some timeshare marketers selling weeks directly to the public and doing a very good job, but you should exercise caution and thoroughly check out the company you are dealing with and especially what their track-record is like. It is a buyers market and therefore you need to carefully consider if the offer works for you financially.

There are many different types of resale companies out there and most timeshare owners might not be familiar with the re-sale process and the possibilities that there are.