Timshare resales

Any advice on the best and safest way to sell a timeshare week.

Yes. The cardinal rule is to never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, market, or "cancel" your timeshare. That is always a scam!

The next step is to get an idea of what your unit is realistically worth on the resale market. If you bought yours "retail" (from one of those sales presentations) for tens of thousands of dollars, then erase any fantasies you might have of recouping that amount in resale. The sad truth is that for over 90% of the units out there, their resale value is about zero. Try checking E-Bay for completed listings of similar units. That will give you a rough idea how much your unit is worth.

You can also try contacting some licensed resale brokers at ltrba.com. They will be frank with you about what your unit is worth. They charge a minimum $1000 commission on resales which, of course, is taken out of the proceeds of the sale and not upfront. If they tell you that your unit is worth less than $1000, even zero, then you would be better off trying to sell it yourself or just even giving it away.

Once you determine the realistic resale value, try advertising it for sale (or giveaway) here on RedWeek, E-Bay, My Resort Network, Timeshare Users Group, or Bid Shares. Price your unit competitively and realistically. If you're dead set on getting rid of it just to stop paying maintenance fees, advertise that you are willing to give it away and even pay closing costs.

Remember, these take time. So if you don't get any bona fide offers in the first month or two, don't panic and start enlisting the "help" of various entities that claim they can miraculously get you out of your timeshare agreement.