A lot of people in today's economy are unfortunately uttering those words they thought they'd never say when they bought it - "I think it's time I sell my timeshare." Selling a timeshare can be a harrowing experience, and not anything like buying one. Although you will read on various timeshare selling websites that it is easy and now is the time, I'm going to tell you the truth about selling timeshares and what you can reasonably expect about the process.

First off, it is really hard to sell a timeshare. The main reason is that not many people even know that you can buy a timeshare through the resale market. Timeshare builders spend a lot of money to make sure people hear about their timeshares and come to the presentations. For those that have ever been to one of these timeshare presentations, you know it's heavy duty sales coupled with the attraction of getting a free gift just for attending. When you're selling a timeshare, you don't have the luxury of giving a hard-core sales pitch and you certainly aren't giving away any freebees to your buyer just for considering buying your timeshare. So you can see how your main competition is ahead of you already.

Where you can get some advantage is with your price. Coincidentally this is the number one factor you need to consider that will make the difference between making your timeshare sellable or having it sit on the market for many years. Unfortunately prices have really come down on timeshare resales because of the economy. Although owning a timeshare is still a very economical way to go on a great vacation, people just don't have the cash to fork out in one big purchase. The reality is that some people are even saying "I'll do whatever I have to do to sell my timeshare now!" That means some sellers are letting their timeshare go for a measly one dollar, just so they don't have to pay the fees anymore. Make sure you do your research on what a reasonable selling price is based on what similar timeshares are going for.

As far as actually selling your timeshare, there are a number of ways you can get the word out. Taking an ad out in a local newspaper is good, but limited. Enquiring as to whether your resort has a bulletin board or some kind of newsletter where they list resales is another good way. The best way is to get an ad on the internet in as many places as possible. There are timeshare resellers who will sell your timeshare for a commission, just like a real estate agent. There are forums and newsgroups where you can post an ad. Even Ebay and Craigslist are becoming popular places for people to advertise their timeshare.

The main thing is to get the word out there and to not expect miracles. Lots of people try to sell their timeshare and fail. If you price it right and use as many different sources to advertise it as possible, there's no reason why you can't expect a sale eventually. Whatever you do, don't get scammed into paying for an online site to sell your timeshare. Paying upfront fees is criminal, and these companies are usually not the best source of advertising anyways. Be sure to follow these tips and hopefully you'll be able to utter those happy words, "Hey, I was able to sell my timeshare."