Selling a Timeshare: What It Is Really Worth, and When to Stop Trying

Can you sell a timeshare at all?

You can try, and some owners do sell, but the odds are against you. The FTC says “the timeshare market is overcrowded, and it might be hard, if not impossible, to sell a timeshare,” and that anyone who guarantees a sale or big returns is a scammer. Before you list, ask the developer in writing whether it will take the timeshare back. If you do list, pay nothing large up front, and decide in advance when you will stop.

The industry’s own data shows why the market is so thin. ARDA, the developers’ trade group, commissioned its 2026 study from Ernst & Young. It put the average transaction price at $24,740 in 2025, and found that 61% of that year’s sales volume went to people who already owned a timeshare. The developers’ best prospects are their current owners, and a developer can offer them financing and incentives that a private seller cannot. The same study found that 47% of resorts in the study were not in active sales, and about 84% of those opened in 1985 or earlier.

A 2020 article in the journal of the National Association of Attorneys General summed it up: “Timeshare developers rarely buy back timeshares, and re-selling a timeshare can be extraordinarily difficult.”

Why is a timeshare so hard to sell?

The buyer takes on the fee. Whoever buys your week also takes on its maintenance fee, which averaged $1,550 per weekly interval in 2025 in the ARDA study, up from $1,120 in 2021. A buyer compares that with a hotel or a rental that carries no future bill.

The law warned you at signing. Several states require developers to tell buyers this before they sign. Florida’s required public offering statement says a purchase should not be made “with an expectation that the timeshare interest may be resold.” Nevada’s required disclosure carries the same warning and adds: “Real estate agents may not be interested in listing your time share.” Virginia requires buyers to sign an acknowledgment stating that “there is no assurance that a purchaser may resell a time-share for a certain price or on particular terms.”

Resale buyers may get less. Marriott Vacations Worldwide says in its annual report that a buyer on the secondary market “may not be entitled to receive certain ancillary benefits such as full access to our internal exchange programs.” Nevada’s disclosure warns of the same thing.

The developer can step in. Hilton Grand Vacations says most of its timeshares give it “a right of first refusal on secondary market sales,” which it exercises in certain cases. Disney Vacation Club keeps a right of first refusal too. If you find a buyer, the developer may be able to step in and buy it on the same terms.

Ask the developer before you list

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm, and may be paid when readers hire it. We cite its published case data on this page where marked.

The FTC tells owners exploring an exit to “start by contacting your timeshare company directly.” Ask in writing for its surrender or deed-back program by name, what it costs and what it requires, because if the developer will take the timeshare back for nothing or a small fee, that ends the fees faster than a listing that never sells. Get that written answer on its deed-back or surrender program before you pay anyone to advertise. Vacation Ownership Consultants, an exit firm we work with, starts its own process the same way: contact the resort and check the resale market.

Expect the call to turn into a pitch. Travel + Leisure Co. said upgrade sales were 72% of its 2025 net VOI (vacation ownership interest) sales, Hilton Grand Vacations said 74% of its 2025 contract sales were to existing owners, and Marriott Vacations Worldwide put its figure at about 70%. Sign nothing on that call or at an owner update meeting. An upgrade adds a bigger contract and ends no fees, so if an upgrade is all you are offered, count that as a no.

A few developers want to hear from you before any outside firm does. Wyndham asks owners to make it their “first and only call” and says that working with anyone other than its Certified Exit Specialists may leave options “limited or nonexistent,” so finish that conversation and get Wyndham’s answer in writing first. Holiday Inn Club Vacations owners should apply to Horizons and wait for its written answer before contacting any exit firm, including for a free consultation, and Westgate owners should ask the Legacy Program whether it attaches any condition about exit companies or lawyers; our deed-back page has the details. Some developers point owners toward resale instead. Wyndham lists surrender only for owners whose loan is paid in full and points owners with a balance to a “featured reseller” or a hardship exception.

If you still owe on the purchase loan, a sale has to pay it off. Hilton Grand Vacations’ resale FAQ says “the loan will need to be paid in full before ownership is transferred,” and Disney Vacation Club says any loan amount owed must be paid in full at closing. Few lenders will refinance against the timeshare itself because it has almost no resale value, but if you qualify for a lower rate, a personal loan can replace the developer’s loan while you sort out the ownership.

What does selling actually cost?

Cost: a commission, transfer fees, and every maintenance fee that comes due while the listing sits.

Hilton Grand Vacations’ own resale FAQ tells owners to expect a commission of approximately 25% of the sales price. It also lists an ownership change fee ($425), a membership activation fee ($609 per timeshare) and an estoppel fee ($70). Other developers charge their own versions.

The fees do not pause while you wait for a buyer. Under Florida’s timeshare law, for example, an owner is personally liable for all assessments that come due while he or she owns the interest, so each year the listing sits adds another bill.

Why should you never pay a large fee up front?

The FTC’s 2024 alert to owners is direct: “Only scammers demand fees before they help you sell your timeshare.” Its general guidance is to prefer a reseller that takes its fee after the timeshare is sold, and to get refund policies in writing if you are asked to pay anything first. State law backs this up:

• Florida makes it unlawful for any real estate broker, broker associate or sales associate “to collect any advance fee for the listing of any timeshare estate or timeshare license.”
• Nevada sets rules for resale brokers who take an advance fee: they may not imply the timeshare has a specific resale value, must honor a cancellation sent by midnight of the fifth day after signing, and must refund all money within 20 days of that notice.
• Virginia bars resellers from misrepresenting the likelihood of a sale and from guaranteeing “sales or rentals in order to obtain money or property.”

VOC says most owners who pay a listing company spend $500 to $5,000 up front for a listing on a website, with no guarantee of a sale. In one example the firm published, a man in his 60s paid $2,200 to a resale company and never heard back.

The FTC lists the lines that come with these pitches. “The market is ‘hot,’ so we’ll sell your unit fast” is, in the agency’s word, a lie. “Your timeshare will sell quickly” is unlikely. “We have lots of buyers ready to purchase your timeshare” is doubtful. The FTC’s 2024 alert describes the next stage: a caller who says he is a real estate agent with an interested buyer, then asks you to pay up front “to finalize the deal.” Sometimes the demands exceed what you originally paid for the timeshare.

How do you list without getting taken?

A licensed broker. The FTC says to deal only with licensed real estate agents and brokers, and to check the license with the real estate licensing agency in the state where the timeshare is located, which may not be the state the company calls from. Ask for references from clients who actually closed.

Owner-to-owner sites. Long-running owner communities such as RedWeek and the Timeshare Users Group let you list an interval yourself. You write the listing and deal with the buyer.

Price against completed sales. Look at what comparable weeks at your resort actually sold for. If you want a formal number, the FTC suggests a timeshare appraisal service and says to make sure the appraiser is licensed in the state where the timeshare is located.

Check the company. Search its name with the words “scam” or “complaint,” as the FTC suggests, and get every promise in writing.

When should you stop trying to sell?

Decide your stopping point before you list, because the cost of waiting is easy to underestimate. Three more years at the 2025 average fee is $4,650 before any increase or special assessment, and the average rose about 38% from 2021 to 2025.

Stop and change course when any of these happens:

• A full year of listing produces no serious inquiry.
• You have cut the price to a nominal amount and still have no taker.
• The reseller asks for more money to “boost” the listing or to close a sale.
• A special assessment arrives, or the fee jumps again.
• Your resort is no longer selling new weeks and nobody is buying old ones.

Vacation Ownership Consultants says it regularly sees owners who listed for three to five years, with no serious offers, before contacting the firm. In one example it published, an owner renewed a resale advertisement every year for nearly four years and never got a qualified buyer. VOC’s point about that owner is worth keeping: the biggest cost was the four additional years of ownership costs, more than the advertising.

When you stop, ask the developer in writing if you have not yet. If the resort refuses and the listing has shown there is no resale value, or the resort quotes a price you cannot accept, get a free consultation and file review from an attorney-backed exit firm. With VOC, that means sending your billing statements, purchase agreement and deed, if you have one, through its eligibility form, an eligibility check, and a free file review, with enrollment for a one-time flat fee as your choice afterward; VOC says it doesn’t “discuss billing until we’ve made sure you qualify.” VOC’s review is free, but don’t assume every firm’s is. Your own attorney is another route if you have a documented claim. A legitimate firm reviews your contract before quoting, charges one flat fee in writing, names the attorney on your file, never guarantees a result, and never tells you to stop paying. Read timeshare exit companies and the red flags page first, and run your own numbers through the exit cost calculator. Walking away from the bill is not a shortcut; see what happens if you stop paying.

Watch for the buyer who finds you

The FTC warns that scammers use public records to find owners’ contact information and try to convince them to sell. If you never listed your week and a stranger calls with a buyer, treat it as a pitch from someone who knows you want out. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the attorney general in the state where the timeshare is located.

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm, and may be paid when readers hire it. This page’s author, Kira Fairbank, is a manager at Vacation Ownership Consultants. We cite its published case data on this page where marked.

This is general information, not legal advice. A resale is a real property transfer, the tax treatment of a loss on personal-use property is counterintuitive, and transfer rules vary by state and by resort. Have an attorney licensed where the resort sits review the contract before you sign, and talk to a tax professional before you assume a loss is deductible.