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What is an upfront fee? Well, if you’ve ever considered selling a timeshare unit you may well have come across companies who ask for cash upfront before they’ll sell your unit. You may even have received a card in the mail informing you that, for a fee, company ABC will take that pesky timeshare off your hands. These are examples of upfront fees in the timesharing world and they’re never cheap. In fact, the fees that you’re asked for are often thousands of dollars.
Never ever, ever, pay an upfront fee. Ever. No matter how good an idea you may think it is…it isn’t. There is absolutely no reason to ever pay anyone money upfront if you wish to sell your timeshare, because there’s no guarantee that it will be sold. Sites like VacationSmarter.com allow you to list your timeshare for sale for the price of a few lattes at Starbucks and, if you don’t want to deal with the sales process yourself, there are numerous well regarded timeshare realtors, who will be more than happy to accept your business. (We recommend visiting the Timeshare Users Group if you’re looking for recommendations on which realtors to approach). No reputable company/realtor in the timesharing world will ever ask you for money upfront when dealing with the sale of your unit so, if you get asked, walk away and don’t look back.
The owners most vulnerable to companies asking for upfront fees are those who own at the less well known resorts and who may be finding it tough to sell their unit. There’s a strong temptation to pay the money being demanded just to be rid of the unit. If you ever find yourself in this position just ask yourself this: “If I can’t sell my unit then what are these guys planning on doing with it?” The answer is simple, they’re going to put it on eBay. This is where the less well known timeshares are sold for just $1 and it is the dumping ground for the upfront fee companies. So, rather than paying a company hundreds or thousands of dollars to take your unit off your hands why don’t you just list it on Vacation Smarter yourself? If you price it competitively, there’s no reason the unit shouldn’t sell. Check the listing prices of comparable units at your resort and price your unit accordingly. If your unit is valued at under $500 you can take advantage of our Low Cost Sales listings to save save even more.
Remember: Never Pay Upfront Fees
