The timeshare industry holds a lot of secrets they would rather potential buyers not understand. That is why they have high pressure sales presentations with enticing giveaways to lure potential buyers. They often do not even allow people of lesser incomes to attend these hyped-up ‘closing’ seminars, because they know chances are even slimmer that they can sell their overpriced ‘rip off’ products, as they would someone who may have more disposable income.  

While the initial concept of timesharing was pure genius, for most people, purchasing a traditional timeshare is not near the great deal that they propose. They come with a non-recoupearble  high price and a lot of pitfalls.    

1. History shows Timeshares Are a Bad Investment

In fact, they aren't an investment at all, since it makes little sense to put money into a depreciating asset and expect a return. Timeshare sales representatives rarely push them as a quality investment these days (as was common in the past), they still use subtle wording during to give the impression that purchasing a timeshare is a good financial move. Terms like "life-quality investment" are often used to try and tie the words "timeshare" and "investment" together. If you don't listen carefully, you will think that a timeshare is a great investment when, in fact, it's anything but.

2. You Can Get the Same Timeshare for Half the Price

Timeshares are notoriously difficult to sell. That means that those who have purchased a timeshare but no longer want it must greatly discount their unit to sell it. You can find the exact same units being sold directly from the timeshare resorts on timeshare resale sites at a discount of 50% or more.

3. You Lose 50% or More When You Sell

As mentioned above, reselling a timeshare is extremely difficult even for the best of them. Similar to a car driving off a dealer's lot, timeshares will lose 50% or more of their value the second you sign on the dotted line. In the worst-case scenario, you will be trapped with a timeshare unit (and the yearly fees) that you can't even give away.

4. There are new, less expensive  ways to Rent a Timeshare

Many people can't use their timeshares for various reasons. Instead of just letting the timeshare sit unoccupied during the time for which it is already paid, many timeshare owners try to rent out their weeks to recoup some of their money. In many cases, you can rent the same week at the exact same resort for less than it would cost to own the same unit (and many times for less than the timeshare fees would be) without any of the associated risks that come with timeshare ownership.

5. Timeshares Come with Multiple Hidden Risks

When you purchase a timeshare, you purchase a part of that building. That means that if there is a disaster, you are responsible for a portion of rebuilding the timeshare. While timeshare resorts are supposed to retain adequate insurance, they don't always carry the coverage they should and there are certain disasters for which coverage may be too expensive. This leaves you responsible for covering these losses if the unfortunate should happen.

6. Miss One Year and You're Better Off Without a Timeshare

All the calculations the timeshares sales representative offers will be assuming that you use the timeshare every year for years into the future. When all costs related to the timeshare are taken into consideration, a timeshare's price can range from being much more expensive than a comparative hotel to being slightly less expensive. This, of course, is if you use your timeshare every year.

If all your timeshare expenses add up to $1,500 a year and a comparable hotel in the area for the same week would cost $1,600, you may think you have made a financially wise decision by saving $100.

If you use a hotel, rent a condo, rent a timeshare unit or use some other similar accommodations for your vacations and one year you can't go for some reason, you aren't out any money. With a timeshare, however, you lose the entire $1,500 you have already paid. Nobody expects that they won't be able to travel every year, but life throws out unexpected twists that will probably keep you from using your timeshare at some point. If you miss that one year, you would likely be financially better off had you not purchased the timeshare.

7. Trading Isn't Near as Easy as Claimed

When you hear the timeshare sales pitch, the sales representative will make it sound like you will be able to trade your unit with others around the world with ease. Rarely is it easy to exchange, and nearly every transaction means you will have to pay additional fees to trade, if it is possible at all. If you won't be going to the exact same spot year after year, a timeshare won't save you any money and will likely cost you much more.

8. If You Can't Pay in Full, It's a Terrible Deal

Another issue often omitted by timeshare representatives during the calculations is the cost of financing a timeshare. Banks know that timeshares will lose their value and therefore don't consider them real estate in the loans they provide.

Instead of low rates that are tax-deductible, a timeshare loan will come with a double-digit interest rate and in most cases will not be tax-deductible. When you add the cost of this financing to the overall cost of the timeshare, it makes little financial sense to purchase one if you can't pay for the unit in cash.

9. Travel Is Not Calculated When Comparisons Are Made

One of the tricks timeshare sales representatives use when attempting to show you what a "great deal" timeshares are is that they will include your travel expenses when calculating the cost of your current vacation, but conveniently forget to include travel costs when calculating the cost of the timeshare. If you aren't paying attention, you may believe you're getting a deal when in reality all the savings came from leaving out the travel expense that you must still pay.

10. Hotel Prices Are Increasing (But So Are Timeshare Fees)

Another one of the tricks timeshare sales representatives use is telling you how much hotel prices are increasing and then telling you that your timeshare will still be the same price 15 years from now. What they fail to tell you is that the timeshare fees are not locked at the current rate and will also likely increase as time goes on so the timeshare can be upgraded to keep up with newer competition. This means all that money you were supposed to save is unlikely to ever materialize.

Keeping all of this in mind when considering long term strategic vacation plans will do you a world of good, literally. Global Resorts Network has packaged ALL of the benefits and none of the negatives to the timeshare concept.