Mexico is a low-cost alternative to many tropical locales for Americans. Peak tourist season in Mexico is during December and summer months. When you can’t use your Mexico timeshare week, you can sell it if you’re willing to put some realistic effort into your effort. We’ve found these steps to yield best results:

1. Start early – give yourself as much time as possible. If you’re wondering now if you’ll use the week this winter, start a selling project now. You can always take your week off the market if you decide you will use it after all.
2. DO NOT PAY TO SELL YOUR TIMESHARE. Once you begin advertising that you have a week for sale, you will be approached by companies offering to sell your week for you, if you’ll pay a “deposit”. We can not successfully verify ANY sale of timeshare time with ANY of these firms.
3. Research the value of the timeshare week. Remember, this is not necessarily the amount you originally paid for it. Google terms like “timeshare week Mexico sold for”, and record the dollar figures you get from your search. Try to limit your research to forums and places where individual time owners post their results, not the figures sales agents quote. Once you have several figures for the same season your time falls in, you can average these figures together to come up with an asking price.
4. Keep in mind timeshare loans. If you have a loan on your timeshare, subtract that from your estimated sale price – no seller will want to pay the loan on top of your asking price.
5. Advertise widely. Advertise your week in as many places as possible. We suggest eBay, Craigslist (especially a Craigslist site in the area local to your resort), the resort’s local newspaper, and internet sites that specialize in selling timeshare weeks (caution: these sites invite the scam companies to contact you – beware!).
6. Be an honest seller: Treat potential buyers as you want to be treated if you were buying something. Give honest answers. Respond promptly to inquiries. If someone makes an offer lower than your asking price, make a counter offer. Stay pleasant even if a potential buyer gets rude – they may come back later when they can’t find a better deal.
7. Get the sale terms in writing. Once you have a buyer, get a written contract including the sale price and terms that both parties sign.

While this seems like a great deal of effort, this process can save a great deal of money and heartburn for both the seller and buyer. Buena suerte (good luck)!

BONUS TIP: Leverage reliable resources - Sites such as www.timesharesecrets.com offer trusted selling services at no upfront cost based on a risk free program.  That means that you spend less time trying to sell, no upfront cost, and you have a much greater edge over sellers who try to do it themselves.  Click here to learn more about what they offer.