Now that you have decided to sell your timeshare, researched all the historical sales data you can find, and set a price that you believe is likely to get a deal done according to your timetable, you will have to get the word out that your timeshare unit is for sale. This is where advertising comes in.

Advertising your resale timeshare can be as simple as posting a flyer on your resort's bulletin board or as complex as designing different classified ads with language specifically tailored to the markets where they will appear. What will work best for you? Often, you won't know until you undergo a process of trial and error. Different people shop in different ways, and you are trying to find that lone person out there who wants the property that you are selling. You really have no way of knowing what his advertising preferences are.

No matter which form of advertising you choose, it is smart to look through examples of other timeshare owners' advertisements to see which ones you find the most compelling. Try to figure out what makes one advertisement “pop” or stand out when compared with the others around it. Copy its language, its style, its look, or all three. Learn from other people's successes, and turn them into your own.

Classified

Ads Newspaper classified sections, despite the general trend toward lower newspaper circulations, still remain a powerful tool for advertising personal property. You can often spend no more than $10 and get a full-size classified ad in your local shopper, with the rates going up as you try to buy space in higher-circulation regional and statewide newspapers. Sometimes, that money can buy incredible reach: The New York Times alone, for instance, has more than a million readers a day.

One important thing to do when advertising in any newspaper is to ask — or, if possible, see for yourself — what headings timeshares tend to fall under. Sometimes, the heading is “timeshares,” but other times, the majority of units may be listed for sale under headings such as “vacation properties” or “second homes” or “Florida getaways.” The readers of every newspaper are trained to look in the same place every week for timeshare information, and you want to make sure that your unit is positioned properly for maximum exposure.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web has become a shopping mega-marketplace unto itself, featuring everything from searchable newspaper classified ads to product-specific sites where you can search not just for timeshares, but for the lowest-priced timeshare at a specific resort. If you plan to advertise in cyberspace, there are plenty of options out there.

People who already own one week of timeshare use are often good candidates to buy another week, which is why advertising with TimeSharing Today magazine or the Timeshare User's Group can be an effective choice. You also can advertise on sites such as www.ebay.com, which encompass far more than timeshares alone, but where people can type in the word “timeshares” and come up with a list of properties for sale.

How much should you pay for advertising on the Web? It all depends on how many people your advertisement will reach. Some sites will let you post for as little as $15, while others will charge you upward of $150. If you are working with a resale broker, the online advertising fee should be part of his overall commission; do not be suckered into paying any online advertising fees up front if you have an agent under contract.

Resale Agencies

Resale agencies should include advertising in the cost of their broker's commission. The advertising can include everything from newspaper classified ads to online ads to networking done with timeshare buyers who contact the agency itself.

Your Resort Itself

Sometimes, the best place to advertise your timeshare unit is in the lobby of the resort itself. Many of the other people who stay there will enjoy themselves, and some of them may be renters or guests of owners who decide on the spot that they want to buy into the property. What better place to have your advertisement waiting?

Most timeshare resorts have a homeowners' association area, such as a bulletin board, where you can post for-sale flyers that you either bring to the resort yourself or mail with a request to have them pinned up in a good spot. If you decide to go this route, make sure your flyer includes the following details:

• A real description of your unit (remember, the people reading this flyer are staying at the resort; they will spot phony information)

• The annual week or number of points you own

• Your asking price

• Your contact information (telephone and e-mail are best)

• Any other information that may help your chances, such as successful trades you have gotten with the unit in the past

You can use this information as the basis for classified and World Wide Web advertisements, as well.

Other Owners in Your Resort

A nifty resale trick that experienced timeshare owners sometimes try is to contact their resort and find out who owns the weeks immediately before and after theirs. This makes a great deal of sense, as a person who owns one week may want to stretch their ownership to two back-to-back weeks — something they can do far less expensively by working with you than they otherwise could if shopping for a straight two-week timeshare deal.

Your resort should not give you the name and phone number of the other owners directly, for privacy reasons, but you usually can leave your name and telephone number and ask the front desk to pass them along to the owners who own the weeks on either calendar side of yours.

Rental Markets

The rental market is not just a great place to find potential resale buyers, but to make a little money while doing so. More and more people are getting hip to the fact that timeshare owners sometimes rent out their units — which can be less expensive and more comfortable than hotels in the same cities. This is a potentially lucrative base from which to work when trying to identify new buyers of timeshares. If you can get somebody to rent your timeshare, they just might have such a good time that they will want to go ahead and buy it. You may not only win over a buyer, but you will get to pocket their rental fee in the process

Finding potential renters is a lot like finding potential buyers. You can work with timeshare consumer groups, rental agencies, Web sites, and newspaper classified sections. When creating your ad with renters in mind, though, be sure to include the word vacation in addition to the word timeshare. That way, if someone is searching online for a vacation resort, your ad will pop up even if they don't know that timeshares exist.

Little Extras

As with anything, it is the little details that often make the biggest difference. You need to think hard about what makes your timeshare unit special in a sea of competition, and then articulate those things in your advertising so that you will get the most bang for your buck.

For starters, think about what made you want to buy the timeshare unit in the first place. Do not think about why you bought a timeshare; think about why you bought your timeshare. Does it have the best view in the whole resort? Is it close to the elevators for handicapped access? Does it have a bigger master bedroom than most others in the city? Can the concierge get discounted tickets to local theme parks and theaters?

All of these little extras will help to make your timeshare unit seem just a hair better than others, even if they are identical units in the same resort, because their advertisements will not have those details listed.