Q: We recently purchased a Time Share. How do we get rid of it?

A: It’s very difficult. Try going to timeshares.com, and listing your timeshare. You might also try auctioning it off on Ebay’s new timeshare and real estate site. Or, you might try giving it away to charity.

Q: I am thinking of selling my time share. It’s a two bedroom Fairfield condo in Arkansas. The week I bought was the week of Labor Day. The property is a golf resort. My trading options are for any other week when I do a space deposit.

Please let me know where to start. I only paid $3000. and would like to sell for 7,000. or more. What do you think?

A: Time Shares are notoriously difficult to sell. Many people can never get rid of them. If they abandon them, it goes on their credit report. Some people have had some success in giving them away to charity. I don’t know why you think the value of your timeshare has doubled — for your sake I hope it has — but if you’re serious about selling I’d start marketing your place immediately. Talk to the developer, talk to the person who does the rentals, put up a sign in your laundry room (if you have one) and talk to people around the area.

Q: I have one last question. I find it real hard to just give the time share away because it cost us about $16,000 for two weeks plus the maintenance that we have been paying for the past 6 years, which by estimation costs us about $21,000 over that period. Do you think that it is good idea to auction it on the internet? I am willing to take about $10,000 for the two weeks. The companies that it is listed with are trying to sell the two weeks for $18,000 negotiable. Thanks again for your time and information.

A: You have very little to lose. If you can get anything at this point, I’d take it and just recognize it as an expensive lesson.

Q: I have been listening to your program on the Clark Howard Show and find you very informative and resourceful. I have a question for you in regards to the resale of a time share. I have a two week time share in Aruba and I have been trying to sell it for about four years without any luck. I have listed it with two companies and have lowered the price by almost 50% of the purchase price. My wife and I were sort of “suckered” into buying this time share. We were on our honeymoon and we thought this would be a great investment for our future. We have tried to resell it back to the property and they told us that they cannot buy it back because they do not have a resale department. What can we do to get this property off our hands?

A: There is virtually nothing you can do to get rid of this. Timeshares are like the plague, they just linger on and on. The real reason the company doesn’t want the time share back is they can’t sell it either.

Your best bet is to see if you can give it away to a charity and let them auction the timeshare off as a fundraiser. Your other choice is to simply give it to someone else and be glad you’re done with the annual payments.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news or resources for you, but this is why Clark is always dropping a bomb on timeshares.