A guaranteed spot in a dream vacation destination. Locked-in vacation prices. No more shopping around for hotel rooms at peak season prices. And, to top it all off, the ability to easily trade vacation spots with other timeshare owners, anywhere in the world. A timeshare, in theory, sounds like a very sweet deal.

However, now more than ever, owners looking to unload their timeshares are finding it very hard, if not impossible, to sell.

A timeshare is, at the most basic level, a form of condominium. In a typical condo, each individual unit belongs to a single owner and can be purchased at a specific price, while the common areas (such as the hallways, elevators, and exteriors) are jointly owned and require some kind of maintenance fee. A timeshare takes this one step further, so that the units are broken down into weekly time slots, with the implication that one single unit can theoretically have 52 different owners, each with a different week on the calendar.

With this in mind, it becomes much easier to see why timeshare owners are finding it so difficult to dump their time slots. Often, these owners are competing directly with the timeshare developers, who may need to get rid of a huge supply of unsold time slots (a timeshare with 100 units will have over 5,000 slots to fill) and are willing to go to more extreme measures to do so.

While many developers are reluctant to cut their prices and thus compensate by giving away perks (such as free spa memberships), a timeshare in Colorado, for example, has been giving away time slots for free to anyone willing to take on the maintenance fees and other upkeep costs, making it nearly impossible for timeshare owners looking to sell to come out even, let alone make a profit.

Unloading a timeshare has always been difficult, as there are typically far more sellers than buyers in the market. However, while timeshare owners could expect 50 cents on the dollar just a few years ago, they must now settle for something more like 10 cents on dollar, if even that.

Many timeshare owners understand this, and go into it with no intent on ever selling it. However, for those who suddenly find themselves in a different situation and unable to take advantage of their allotted weeks of fun, the annual maintenance fees can feel a little like flushing money down the toilet.

Timeshare Users Group, a popular timeshare resale site, can help current owners sell their timeshares, but if trying to sell is not working out, then donating is always another option. Donate for a Cause, for example, will help owners donate their timeshares to a charity of their choosing in exchange for a tax deduction equal to the market value of the unit. Not to mention relief from having to pay those maintenance fees until the end of time.