Buying a timeshare is widely considered one of the worst financial decisions a human being can make because the secondary market value for them is functionally zero dollars.

A closer look

Buying a timeshare is widely considered one of the worst financial decisions a human being can make because the secondary market value for them is functionally zero dollars. People routinely try to list their fully paid-off vacation properties on eBay for a single penny just to escape the perpetually increasing annual maintenance fees that the management companies aggressively enforce. Resort developers lock naive tourists in high-pressure sales presentations for hours, plying them with cheap cocktails and false promises of endless luxury, until they agree to pay twenty thousand dollars for the privilege of a one-week stay in Florida. Millions of people effectively sign a lifelong contract to legally obligate their own children to pay for a mediocre condo near a theme park long after they are dead, making it the ultimate generational curse of the travel industry