If you’re vacationing at a timeshare resort, chances are you’ll eventually be invited — or strongly encouraged — to attend a timeshare sales presentation. These meetings are routinely scheduled (or at least attempted) for nearly every guest staying on property, whether you’re an existing owner, an exchanger, or simply renting a unit for the week.

This guide is designed to help you understand exactly what to expect before you walk into one of these presentations — so you can recognize the tactics being used, protect yourself, and decide in advance how you want to handle it.

Keep in mind, these presentations often go by other names like “Owner Update” or “Information Session”, but the goal is usually the same: to get you into a room and attempt to sell you a timeshare.

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Scheduling the Sales Presentation

If your Sales Presentation/Owner Update is not scheduled when you check into your timeshare as has become so common these days, it usually comes **shortly after you arrive** via a polite phone call.

The person on the other end of that call is trained to be friendly, professional, and persistent — and they are paid to keep calling until a meeting is booked. A simple “no thank you” rarely ends the conversation. They’ll often deflect, counter, or gently ignore your objections in order to keep the discussion moving toward a scheduled appointment.

It’s important to understand that this person typically isn’t a salesperson at all. Their sole job is to fill the sales department’s calendar. Whether you’re a serious buyer, mildly curious, or completely uninterested is irrelevant to them — they don’t earn commissions and won’t be sitting across the table from you later.

To illustrate how persistent this process can be, I recently stayed at a resort and told the scheduler up front who I was (she was familiar with TUG). I politely explained that I didn’t want to waste the salesperson’s time and that I wasn’t comfortable accepting the free incentive being offered.

Despite that, every attempt to decline was calmly deflected. She remained courteous and professional throughout, but the call didn’t end until a presentation was scheduled. At no point did I feel threatened or pressured — just patiently and persistently guided toward the same outcome.

That’s the key takeaway: the scheduling staff isn’t evaluating whether you’re a good prospect. Their success is measured by one thing only — keeping the sales team fully booked. Understanding this helps explain why it can feel so difficult to get them to take no for an answer, even when you’re clear about your intentions.

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Ok so it appears I have to go - what now?

From this point forward, your experience can range from surprisingly short and painless to long, exhausting, and deeply uncomfortable. We’ve heard reports from every end of that spectrum — and everything in between. Much of it depends on the specific resort, the sales team, and the individual salesperson you’re assigned.

While it’s impossible to describe every scenario, one pattern shows up again and again: many people walk into a presentation fully convinced they won’t buy anything — and walk out as brand-new timeshare owners. These presentations are carefully designed to wear down resistance, create urgency, and push decisions before you’ve had time to think them through.

The sections that follow break down the common elements found in nearly all timeshare sales presentations, so you’ll know exactly what to expect — and how to recognize the tactics as they happen.

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The Pitch

At its core, the purpose of the presentation is simple: to sell you something. For first-time buyers, that usually means a brand-new timeshare. For existing owners, it often takes the form of an “upgrade” to increase point totals, a “trade-in” that supposedly credits your current ownership toward a newer (and more expensive) package, or a “preview” or “trial” offer designed to ease hesitant buyers into a purchase.

You do NOT have to buy anything during the presentation — and you should never commit to a timeshare purchase without independent research.

Sales presentations are structured to push you toward signing a contract on the spot. Immediate commitment limits your ability to compare options, verify claims, or fully understand the long-term costs and obligations. Once you sign, many consumer protections disappear — and your leverage drops sharply.

Recognizing this pressure is the first step in neutralizing it and avoiding making a very bad financial decision.

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Common tactics by Salespeople!

While it’s practically impossible to list every creative tactic in a salesperson’s arsenal, the examples below are some of the most commonly reported claims owners hear during timeshare sales presentations. These are statements you should listen for carefully:

• Claims that you’ll receive “X number of extra vacation weeks” if you buy a specific package.
• Statements suggesting that buying this timeshare lets you exchange for any other timeshare, anytime, with no limitations.
• Promises that if you don’t use your timeshare, the resort will rent it out for you.
• Assertions that a timeshare is an “investment” that will increase in value.
• Pressure tactics such as: “This deal is just for you — I cleared it with my manager — but it’s only available if you buy today.”
• Claims that maintenance fees will “stay low,” be “locked in,” or only increase slightly — often without any written guarantee.
• Statements suggesting you can easily sell the timeshare later for “close to what you paid” or that there is a strong resale market waiting.
• Assurances that upgrading now will “fix” past purchase mistakes, unlock better availability, or make your existing ownership more valuable.

Each of these statements (and countless variations of them) is designed to create urgency and push you into making a decision on the spot. A simple way to test how legitimate a claim is:

Ask the salesperson to put it in writing in the contract or show you exactly where their claim is in the existing contract!

Their reaction will often tell you everything you need to know. If a promise is not clearly written into the contract, you should assume you will not receive it.

We cannot count the number of owners who were told things verbally to close a sale, only to discover later that those promises appear nowhere in the paperwork. When complaints are raised, the most common response from the developer is simply: “You misunderstood the salesperson.”

Another frequent tactic is the so-called “long-term cost comparison” between owning a timeshare and staying in hotels. Salespeople will often add up decades of hypothetical hotel stays and compare that number to the purchase price.

What is almost always “accidentally” left out of this comparison? Annual maintenance fees. When those ongoing costs are included — and projected over time — the numbers often look far less attractive.

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But the salesman said this was a one time offer?

This is one of the most common "tactics" used by Timeshare salespersons to get you to commit during the presentation. Fact is, that offer will be valid whenever you decide you want to take it. You could call up the next month after returning home and doing your research and the salesman would literally jump through the phone to sign you up for that same deal offered during your presentation.

Absolutely No offer made during a presentation becomes "unavailable" to you the moment the presentation ends.

There is a reason that the sales presentations are done at the beginning of your vacation! Your Right of Rescission period begins the day you sign your contract and varies in length from 3 to 10 days depending on the state. It is quite possible that by the time you get home from your vacation and get a chance to sit down and research exactly what you just bought, you might have already passed the period in which you had to legally cancel. This is not done by accident folks!

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Why would I cancel, surely its cheaper to buy at the presentation?

One of the hardest truths TUGGERS discover (usually shortly after buying during a presentation) is the Timeshare Resale market. So many folks are desperate to rid themselves of their timeshares, resale prices for most resorts have never ever been lower. Yes you can find that exact same interval for pennies on the dollar vs what you can buy it for right there at the presentation. At the very least, you owe it to yourself to RESEARCH before making that decision! If you find later that the price given to you during the presentation was the best you can do (it wont be), then by all means call the salesman back up and express your interest in buying and they will sign you right up!

TUG has saved owners MILLIONS of dollars in the past few years for those that have bought during a sales presentation, then later found TUG in time to cancel that purchase and buy on the resale market for pennies on the dollar. We are not making this stuff up! This thread serves as a reference for owners who have confirmed they were able to cancel in time and buy resale! Check out the current list of people TUG has saved here: I found TUG in time to rescind my new Timeshare purchase!

If you for some reason still bought a Timeshare during the presentation, we advise you to rescind immediately and do some research as you only have a very short time to legally cancel to get a full refund! This is such an important detail, we actually created an entire youtube video to cover it! Check it out here:

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The salesman said I lose benefits when buying resale?

This is most certainly true of more and more resorts these days! It is a vain attempt at destroying the resale market so that resorts can continue to sell NEW timeshares at a grossly inflated price! If this tactic is used on you during your sales presentation, you should make the salesman write out right in front of you exactly which items and services do not apply if you were to buy this exact same timeshare on the resale market!

This will help you two fold!

First It gives you the exact items you can go and research to see if there is indeed a way to get those by purchasing resale. In many cases you will find that some of these "perks" do indeed apply to any and all owners irregardless of how the timeshare was purchased.

Second It lets you decide if those perks are worth paying tens of thousands of dollars MORE than buying the same property on the resale market!

One example of this is a large resort chain offering free limo rides during your vacation to and from the airport etc for those who purchase a new timeshare package at a certain price level. This sounds great, and is indeed a fantastic perk for new owners! However one must keep in perspective that you could probably get some pretty nice limo service yourself each trip with an extra $10,000 in your pocket that you saved by buying resale!

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The Final Word!

A quote from a horrible 'B' movie goes something like this:

"During any sales presentation, a sale is always made. Either the salesmen is successful at selling you his product, or you are successful in selling him on why you wont buy it."

This could not apply better to the Timeshare world. It is the job of the salesman to sell you a Timeshare Package, and sadly he has the benefit of doing it for a living every single work day of his life! He has heard all the responses, he has seen countless folks before you give him every excuse in the world on why they aren't going to buy, and has a creative rebuttal for every one of them. It is your job as an educated consumer to ensure that you do NOT sign up for anything without doing the appropriate research!

There is no way you would just walk into a Realtors office and buy a house without doing your due diligence and research before making such a financial commitment, there is no reason you should make a decision on a Timeshare without doing said research either. Any salesman who tries to convince you otherwise is trying to take your rights away as a consumer to pad his or her paycheck that week!

• If you are uncomfortable or have ANY questions or concerns about the deal, you should not sign.
• if you are unable to confirm in writing IN THE CONTRACT everything the salesman has said, you should not sign.
• if you are unable to do research on the resale market, you should not sign.

Each of these three reasons can be used to say no to any contract or offer from a salesman.

That said, buying from the developer may indeed be the best option for you...however assuming that is the case without following the instructions and advice above will in most cases make you regret your purchase should you find out later that you spent way too much money on your Timeshare!

Feel free to stop by our Timeshare Online Community Forums if you want to ask specific questions, with tens of thousands of Timeshare owners and experts, no question goes unanswered!