[jandrese]

I went to one of those timeshare presentations before just because the free prize for sitting through it was especially desirable.

My impression is that they were heavily targeting people who were bad at math. Every time I ran the numbers (I had a lot of opportunities while trapped in the room waiting for the prize counter to open) it just made no sense whatsoever. Beyond the amount you were overpaying for the apartment, the fees we so expensive that you could vacation on what you would have been paying in fees for a long time. The fees didn't even get you much, you still had to do all of the cleaning and a lot of the maintenance as they were not included. The fees only really covered exterior maintenance and mowing the lawns, and were about two or three orders of magnitude higher than they should be for those services if you assumed every unit in the complex was paying them 52 times a year.

Timeshares as a concept could in theory work, but the entire industry consists of grifters far more focused on getting rich than providing a service to their customers. It is ironic that the primary focus of the presentations is how expensive it would be to take a beach vacation every year, which is true, and how timeshares in concept could make this much more affordable, which is also true, but then they show you the numbers and the reality is completely opposite.

[BrandoElFollito]

Out of curiosity: what kind of freebies are there during such presentations? (I am form France and we don't really have that concept here)

[jandrese]

Free weekend vacation at Disney World, including admission to the parks. You actually stayed in one of the timeshare units they were trying to sell. The presentation was about 3 hours long, and mostly consisted of a high pressure sales pitch full of dubious claims. The salesguys were not impressed by the math.

[xnyan]

I think the prizes I've seen are generally in the range of $300-600 cash value. To get it you have to sit through the hardest and most annoying sales pitch imaginable. I did it once. I was never tempted even slightly to buy their scam, but it was so miserable to sit through that it's not something I'd ever do again.

[basementcat]

After some negotiation (don’t settle for the first "prize" they offer you) I got a free flight and hotel to Orlando, FL and I used the time to visit the Air Force Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral (at the time, I had a badge that let me get on base to visit the museum).

You do need to be prepared for a hard sell. They are clearly making money otherwise they wouldn’t fly me around the country.

[nunez]

They usually offer heavily discounted stays at hotels in prime locations, free cruises, and other vacation-y things.

[bombcar]

They get them in bulk so they’re often not all that great in value.

However if your time isn’t worth $50/hr or more (as in you’re a college student, etc) and you’re strong willed it can be worth it. Maybe.