Some timeshares over time totally lose their value for owners, who seek to escape annual maintenance fees that often run $400 to $1,500 or more a year.

For example, in the six weeks between Sept. 11 and Oct. 25, the online auction site eBay reported more than 2,000 auctions of timeshares. At least 71 sold for bids of $1 or less. Another 641 timeshares that sought starting bids of $1 or less failed to sell or receive any bids, even at that low price.

Three timeshares in Utah sold on eBay in that time, while three others failed to receive any bids. Two of the former sold for $1, both for ownership of weeks at Sweetwater at Park City Lift Lodge.

While those owners received at least a pittance of money, many others give theirs away entirely. Search sites on the Internet show scores of charities willing to take them under certain circumstances, or companies offering to help arrange such donations.

James Tarpey is founder of Donate for a Cause, an Internet company that helps arrange timeshare donations to charities. He said he had the idea for starting it as he operated a closing company for the timeshare resale market.

"For two years I listened to people selling at a tremendous loss, like 80 percent," and working long and hard trying to sell it at even such discounts, he says. "I once was an attorney for a church, and I learned that many of them would have more money in their pocket if they gave it to a charity" and took the resulting tax deductions.

His company has a list of charities that work with it, and donors can pick one to receive any profits. "We only accept timeshares we know we can move in six weeks to a new buyer," he added, and buyers pay closing costs. "We're picky and accept only about 65 percent of the properties offered to us."

The properties then are offered for cheap, quick sale — and profits go to the charity. "We've raised about $700,000 for charities since August of 2004," Tarpey said. "We are doing about 15 (donations to charity) a day. We're quite shocked at what interest there would be."

For those who cannot even give away undesired timeshares, at least one company offers to take them off owners' hands — for a fee.

The Morning News obtained paperwork from a company called We Collect Timeshares of Tumwater, Wash. Papers show the company asks for a nonrefundable fee to take over timeshare ownership and annual maintenance fees.

Real estate agents said some older couples reported that the company had told them that if they paid it to take timeshares off their hands, that would avoid sticking their children with annual maintenance fees when they died. The company did not respond to Morning News inquiries about its operations.

Paperwork from We Collect Timeshares did not say what its fees are for the initial timeshare weeks it assumes from clients but did say it charged nearly $1,000 in fees for each additional timeshare week it assumed after a first one (and required that all maintenance fees be made current before transfer, and that clients pay all recording and transfer fees).