You can hardly wait to open the winning notice. You won a prize in the Really Big Sweepstakes and you're really hoping for that $10,000 Grand Prize. It's …it's…a runner up prize, and not one you really wanted. Sigh. What do you do?
It depends on what you won. Imagine that the unwanted prize, let's say purple camouflage hip-waders in size XL, just aren't your thing. You could give them away or gift them to a friend or family member who could you use hip-waders. You could sell them, possibly on eBay or Craig's List. You could donate them to a charity for underfunded fisherman. It doesn't really matter. Once you receive that prize, it is yours and you can do with it what you wish.
However, different rules apply to non-tangible prizes (i.e. prizes you can't touch). Let's say you won the second prize, a cruise up the Hudson River, or the third prize, six months of tai-chi lessons. Sweepstakes rules for prizes like this usually explain that these prizes are non-transferable. That means you cannot give them to someone else. You can decide not to take the cruise and skip the tai-chi lessons, but you can't send someone else in your place. This is where it pays to read the Rules. Sometimes the sponsor will tell you that you can take cash value instead of the prize offered. If so, you're in luck, take the cash. If the Rules don't indicate that cash is an option, don't expect the sponsor to pay. You can ask but don't get your hopes up.
It can be kind of a bummer when you don't get the prize you were hoping for. But you know what? You entered a sweepstakes and you're a winner!
