You can hardly wait to open the winning notice.\u00a0 You won a prize in the Really Big Sweepstakes and you're really hoping for that $10,000 Grand Prize.\u00a0 It's …it's…a runner up prize, and not one you really wanted.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 What do you do?<\/p>\n
It depends on what you won.\u00a0 Imagine that the unwanted prize, let's say purple camouflage\u00a0hip-waders in size XL, just aren't your thing.\u00a0 You could give them away or gift<\/a> them\u00a0to a friend or family member who could you use hip-waders.\u00a0 You could sell them, possibly on eBay or Craig's List.\u00a0 You could donate them to a charity for underfunded fisherman.\u00a0 It doesn't really matter.\u00a0 Once you receive that prize, it is yours and you can do with it what you wish.<\/p>\n However, different rules apply to non-tangible prizes (i.e. prizes you can't touch).\u00a0 Let's say you won the second prize, a cruise up the Hudson River, or the third prize, six months of tai-chi lessons.\u00a0 Sweepstakes rules for prizes like this usually explain that these prizes are non-transferable.\u00a0 That means you cannot give them to someone else.\u00a0 You can decide not to take the cruise and skip the tai-chi lessons, but you can't send someone else in your place.\u00a0 This is where it pays to read the Rules.\u00a0 Sometimes the sponsor will tell you that you can take cash value instead of the prize<\/a> offered.\u00a0 If so, you're in luck, take the cash.\u00a0 If the Rules don't indicate that cash is an option, don't expect the sponsor to pay.\u00a0 You can ask but don't get your hopes up.<\/p>\n It can be kind of a bummer when you don't get the prize you were hoping for.\u00a0 But you know what?\u00a0 You entered a sweepstakes<\/a> and you're a winner!<\/p>