Money Moral Dilemma: Should I sell my unwanted prize or give it away for free?

Jael003

There are a couple of things to consider:

Do you need the money? I used to be a comper many years back and entered comps like a job as I was at home with a new baby and needed the money. I would sell whatever I could from my winnings and it helped a lot. If you need the money then stick to your guns and sell it, whether it's to this friend, or online etc.

Can your friend afford to pay for it? If they can afford to pay for it, then they should. You obviously should give them a good price for it, but if they are not in financial difficulty then they shouldn't expect it for free. If however, they don't have much money and having the prize would improve their quality of life, then I would consider giving it to them for free if you don't need the money. Sometimes being able to give prizes away, even expensive ones, can bring with it a lot of personal satisfaction.

Sheepies

Your 'friend' sounds like a cheeky bar steward. Sell it and dump the friend, you don't need people like that in your life

NBLondon

Sort of depends what the prize is... Did the invisible OP tell the friend, "I won an X, but I don't need/want another one." and they said "Wow - I've always wanted one of those"? Is it a £25 or a £250 prize? Has the iOP suggested selling or the friend offered to buy?

I sometimes enter comps for things I don't particularly want or need with the intention of giving them to proper friends who would but I wouldn't mention it until it was in my hands and it would then be a gift. Other things (DVDs and the like) I enter with every intention of eBaying them afterwards.

And on the other end... our dishwasher was won by a friend who didn't keep it because it didn't fit her kitchen. She would happily have given it away but we agreed on half the retail price as a win-win solution.

Big_Ot

Find another friend!

angel549

How cheeky is your friend?!?! Or should i say "friend"! Absolutely outright rude!

SELL IT!! It is YOUR tv. You won it fair and square. So it is your choice to do with it what you want. IF you want to be incredibly generous and give it away for free, then donate it to a charity, or give it to a close and loved family or friend for christmas. But personally, i'd sell it and use the money to buy myself something nice or put in savings/pay off a little debt etc.

I wouldn't even give this "friend" a good mates rates deal on it now after their outright cheek.

Bellisima

I had a spare tv in my kitchen that I never used. I contacted the local homeless shelter to see if the wanted it. They said yes please as they need stuff to help people set up home. I didn't realise they did that for people, and I was very happy to donate it.

diddlydoop

Did your 'friend' contribute to your electricity,internet connection,cost of computer or phone bills that would have been needed to win the comp for 'free' ? I have given prizes away that I could quite easily have sold but to those people who would never have expected them for free.1 friend who I gave something too even bought me a present which was worth way more than what I gave them as a thank you. That is a friend.

pugsydog

Sell it and dump this grasping friend.

Blulu

No offence intended, but I don't think we should get carried away on a torrent of anger at the mentioned friend. We only know a teeny snippet. The friend may be a really good friend, one who they have an open, upfront relationship with, where they are merely swapping opinions. We shouldn't assume the friend is being greedy and grasping. They might just be enjoying the debate, or even saying it as a tease. I would hate to think they might read all this anger at them, which may or may not be justified.

I also agree with most of the posts here that say the winner should do whatever they want with the prize. They won it, so are free to sell it, donate it, sell/give to the friend, whichever they prefer.

Blu X

sleepyjones

There's not really anything we can say here, there's too many variables ... I know I've got one particular friend that would do the whole "It didn't cost you anything" thing but I know it would be in a more jokey way and I know if I did give it to that friend they would buy me booze or something. Thinking about it, said friend would never physically ask for something, probably more hint at it but not be so direct.

I don't really enter competitions to make money (I don't mean that in a derogatory way), I only ever enter for things that I could use or know someone that could use so If I won a TV (if that's what this is) I would probably have a fair idea of what I was going to do with it when I entered.
If it was me (and my friends), I'd probably give it to the friend but every situation and every friendship is different. Tell them you sold it on Gumtree and then give it to them for Christmas ... or sell it and buy yourself something. I'm not sure anyone can really offer advice on this because we don't know you, we don't know your friend, we don't know your or your friends circumstances.

Go with what your gut tells you ... but remember, what goes around comes around

EDIT : pretty much exactly what Blulu just said above