Gift-Induced Spending

[kork13]

I've been thinking about this for the last week, and I'm still not sure what to do or what to think about it.

In the way of background...Last Friday was my squadron (office) Christmas Party. It was an awesome time, and every one of the 150+ attendees loved it. Part of the fun was a large prize raffle (~70 prizes raffled out, from gift cards to electronics). In the end, about half of everybody who attended received a prize, which by most accounts is fantastic! So somehow I ended up as the lucky winner of the 'grand prize', a medium-sized LCD TV. "Cool!" you might think... But I don't watch TV, and have grown accustomed to not having one. I don't have cable, no game console, not even a DVD player--and I'm perfectly happy not having any of that. So now my quandary is what to do with this TV?!? It was given to me by the people I work with every day, and in a VERY public setting, so it would be rather poor form to give it away or sell it.

So bottom line, this is the thought that triggered my post:
Sometimes you receive gifts that only induce spending! In order for me to get any use out of this TV, I'll need to (at the least) buy a DVD player of some sort, or get a PS3/XBox/etc., or get cable, or something along similar lines (btw, there's no "bunny ears" programming available here that isn't in Japanese). Until I do that, it's going to sit unused in the box! I'm very grateful and appreciative for having won the TV, but in order to enjoy it requires me to spend almost as much on other stuff as the TV cost itself!

So what are everybody's thoughts on gifts like this? And have you ever received gifts that induced additional spending?

[MonkeyMama]

Personally, I'd donate it. Who is going to be mad that you donated it to a good cause?

Yes, many gifts cost more money in the end. Can't think of anything big/specific. But that's how it goes sometimes.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Give it away or sell it...

[irmanator]

you know if it was a prize raffle i don't think anyone is gonna care. It is not like someone spent there time choosing this gift specifically for you. I would donate it if you don't want it.

[Slug]

I would donate it if you itemize your taxes because donating is nice. Otherwise I'd sell it. You have no obligation to keep something you don't want simply because you won it.

[Breton Wench]

Was in exactly the same position myself this summer.
My 11 y.o. daughter won the top prize in the school raffle - an LCD TV. We do not have even a co-axial to get a TV signal. So I told the headmaster the day after that we were delighted, but that it was unwanted and that it was being sold and added to DD's pocket money ( she got 95 euros for it - pretty good ). He was more amused by the fact that we had a TV-less lifestyle - and remarked that he had given away a coffee maker that he once won, as he hates coffee!

[ktmarvels]

First of all, I doubt many would notice if you gave it away or sold it, unless you advertise it. Especially if you wait a little bit and the hubbub has died down. However, if you feel that bad about it, give it to someone else in the squadron. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would want it and use it.

[disneysteve]

I see no reason to keep something you won in a raffle if you don't want or need it. As irmanator said, this wasn't a gift personally given to you. And even if it had been, lots of people return or exchange unwanted gifts.

Donate it or sell it. If you can find a store that sells the item, you might even be able to return it for a store credit and get something that you actually care about.

[Angio333]

Why not have the people you work with throw their name in a hat and the name you draw wins the TV?

[snafu]

Some people feel they must retain and display gifts no matter how awful or how much it adds to the clutter. Fact is once you've been given a gift, it's yours to do with as you please. There is no need to announce what you decided to do with an inappropriate win/gift. Take whatever action you like to return, sell, re-gift or donate.

[krantcents]

I totally agree with all the other posts. I won a TV at a Company office party about 12 years ago. I exchanged it for something else. No regrets. The raffle item was not selected as a personal gift for me.

[creditcardfree]

Why not have the people you work with throw their name in a hat and the name you draw wins the TV?

I like this idea the best. Let someone else you work with be the winner!

[elessar78]

For the "evil" advice... sell it and say you donated it.

I won a bunch of stuff at my church raffle this year (big thing was an electric guitar). Most of it I sold on craigslist soon thereafter because it was all stuff we already had.

[jpg7n16]

Never do, or don't do anything because of what someone else may think of you; because no one's thinking of you at all.
If you knew how little others think about you, you'd be insulted.
-Brian Tracy

I'm not really sure what you should do with the TV. I'd sell it on eBay, or try to sell it to one of my friends who was looking for a TV.

But whatever you decide to do, I don't think you should make it because of what the people in your office think. You should make your decision on what's best for you. If you don't want the TV, get rid of it somehow. Would you be happier selling it? Donating it? Or re-raffling it off?

If you re-raffled it, and the new person who won it already had a TV and chose to sell it, what would you think? Would you regret your decision? If so, then is there a better way to make sure the TV gets into the type of hands you want it to go to?


The most anyone else in your office/squadron is probably thinking about it is, "hey I won something and this one guy even won a TV. It was a good time!" They probably wouldn't even care what you did with it, cause they're not thinking about you.

Many people would think it was reasonable to say, "Oh well I won the TV, but I already had one - so I sold it on Craigslist." There were probably 50+ other people there who would do the same thing.

[Like2Plan]

I've been thinking about this for the last week, and I'm still not sure what to do or what to think about it.

In the way of background...Last Friday was my squadron (office) Christmas Party. It was given to me by the people I work with every day, and in a VERY public setting, so it would be rather poor form to give it away or sell it.

Does your squadron have a break room that needs a TV? If you didn't want to sell it or exchange it--maybe you could put it somewhere where the other individuals in your squadron could enjoy it?