Girl Scout cookie selling not going well

[Anonymous]

I was the cookie mom several years ago when DD was in scouts. It is a horrid process from start to end. Yes - the idea is you collect the money upfront from the customer. If you don't want to do that, you pay upfront and get reimbursed on delivery. That is your choice, but the cookies will not be ordered until paid.

The troop gets 1 chance to place the order with the regional cookie gods and the order can only be placed by the troop's designated cookie parent. Cookies will not be shipped till order is paid in full.

You can only order full cases (which used to be 12 boxes). So, if the troop collectively sold 15 boxes of Thin Mints, the cookie parent orders 2 cases. The 9 leftover boxes are used for the table sales that you see outside of Giant.

Once the case sales have closed, the cookie parent enters into a lottery to get a place, date, and time to do a table sale at a local retailer. We lucked out and got a Saturday morning at the local Giant.

The whole process was difficult, time consuming, and painful. However, the troop did earn over $900 for their effort.

[Anonymous]

The cookie selling is a joke. By the time the cookies are paid for and the council takes their cut the troops make very little money per box. It’s not even worth the aggravation. Troops are forced to sell cookies to pay for GS salaried employees and facilities. This is on top of the fees that the scouts and volunteers pay to register with GS. There should be more transparency with regard to GS USA expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the cookie mom several years ago when DD was in scouts. It is a horrid process from start to end. Yes - the idea is you collect the money upfront from the customer. If you don't want to do that, you pay upfront and get reimbursed on delivery. That is your choice, but the cookies will not be ordered until paid.

The troop gets 1 chance to place the order with the regional cookie gods and the order can only be placed by the troop's designated cookie parent. Cookies will not be shipped till order is paid in full.

You can only order full cases (which used to be 12 boxes). So, if the troop collectively sold 15 boxes of Thin Mints, the cookie parent orders 2 cases. The 9 leftover boxes are used for the table sales that you see outside of Giant.

Once the case sales have closed, the cookie parent enters into a lottery to get a place, date, and time to do a table sale at a local retailer. We lucked out and got a Saturday morning at the local Giant.

The whole process was difficult, time consuming, and painful. However, the troop did earn over $900 for their effort.

I'm sorry but the part about payment is not true, or at least not these days. I handle the bank account for our troop. Money to pay for the cookies will not be withdrawn until much later in cookie season, after cookies are received. We do not collect money at the time of order and could not pay for the cookies with what's in the account today.

It is a big lift for parent volunteers, thank you for volunteering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cookie selling is a joke. By the time the cookies are paid for and the council takes their cut the troops make very little money per box. It’s not even worth the aggravation. Troops are forced to sell cookies to pay for GS salaried employees and facilities. This is on top of the fees that the scouts and volunteers pay to register with GS. There should be more transparency with regard to GS USA expenses.

"Facilities" means a wide variety of really great camp properties. Keeping those in GS hands is worth it to me.
(I am annoyed by the dues increase though.)

[Anonymous]

I do t think they go door to door anymore. I don’t answer my door for anyone I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not see a way to choose girl delivery online and not pay. A few people have specifically mentioned not having to pay on the website.

Girl delivery is currently turned off so all of us cookie leaders can submit our “initial order.” It will turn back on January 13th.

Ghislaine Maxwell, is that you?

[Anonymous]

I was in Montgomery mall before Christmas and they were there down by the lower level outside of Nordstrom near Urban outfitters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the cookie mom several years ago when DD was in scouts. It is a horrid process from start to end. Yes - the idea is you collect the money upfront from the customer. If you don't want to do that, you pay upfront and get reimbursed on delivery. That is your choice, but the cookies will not be ordered until paid.

The troop gets 1 chance to place the order with the regional cookie gods and the order can only be placed by the troop's designated cookie parent. Cookies will not be shipped till order is paid in full.

You can only order full cases (which used to be 12 boxes). So, if the troop collectively sold 15 boxes of Thin Mints, the cookie parent orders 2 cases. The 9 leftover boxes are used for the table sales that you see outside of Giant.

Once the case sales have closed, the cookie parent enters into a lottery to get a place, date, and time to do a table sale at a local retailer. We lucked out and got a Saturday morning at the local Giant.

The whole process was difficult, time consuming, and painful. However, the troop did earn over $900 for their effort.

I'm sorry but the part about payment is not true, or at least not these days. I handle the bank account for our troop. Money to pay for the cookies will not be withdrawn until much later in cookie season, after cookies are received. We do not collect money at the time of order and could not pay for the cookies with what's in the account today.

It is a big lift for parent volunteers, thank you for volunteering.

As I said, it was several years ago. On one hand, it's good that payment up front is no longer required. On the other, I can see where a troop may get stuck with cookies that nobody wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do t think they go door to door anymore. I don’t answer my door for anyone I don’t know.

My kid got a ton of orders today from door-to-door sales in the snow day. It definitely works for those who put in the effort, at least in our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely buy a box of girl scout cookies from you. Do you have any trefoils left by chance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do t think they go door to door anymore. I don’t answer my door for anyone I don’t know.

Definitely still a thing in our Fairfax County neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe they still shill cookies this way. I quit Girl Scouts in the 1970s because I was uncomfortable knocking on neighbors' doors like that . . . and probably rightly so.

They sell lots of different ways. No kne has to knock on doors or sell at all.

Back then, they really didn't.

[Anonymous]

Which three flavors account for 80% of sales? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which three flavors account for 80% of sales? Just curious.

Samoas, Thin Mints and Tagalongs are the best sellers

[Anonymous]

Girl Scout cookies is just training the suburban housewives of tomorrow the MLM trade.