Girl Scout cookie selling not going well

[Anonymous]

Things have changed to protect the girls from randos and make the back-end money management easier.

I was a Campfire Girl. I sold candy door to door and hated it. It didn't really give me any skills. My best customer was the boy next door (my same age friend). He wasted his allowance money so we could sit in my playhouse covertly eating Sunkist Gems. Now he's a big exec at an insurance company and I have a flatlined career, lol.

My family likes Thin Mints and Samoas. We'll overpay for them and order ahead when we get a chance.

In the last 15 years, I either randomly see troupes at a rented cart in the mall or buy through work parents.

The work parent last year had an order form URL with a video from his daughter. It was like online ordering. I can't remember if I got charged upon purchase or upon receipt. It was no big deal. Grandparents should be able to handle it.

To OP, I think you just have to give the interested people the URL (maybe printed on a piece of paper) and ask them to play along. I'm sure the Girl Scouts field test their processes so sales won't decline.

I'm sorry for your headaches. If you were out front of my grocery store, I'd help you out for sure.

[Anonymous]

I was asked by a coworker to buy some from her daughter. Coworker is my manager (who I like), and I was a former scout, so I felt bad saying no.

They were so expensive and the shipping costs were ridiculous (plus you had to buy more boxes than I was interested in to pay for shipping). I will probably donate them as I need to lose holiday weight, not sit around eating cookies

[Anonymous]

I am a cookie manager for a troop in NoVA and what you were told to do is completely false. If taking a paper order (I.e. not through the website), you DO NOT collect money upfront. You only collect payment upon delivery.

You need to go to your troop’s cookie manager and tell her to read the manual.

[Anonymous]

It was all pre-orders for me as a scout back in the 80s! I've never heard of a troop just ordering a bunch upfront for the kids to sell after the fact. That seems like an experience unique to you, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My neighbor took our order but didn’t collect money. Are you SURE you need payment upfront and not just the orders?

Op here. Yes. I need to write a check or give the cash prior to the order going in.

I was a Girl Scout for like 6 years. We got an assortment of 150 cookies and then could sell them. What was wrong with that way? Im debating doing this so my dd could sell but I am afraid of getting stuck with unsold cookies.

Hmmm. This does not seem correct, but honestly, GS makes the whole cookie thing hugely complicated. Usually you don't collect money until you deliver the cookies. The troop has a deadline to submit money in two tranches. The troop can also order cookies to sell at a cookie booth or door to door like you've described.

200 boxes is a lot for one girl - I'd adjust expectations.

[Anonymous]

I wish they would go to direct donation. The cookies are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would go to direct donation. The cookies are gross.

My local troop lets me buy cookies for the troops (or for some other charity) and I do that. They also went online for us.

[Anonymous]

Here are the ways you can sell:

Customer orders now, pays on delivery. If customer never takes delivery, your troop eats the cost or resells the cookies / trades with another troop.

Customer orders online and pays at checkout. Cookies can be shipped or hand delivered.

Troop orders cookies to sell at a booth. Troop has to pay for any cookies not sold or traded to another troop.
I guess you could use this method to order in your own name and sell door to door later, but you'd eat the cost of any unsold.

My kid only sells at booths because the timing of the pre-order season, over Christmas, is ridiculous. This hurts her individual totals, but we don't really care and I think the "sales experience" at a booth is more positive than door to door anyway.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t been a leader in 10 years - right when they started online orders and we ignored them. Not regulation, but we collected money upfront. The shipping costs for online make it a ridiculous proposition.

The beautiful thing about GS is that you can do things the way you want, so long as you can account for the money and boxes of cookies. But GSCNC has THE WORST timing for cookie sales.

[Anonymous]

OP, on the scout's paper order form, the scout or the parent can note, "paid" or "not paid". Keep track. I doubt anyone would purposely stiff you. Be a little more forceful with, "what can I put you down for?" Don't have "ordering later" as an option, or if that is the answer, consider it a "no."

[Anonymous]

We only sold the 3 best sellers. Those 3 account for 70% of all sales. Read the literature. They were significantly easier to sell. It's the less popular flavors where you end up with partial cases. The troop has to order and pay for an entire case, even if you only need 1 or 2 boxes. 12 boxes are in a case. So 6X however many extra cookie boxes aren't sold = cookie mom is out a significant amount of money, usually personally.

[Anonymous]

6X meaning .... $6.00

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would go to direct donation. The cookies are gross.

You can donate to first responders. Or just donate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would go to direct donation. The cookies are gross.

I just tell them sorry, I can’t eat that stuff, and give them $20. They seem happy enough with that.

[Anonymous]

2 weeks ago my regular brownie hook up came with her dad to the office and I ordered from her my usual 20 boxes. I have never prepaid. I pay when she delivers them. My daughter was also a brownie and Girl Scout and it was the same.

You don’t pay in advance.