Girl Scout cookie selling not going well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nope, if you're in the nation's capital region, your troop leaders are doing it wrong. Money doesn't get taken out of the troop checking account until after the cookies are delivered.

+2
Agree.

Op- you either misunderstood or your troop leader misunderstands the protocol.

Who is your cookie manager? Start there instead of the troop leader. The cookie manager goes through a mini traing and knows more than the troop leader in this area.

Speaking from a troop leader/manager who has been burned a number of times by irresponsible parents - it is fine if their troop policy is provide payment up front. I’ve had a number of situations where parents have asked for a 100+ boxes of pre-order cookies, we put in the order (which we cannot return), and then when they actually arrive they get too busy or can’t “find” the folks who ordered from them and want to return them to the troop. I do not want to spend two months of my life trying to shill hundreds of dollars of excess cookies. I have a full time job and two kids!

Most parents are awesome, but if you have a large troop, guarantee you will have a few parents who try to do this every year. They get super pumped at first and their kid is going to win all the cookie prizes, and then they totally lose interest.

That being said - the Girl Scout cookie model is the worst and totally outdated. The fact that you can only buy in cases of 12 and have to buy in advance and guess how much you’ll sell at booths/door to door is crazy. And don’t get me started on having to drive to far away “cookie cupboards” to restock. Drives me crazy.

[Anonymous]

It's a scam. The kids aren't learning "sales pitches" especially not at 6. Just buy a few of the least terrible and call it a day.

[Anonymous]

I do not want to buy overpriced cookies, even to support a worthy cause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not want to buy overpriced cookies, even to support a worthy cause.

You're supporting a worthy cause and getting cookies as a thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It hasn't been done that way in over 10 years.

And even then, that was the decision of your Troop to risk it. The Council did not take back unsold cookies once you asked for them. So, financially, the Troop was on the hook.

[Anonymous]

My friend posted a link on social media, and I bought several boxes.

[Anonymous]

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.

The girl has to turn on that feature for you. This is to prevent people choosing hand delivery if the scout is far away or doesn't want to go to you for whatever reason - e.g. my relatives in CA want to choose hand delivery and then have me ship the cookies at my cost.

If you know her, you can ask her to enable it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nope, if you're in the nation's capital region, your troop leaders are doing it wrong. Money doesn't get taken out of the troop checking account until after the cookies are delivered.

+2
Agree.

Op- you either misunderstood or your troop leader misunderstands the protocol.

Who is your cookie manager? Start there instead of the troop leader. The cookie manager goes through a mini traing and knows more than the troop leader in this area.

Speaking from a troop leader/manager who has been burned a number of times by irresponsible parents - it is fine if their troop policy is provide payment up front. I’ve had a number of situations where parents have asked for a 100+ boxes of pre-order cookies, we put in the order (which we cannot return), and then when they actually arrive they get too busy or can’t “find” the folks who ordered from them and want to return them to the troop. I do not want to spend two months of my life trying to shill hundreds of dollars of excess cookies. I have a full time job and two kids!

Most parents are awesome, but if you have a large troop, guarantee you will have a few parents who try to do this every year. They get super pumped at first and their kid is going to win all the cookie prizes, and then they totally lose interest.

That being said - the Girl Scout cookie model is the worst and totally outdated. The fact that you can only buy in cases of 12 and have to buy in advance and guess how much you’ll sell at booths/door to door is crazy. And don’t get me started on having to drive to far away “cookie cupboards” to restock. Drives me crazy.

100% agree with all of this. I had a parent write a check for the hundreds of boxes her dd sold, check bounced, she claimed her account had been hacked, it never got sorted out, I guess she just kept the cash she collected. The saga went on for months and if I hadn’t made her sign whatever form the Girl Scouts want all the parents to sign before the kid sells, the troop would have been on the hook for over a thousand dollars. My advice to all cookie managers is collect money before you put the order in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nope, if you're in the nation's capital region, your troop leaders are doing it wrong. Money doesn't get taken out of the troop checking account until after the cookies are delivered.

+2
Agree.

Op- you either misunderstood or your troop leader misunderstands the protocol.

Who is your cookie manager? Start there instead of the troop leader. The cookie manager goes through a mini traing and knows more than the troop leader in this area.

This. The troop can NOT require you to pay up front. It's against the rules. They should have had you sign a cookie permission slip that says you are financially responsible for any cookies you take.

I will also note that troop leaders can't require you to sell a certain number of boxes or to even sell at all. They also can't put raised funds in separate accounts for each scout at the Brownie level. It's all in one account. They can't ding you for not selling.

[Anonymous]

Girl Scouts should be ashamed of themselves, making little girls sell cancer- and heat disease-causing crap.

[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.

The girl has to turn on that feature for you. This is to prevent people choosing hand delivery if the scout is far away or doesn't want to go to you for whatever reason - e.g. my relatives in CA want to choose hand delivery and then have me ship the cookies at my cost.

If you know her, you can ask her to enable it.

No, the scouts cannot control that feature.

Girl delivery shuts down for a week right when initial orders are due. For GSCNC it's closed right now and reopens on the 13th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard and if true my kid wouldn’t be in Girl Scouts long cause the leaders are idiots.

You are an idiot if you think local leaders decide how payment works.

[Anonymous]

200 boxes is a ridiculous goal.

Don’t approach everything as a competition. Organizations have rules . Help your daughter learn how to work within them. She will learn the same thing from selling 12 boxes or 30 or 200.

[Anonymous]

It should be banned at all workplaces. They should have a simple donate option. I don’t want cookies or wrapping paper or popcorn or any of that other crap kids sell and I’d rather all my money go to the cause not some company making this garbage.

[Anonymous]

70% of the money goes to the Council. The CEO of Girl Scouts makes $800K.