Tips for selling cub scout popcorn???

[mrsbornkuntry]

This is budget and Disney related. I have 3 boys in scouts this year and our pack leader sent out an email today that for the "winter camp-in" they're hoping to go to Ft. Wilderness, but of course the tickets are expensive so it depends how much popcorn they sell to offset the costs (we're in NC so there's also gas to consider). We don't know that many people in this area and it's a small town so with 3 kids selling I just don't know that we're going to be able to sell that much and if my kids don't sell enough we won't be able to afford to go.

So where do you sell at? Who do you sell to? We're not doing ordering, we're supposed to take the popcorn to sell, could the boys sell some at the park while their siblings have soccer practice? I know my neighbors will buy some, but I only have 3 neighbors so that's not gonna help much. I'm not good at this stuff at all.

 

[moniot]

Is it the tins of popcorn? If I were you everyone on my Christmas list would be getting popcorn!!

 

[jacksmomma]

My Dad used to take my brothers to sell outside retail stores. He always coached the boys on what to say and to mind their manners. In addition to asking if they wanted to buy popcorn the boys would hold open doors, help people who needed it, etc. They were always very successful I think in part because of their behavior. They were good and people wanted to reward them.

 

[DawnM]

Make sure you get permission from the store owners.

Most of our local stores have scouts already signed up to sell so unless our troop finds a place we are a bit out of luck on that one.

We have sold in front of Sam's Club for years and were all lined up for this year too and just got a letter in the mail saying that ALL soliciters would no longer be allowed!

So, we are going door to door this year and will buy some ourselves for gifts and using.

Dawn

My Dad used to take my brothers to sell outside retail stores. He always coached the boys on what to say and to mind their manners. In addition to asking if they wanted to buy popcorn the boys would hold open doors, help people who needed it, etc. They were always very successful I think in part because of their behavior. They were good and people wanted to reward them.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

What about at your son's soccer games? I'm sure if I was sitting there watching it would be nice to have something to munch on (and/or any siblings with the parents watching would be doing a sales pitch to their parents to get some popcorn ). I don't know if that's tacky/in bad taste (or even allowed) though or if you have a good relationship with the other parents. Just an idea.

Also, I used to work at a bank and we would let local groups sell things in the lobby. Maybe contact the branch manager of a bank/credit union you go to and see if that's possible. Just about anything sold like hot cakes especially during Fridays or paydays when there would be a line.

Good luck! I was in Girl Scouts, band, Varsity soccer, and a horse riding group and it felt like my life was one big fundraiser after another.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Is it the tins of popcorn? If I were you everyone on my Christmas list would be getting popcorn!!

Great idea!

What about at your son's soccer games? I'm sure if I was sitting there watching it would be nice to have something to munch on (and/or any siblings with the parents watching would be doing a sales pitch to their parents to get some popcorn ). I don't know if that's tacky/in bad taste (or even allowed) though or if you have a good relationship with the other parents. Just an idea.

Also, I used to work at a bank and we would let local groups sell things in the lobby. Maybe contact the branch manager of a bank/credit union you go to and see if that's possible. Just about anything sold like hot cakes especially during Fridays or paydays when there would be a line.

Good luck! I was in Girl Scouts, band, Varsity soccer, and a horse riding group and it felt like my life was one big fundraiser after another.

I didn't think about a bank, I'll check with one and see what they say. I know as dens the boys sell outside of stores, I'm not sure where yet since we weren't in this town last year, probably Walmart. I do know they need permission from the stores.

 

[dawson5]

we used to set up outside of Hobby Lobby and Lowe's. Both places did well. We would also open a box and sell them individually for $1 I think. You also might want to check into the website. I thought we could forward a link on to family members and they could buy it that way and delivered (not sure how though).
I don't remember how many times the men would say "I was a scout" and all the woman would say "it's a worthwhile organization." Our best selling always came from when one dad would be with the boys in front of Hobby Lobby. He was chatty and nice looking, the women loved him and the kids always sold all the popcorn (I had to run the popcorn for stock to them). They always had a dad or three there to supervise the boys.

 

[DawnM]

DH told his coworkers 3 years ago that he would not buy anything from their kids school sales and he would not ask them to buy either.

I think we still ended up way ahead because I swear their kids sell things weekly!

We ONLY do popcorn every year.

Dawn

 

[ceecee]

Most councils have booth sale sign ups. If you can do that it's the easiest way to sell. We did GS cookies and did great at Walmart, not so good at banks. The BS Scout popcorn is harder to sell due to the price! GS have a Juliette Low fund which will offset camp expenses if you have a financial need, I'm sure BS have something similar.

 

[TaraPA]

Make sure you don't need a permit from your local town, borough, city, etc. Our township requires permits for this type of thing, plus permission & waivers signed by the property/store owners.

Sounds like maybe they should choose a less expensive trip to work towards!

 

[minniebeth]

Is there a town, city that you can drive to? If so, it might be easier. I can't imagine being in a small town with several boys selling. We live in a large subdivision and it's hard enough. Our troop does what's called "show and deliver" where the troop picks up a bunch of products before hand and has the actual product to sell. Then while the boys are out, they try to see additional on orders. I agree with restaurants, stores, ask the employees.

Also, our council does the booths at the stores and it is the easiest way to sell. The boys who attend the booths divide the credit for the sale.

I know it's hard especially in today's economy...we hardly sold any popcorn last year. DS' troop requires him to sell $250 per scout mandatory. Ususally DS sells a LOT but this year he is in HS and has sold popcorn since he was in 1st grade. He does not have the time to do it, so we'll see what happens.

Good luck to you and have your DS do the best he can, it's not always about the results but the process too.

 

[3boymthr]

Another place to sell in front of - the post office. You have to get permission about a week in advance but that's easy.

Also see if your town sponsors a local fair or if there are any craft fairs in the area with a small set up fee. We have one where a table costs $35. Go in with a couple of friends in the troop, yu all split the proceeds. In the course of the day, especially if its a popular fair and if you have tins of already popped popcorn you might do really well. Probably enough to offset your investment. You might even be able to get the troop/pack to offset the cost if you also add some recruitment posters and sign up sheets. We did this recently, had the pack banner, a tri-fold showing our activities and got 8 kids to sign up, 10 kids to take registration forms and sold a ton of stuff - not popcorn but still we did really well.

 

[luckofthedraw]

Do you have a Harris Teeter in town? They usually let our troop sell in front of their store, and the cubbies always sell quite a bit there.

Harris Teeter has triple coupons, starting tomorrow through the following Tuesday. That means there will be a lot more traffic going into and out of the stores. Maybe some people will be so impressed with their savings that they'll buy popcorn.

 

[wendygrace]

If you have family and/or friends that don't live in the area but want to buy, sign your scout up online (trails end website) and give people the link.

 

[spare+a_pair]

You need to practice with your boys. Our "sales pitch" is

"Hi. My name is Joe, I am trying to sell $200 of popcorn so that my cub scout group can go on a campout. Will you help me reach my goal?"

Trails End has done MASSIVE research on behalf of scouting and this is the MOST EFFECTIVE sales pitch that a person will hear. It is really hard to tell a child you won't help them reach a goal.

We have also bought several packs of the micro popcorn, unboxed them - one box at a time, and bundled them 3 to a pack. Tie with Ribbon and add a "Happy Holidays" card. We sell these for $3 ea. One box costs $12, and there are 15 pks to a box. We have sold HUNDREDS of these while sitting outside of the local grocery store.

Sorry to ramble - I am the District Popcorn Kernal this year, so I am up to my eyes in popcorn!

You also have to make known that the people are not just buying popcorn, they are donating to cub scouts. Not sure what your fliers look like this year, but ours were redesigned so that the donation is listed directly under the selling price. 70% of all sales go back to LOCAL scouting - sure our Council is getting 40% to fund council wide activities, but 30% goes back to our unit.

Anyway - off the popcorn box Hope this helps!

 

[mrsklamc]

i'd buy one tin and give out samples. In our house we affectionately refer to their chocolate covered carmel corn as 'crack.'

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Thank-you for all of your suggestions, this will really help!

CeeCee, our council has scholarships for Cub Scout camps, but this doesn't fall under that since it's just something our pack wants to do.

TaraPA, I really wish they would choose a more local, cheaper trip. Our pack leader is a Disney fanatic which of course I can appreciate, but he is also considerably more well off and only has 2 children so I don't think he understands what a struggle it is for a family of 7 on a tight budget. We did take a family trip to WDW in June so it wouldn't be that bad for our kids not to get to go, but it would be hard for my kids to hear about the trip at the den meetings knowing that they can't go. Plus of course we want to go . Last year they slept with the sharks at Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, that was still $80 per person.

spare+a_pair, that's great advice. I would have never thought about opening up the boxes of popcorn, I'll keep that in mind. It also sounds like a good teacher gift to me, or is that cheap? Maybe with gift card, too.

Minniebeth, that's what we're doing, "show and deliver". I've never done this before, we always used order forms. I haven't heard yet about "booth" sales, but I think they're planning some, I hope so. Next Tuesday is our kickoff day so we'll learn more then.

 

[twinmommyks]

We just take our scouts door to door and have great success. About 90% of everyone asked buys popcorn, but we've been selling it for 7 years and have our regular customers.

People in our area seem very willing to purchase when they hear it's for Scouts.

I have seen other scout groups set up a booth in front of Walmart, Target, Sam's Club in the past years.

Good luck to you.

Bren

 

[ceecee]

I really like the 3 for $3.00 idea, that's great!

 

[Tink&Peter]

You need to practice with your boys. Our "sales pitch" is

"Hi. My name is Joe, I am trying to sell $200 of popcorn so that my cub scout group can go on a campout. Will you help me reach my goal?"

Trails End has done MASSIVE research on behalf of scouting and this is the MOST EFFECTIVE sales pitch that a person will hear. It is really hard to tell a child you won't help them reach a goal.

We have also bought several packs of the micro popcorn, unboxed them - one box at a time, and bundled them 3 to a pack. Tie with Ribbon and add a "Happy Holidays" card. We sell these for $3 ea. One box costs $12, and there are 15 pks to a box. We have sold HUNDREDS of these while sitting outside of the local grocery store.

Sorry to ramble - I am the District Popcorn Kernal this year, so I am up to my eyes in popcorn!

You also have to make known that the people are not just buying popcorn, they are donating to cub scouts. Not sure what your fliers look like this year, but ours were redesigned so that the donation is listed directly under the selling price. 70% of all sales go back to LOCAL scouting - sure our Council is getting 40% to fund council wide activities, but 30% goes back to our unit.

Anyway - off the popcorn box Hope this helps!

That is an awesome opener. This quote will 'pop' out ....My son will use this in some format when our scouts popcorn sales start!