Why can't people just follow the rules!

[LadyBears]

Wow, our troop gets 50 cents a box for selling ours! So so far my daughter has earned 75.00 for the troop...I am already paying 60.00 dues for the year plus all the money for trips so I would rather sell the cookies than pay another 75-100 dollars for the year.
What bothers me is the members of the troop that sell 3 boxes while others sell 100 and yet they reap the same benefits as the kids/parents that tried to actually sell some. I don't think there is anything that is easier to sell than girl scout cookies...people ask all year when are we going to start because they want them...now those nuts were a pain in the butt to do since no one wanted them but we did manage to sell 75 of those.

We do a per girl average (PGA) too (#of cookies sold divided by # of girls in troop). The more sold, the more we make. This is where the booth sales really help the troop.
If the PGA is: then the troop profit is:
Less than 100 boxes = $0.45
100-109.9 = $0.55
110-119.9 = $0.60
120-129.9 = $0.65
130-139.9 = $0.70
140-169.9 = $0.75
170-199.9 = $0.80
200-249.9 = $0.85
250-299.9 = $0.90
300-349.9 = $0.95
350 or more = $1.00

However, we do also have individual awards, so that way the girls who really "work" do get rewarded for their efforts.

After we figure out our profit, we let the girls decide what they want to do. Troops in the past have done Build A Bear, a trip to Six Flags, rafting, Bowling, etc. This is my 1st year with this troop, so I don't know what they did last year.

I agree with the nuts - they came right on top of the school fundraiser & we don't make as much from the fall fundraiser as we do the cookies. We didn't sell too much. Most families just did the obligitory purchasing.

 

[poohandwendy]

Ok, I am wearing my flame suit...

Who cares when or how they get sold? What difference does it make? I never had any of my girls in scouts so I do not understand why the details of the cookie sale (like when you start selling and if they are selling on eBay) are such a huge deal. It sounds like the prizes are crappy anyways, so why is this so ultra-competitive? Can someone explain it to me?

 

[Stacerita]

Ok, I am wearing my flame suit...

Who cares when or how they get sold? What difference does it make? I never had any of my girls in scouts so I do not understand why the details of the cookie sale (like when you start selling and if they are selling on eBay) are such a huge deal. It sounds like the prizes are crappy anyways, so why is this so ultra-competitive? Can someone explain it to me?

No flaming from me.

The reason why some of us care when they get to be sold is that we dont all get to start at the same time. Some troops in other areas are able to sell long before we get to out here. So if an early selling troop puts theirs on Ebay, they could potentially sell to our base of customers out here prior to us getting a chance to sell to them. And if some in the area start selling before the rest or break the rules, its not fair to the girls who are following the rules.

Its generally ultra competitive because most people once they buy from one girl, generally dont buy from another. Its best to be out there as soon as the sales start and get your orders fast. Early bird gets the worm idea. So if someone breaks the rules and starts ahead of time, it puts the rest at an unfair advantage.

Granted, the prizes are crappy, but the money goes to the girls and council. The sweetpea's troop has always done the cookie sale for a "special" outing. They get to see the money they earned going right back to them.

Our troop follows rules (as far as I know) and just dont see why everyone else can't.

 

[LadyBears]

No flaming from me.

The reason why some of us care when they get to be sold is that we dont all get to start at the same time. Some troops in other areas are able to sell long before we get to out here. So if an early selling troop puts theirs on Ebay, they could potentially sell to our base of customers out here prior to us getting a chance to sell to them. And if some in the area start selling before the rest or break the rules, its not fair to the girls who are following the rules.

Its generally ultra competitive because most people once they buy from one girl, generally dont buy from another. Its best to be out there as soon as the sales start and get your orders fast. Early bird gets the worm idea. So if someone breaks the rules and starts ahead of time, it puts the rest at an unfair advantage.

Granted, the prizes are crappy, but the money goes to the girls and council. The sweetpea's troop has always done the cookie sale for a "special" outing. They get to see the money they earned going right back to them.

Our troop follows rules (as far as I know) and just dont see why everyone else can't.

Well said!!
Especially for the many cases where many Girl Scouts live in one neighborhood. Once the neighbors buy from the first one, they will not buy from the rest. If one girl starts selling - say January 3rd, but they are not supposed to sell until 1/7, the neighbors don't know she is breaking the rules so they buy from her, but the ones who wait until 1/7 to start selling like they are supposed to get penalized for obeying!

 

[barkley]

as far as troops in a similar geographical area that all have the same official start date-has the overseeing council ever considered printing on the order forms "INAPPROPRIATE TO SELL/PURCHASE PRIOR TO xxx (date)" (they could order a stamp and handwrite the date in each year). in this way at least those of us that are approached at work or at our door would know if the sale was officialy on (and i personaly would not purchace if the date had'nt happened yet).

my dd was a brownie for a short period of time (she got tired of nut sales and cookie sales and calendar sales...said "is selling stuff all they ever do?"). but i give the small troop she was in credit. they gathered the parents together and talked about the patches, prizes and the like and polled them to see if they were willing to batch the orders together in such a way as to ensure that every girl that made an effort received a patch or small prize. they felt it was more about making it a group/team effort.

and in the area we lived in cookies were a HUGE DEAL (though our troop did'nt take it to extremes and the bulk of the money they received they opted to put into community outreach projects like doing a christmas tree for the charity christmas tree auction or making bday boxes for the local kid's shelter-), the highest selling troops were the ones with their photographs on the girl scout calendars they sold later in the year.

 

[LadyBears]

as far as troops in a similar geographical area that all have the same official start date-has the overseeing council ever considered printing on the order forms "INAPPROPRIATE TO SELL/PURCHASE PRIOR TO xxx (date)" (they could order a stamp and handwrite the date in each year). in this way at least those of us that are approached at work or at our door would know if the sale was officialy on (and i personaly would not purchace if the date had'nt happened yet).

Although I think that is a really good idea, unfortunately, that won't stop people from doing what you said earlier:

i worked with women who started taking orders a couple months in advance of the approved sales dates. they would scan a copy of last years order page and email it to coworkers with "can i put you down for the same this year?", send on to others with "want to join in the fun?"...

or as HunnyPots experienced - the email requests. It may just stop the honest buyers from buying too soon though.

 

[Partridge4ever]

I think another reason we get upset over early sales is that a major emphasis of Girl Scouts is character building. And intentionally starting early or selling on ebay isn't teaching honesty and fairness. We visit my DHs family who live an hour away once a month. We see several aunts and uncles who would buy from DD and probably wouldn't be approached by anyone else since it's a very rural area. Last year the dates fell such that the cookie sales started the week AFTER our visit. I was sooooo tempted to bring that form, but DD knew the date and I didn't want to set a bad example.

 

[Poohnatic]

Back in the day, I was a top seller for my troop for two years. 150 boxes and 200 boxes. I got some nice, shiny plaques and DH laughs that they say "Suzie" on them. My Dad would take me into my Mom's job and Mom would bring me to Dad's job-I had to sell them myself. I would have loved the free week at Girl Scout Camp!

If the rules say no eBay, then I would contact eBay. At the very least, I would contact the council to do this. This hurts all sellers.

No girls coming door to door around here. I have two coworkers with girls that are Brownie age-I need to see if any of them are scouts! We like to buy a case of thin mints and freeze them.

Next year, I'll be doing the cub scout one-and no, the boys won't be selling online. However, I'll be buying stuff to include in the christmas packages.

As for the family gatherings, etc, back when I sold, I'd let relatives know that I'd be selling cookies after such and such date-do you want me to call you? That worked great with my Nana!

Suzanne

 

[goofy4tink]

My 29 y/o dd is a preschool teacher in a another town. My 12 y/o dd is a Jr. Scout. We are able to sell cookies as of Friday, the 6th. so, when dd, 29, showed up on Friday night, we asked her to buy some cookies. Well, it seems that one of the part-time teachers had already been selling cookies the week before!!! Seems she only works once a month and she didn't 'feel like' driving all the way back to the school this week in order to sell 'legally'!!! She even told the other teachers to "shhh, don't tell anyone I'm selling. We're not supposed to sell until next week!"
So, if others sell early, then those who follow the rules, get short shifted. People will tell them..."Oh sorry honey. We already bought from little Susie last week."
As far as the prizes go...last year and then again this year, our troop is hoping that the girls will just turn their prizes into coupons to be used for troop funds. We are planning on a trip to a dude ranch in NY in May. We have done a ton of other stuff that was paid for by cookie sales. Each girl has a goal of 150 boxes this year. Then again...if the troop gets .55 for each box sold, I would almost rather write out a check for $75. We have already ordered $40 worth of cookies, and will probably order more to have as spares for those who didn't get to order them.

 

[KAMLEM]

What bothers me is the members of the troop that sell 3 boxes while others sell 100 and yet they reap the same benefits as the kids/parents that tried to actually sell some. I don't think there is anything that is easier to sell than girl scout cookies...people ask all year when are we going to start because they want them...now those nuts were a pain in the butt to do since no one wanted them but we did manage to sell 75 of those.

Try looking it that from this perspective. When my DD was in Brownies there were eight girls in our neighborhood selling cookies. The parents all decided that none of the girls would go door-to-door because it really wouldn't be fair. At that time the companies that DH and I worked for did not allow cookies to be sold at work. As a result, she was limited to selling to family. We have a very small family who she could approach so she did not sell much. It had nothing to do with a lack of effort.

 

[va32h]

It sounds like the prizes are crappy anyways, so why is this so ultra-competitive? Can someone explain it to me?

The girls aren't really doing it for the prizes. Cookie sales fund the troop's activities, and various projects for Girl Scouts at service unit and council levels.

For example, girls who can't afford uniforms, camp fees, or even the $7 registration fee are subsidized by cookie sales.

There are several Girl Scouts camps across the country that are funded in part by cookie sales (and they are great camps too - horseback riding, swimming, canoeing - I would never be able to afford to send my dd to a private camp like that).

At the troop level, my daughter's troop has taken fun trips (to a waterpark, a theme park, Build a Bear) and educational trips (Washington DC, Philadelphia - boy do I miss living on the east coast!) that were funded entirely or almost entirely by cookies sales.

Older girls (I think Cadette level?) can forgo the prizes to earn additional funds for the troop, and lots of troops donate their cookie profits or use it for their service projects.

The ebay thing - I don't know why it drives me so crazy. Maybe I am jealous because I have an ebay store, and a website, and could sell tons of cookies that way myself, if I chose to break the rules. Maybe I think it is just stupid for parents to pay listing fees and final value fees to sell on ebay.