Cub Scout Popcorn

[ExtinctJenn]

My wonderful DS6 just joined Cub Scouts. He's a brand new Tiger Cub and I don't think I've seen him so excited about being involved in something since he was last involved in a trip to WDW. LOL! To fund some really cool things they are doing they are selling popcorn. It's actually incredibly yummy but as with most fundraising things, you can of course find popcorn cheaper at your local grocery store. The key here of course is is 70% of everything he sells goes directly to the Scouts.

Now... even though that all seems like a sales pitch... what I really posted this up for was I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions on how to help my son sell this stuff. I've sent e-mails to friends and family, shared it with folks at work, put little flyers up in our break room and we're going around house to house this weekend... but I feel like there's a sure fire easy way to do this and I'm new at it so I just can't figure it out. I saw some folks post up on Craigslist but let's be honest, that's probably not gonna do much.

I'm not going to post up a link here (but if you're interested definitely let me know LOL). More importantly though I'm hoping there's some folks out there that can give me some advice on how to help the Pack and get this stuff selling. I'm one of those folks that really believes in what Scouting can do for a kid so I am trying to make it as positive of an experience as I can for him from the get go!

Thanks guys! I appreciate any thoughts you have!

 

[lazyboy97o]

Do like the Girl Scouts and set up places like grocery stores. I find the stuff to be gross and it always seemed to be a hard thing to sell for the other scouts.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Do like the Girl Scouts and set up places like grocery stores. I find the stuff to be gross and it always seemed to be a hard thing to sell for the other scouts.

See that would work wonderfully if we had actual items vs. just a paper order form with pictures. I am thinking for next year I'm going to see if they can do that option though!

 

[lazyboy97o]

See that would work wonderfully if we had actual items vs. just a paper order form with pictures. I am thinking for next year I'm going to see if they can do that option though!

The Den Leader or Pack Leader should be able to get some for immediate sale. You could try door-to-door selling.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

The Den Leader or Pack Leader should be able to get some for immediate sale. You could try door-to-door selling.

Yep doing that this weekend.

 

[Master Yoda]

Do like the Girl Scouts and set up places like grocery stores. I find the stuff to be gross and it always seemed to be a hard thing to sell for the other scouts.

My youngest was in Girl Scouts for three years and if the BSA is anything like the Girl Scouts you can not just set up and sell wherever you please even with permission from the store. All of the troops in a particular district had to enter into a lottery and could only sell at particular stores and at very specific dates and times.

I would ask the troop leader before you do anything past direct selling to family, friends and coworkers.

 

[lazyboy97o]

My youngest was in Girl Scouts for three years and if the BSA is anything like the Girl Scouts you can not just set up and sell wherever you please even with permission from the store. All of the troops in a particular district had to enter into a lottery and could only sell at particular stores and at very specific dates and times.

I would ask the troop leader before you do anything past direct selling to family, friends and coworkers.

I do not recall it being that serious with the Boy Scouts. The popcorn is not nearly as popular as those yummy cookies. But, yes checking is always wise.

 

[mousefan1972]

My newly minted Wolf Cub's popcorn flyer is still right where I tossed it after his Den meeting last week. I hate hitting people up to buy this junk....

 

[Laura]

My son was in cub scouts from Tiger up through Webelo. There was always an option to just give cash instead of having to sell the popcorn. We did the cash. I never sold any popcorn in all those years!

 

[cba]

Is DS6 going to go camping with the Cub Scouts? He's such a lucky boy !

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Is DS6 going to go camping with the Cub Scouts? He's such a lucky boy !

Indeed! He did 2 weekends ago in fact. First ever camping trip and he LOVED it! I've got a lifer on my hands. LOL!

 

[GeoDonJac34]

Our pack never sold the popcorn. We would hook up with a local pizza parlor and sell coupons for trays of pizza. The pack would keep all the profits. We also had a pasta dinner sale at another local restaurant, again the pack kept the profits. The scout popcorn can be a difficult sale, and like you said the BSA keeps much of the profit. They do have rules on what you can and can't do. We brought up a coin drop and were turned down. They said it was like begging, which I could see their point. They want you to offer a product or service for donations. Good luck with the sales. I would hit up anyone who has asked you to buy in the past.

 

[ScoutN]

My youngest was in Girl Scouts for three years and if the BSA is anything like the Girl Scouts you can not just set up and sell wherever you please even with permission from the store. All of the troops in a particular district had to enter into a lottery and could only sell at particular stores and at very specific dates and times.

I would ask the troop leader before you do anything past direct selling to family, friends and coworkers.

It does not get that serious with BSA (at least in my area). The popcorn is nothing of the huge deal the cookies are. My troop plans it with local stores then has at it. I know exactly what you are speaking of with Girl Scouts though. 14 years around it and you end up seeing/learning a ton.

 

[Mawg]

I sold the popcorn when I was a kid and now my son is selling it. The microwave popcorn is some of the best, but I was happy to see they are still selling the plain old kernels for popping, they pop so big and very few don't pop. Microwave or old fasion it's some of the best popcorn you can get. I'm my son's biggest customer.

My wife and I use to sell it at our place of work, but it seems like that is looked down upon these days.

 

[luv]

I always feel compelled to buy from any kid who comes to the door, so I've bought my share of Boy Scout popcorn. It isn't very good, lol. I buy it and throw it out.

I should just donate, but feel like I must play my part in the charade.

I wish they'd all sell wrapping paper. At least I use that!

 

[Gabe1]

My newly minted Wolf Cub's popcorn flyer is still right where I tossed it after his Den meeting last week. I hate hitting people up to buy this junk....

Yep, no matter what my kids had to sell it was us or my Mom that bought. I had a hard time asking others to support my kids activities.

I always feel compelled to buy from any kid who comes to the door, so I've bought my share of Boy Scout popcorn. It isn't very good, lol. I buy it and throw it out.

Yeah, I felt guilty and bought a long time but I usually look to see who is outside the door most often before I answer. At grocery stores I often lie and say I have a scout of my own. My DS didn't last too long in Scouts.

I should just donate, but feel like I must play my part in the charade.

I wish they'd all sell wrapping paper. At least I use that!

Yep Pop Corn is a bad choice, it is so cheap to buy and yet Scouts are over the top expensive.

Whenever there was a buyout, for student council, swim team, baseball, we always bought out, it was so much easier and less time consuming. Write check, done.