Popcorn Problems???

[leader732]

My son doesn't get any special attention because of the sales he generates because i make it WELL KNOWN among all the other parents and leaders that a lot of his sales come from my helping him out at work.Besides the sales i get for him he also sells $1500 a year in door to door sales and by setting up a roadside stand to generate sales.

 

HE does most of the work and puts in much more effort that any other boy in the pack and since all our money goes into the Pack general fund he doesn't recieve any personal compensation besides the prizes that are given out based on sales levels.

 

BTW ALL the people that i sell to at work have never had a Scout come to their home selling popcorn so i guess if i didn't sell to them the Scouts would just forfeit the money that their orders generate.

[Bob58]

Try this to set things popping...

Living in a corner of the council that is a taxfree "bedroom community" for the biggest city in the next council. Scouts from across state lines set up tables at the supermarket & mall selling the popcorn itself. Our council never even mentions preordering and selling the popcorn upfront but apparently it is possible. Any insights Man o' Steele?

 

(I know our state takes their sales taxes by building the malls etc but a lot of people who work there live here.)

Just for fun...

If you know what a bedroom community is you are (a) a geagrapher

(b) a politician

© Rob or Laura Petrie.)

Bob is old enough to remember, are you?

[dsteele]

Bob, I'm not sure if I completely understand your question. Are you asking about the application of state sales tax to a council fundraiser? Or are you asking if it's okay for units from another council to sell in your council's territory?

 

I do know what a bedroom community is. You forgot to mention professional Scouters in your multiple choice answer.

 

I majored in Social Science and Business at Ronald Reagan's Alma Mater -- same degree, same college, 50 years apart -- but thank heaven mostly different professors

 

A bedroom community is one where the majority of the people who live there don't work there and have very little "stake" in community activities, making it difficult to serve.

 

I have no problem with parents selling popcorn in the workplace on behalf of the Scout. The Scout still needs the experience, IMHO of going door to door to get the feel of greeting strangers and trying to pursuade them to help the cause, but the economic reality is that Scouting needs the profits -- for the kid, for the unit, and for the council -- in any legitimate way it can get them.

 

As to selling across state lines, there is no rule against this. However, please watch to make sure you're not violating United Way restrictions in another council and you should take the time to be respectful of neighboring units. Don't help your unit at the expense of another. There's more "overgap" as one of my former Scout Executives used to say than "overlap." Find "dark teritory" that isn't covered rather than territory that is being covered. A simple phone call to a council office -- even if it isn't yours -- can do the trick.

 

DS

[Twocubdad]

Bob, what these Scouts are doing is called Show and Sell which is a very common practice in our Council and community. The pack pre-orders an inventory of popcorn and the scouts sell it outright in front of local businesses. In our pack, or popcorn chairman arranges the sale locations and the scouts sign up for shifts.

 

For my to two boys, we only sell at the show and sell. It is much easier and profitable. You make the sell and are done with it. No paperwork, not deliveries, no collections.

 

As for the scouts crossing over into your territory, it doesn't seem sporting, but probably needs to be handled at the Council level.

[Bob58]

Just feeding the fire... the area in question is in my council but another district. Their Key 3 raise the saame questions each year when we kick off. I see the conflict w/ United way as an issue that could hurt this Council depending on the fundraising Blackout period.

 

I would have no problem w/ Show & Sell if we knew it was an option. Should it be available to all councils / units?

 

DS I hadn't even thought about the tax implications. I don't really thinkl that I want to go there.

[purcelce]

Here's a good one. Somebody is selling popcorn on ebay.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3627844210&category=404

 

Cheap Plug:

If you want Girl Scout Cookies, let me know. My daughter is selling them for the first time this year.

 

YIS

Cary

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

In my son's former pack, we did our first Show and Sell (which some in our pack insisted on pronouncing Show and Sale, but anyway) two years ago, and based on the results, I imagine they will never stop. For pack fund-raising it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or if you prefer, since buttered popcorn. Not only did it dramatically increase the total amount of sales, but our council has an incentive program where if you place a Show and Sell order of at least a certain amount (and meet some other requirements), you receive a higher percentage on ALL your sales. In one year our pack went from ending the school year with a nearly empty checkbook and several IOU's to various leaders, to having enough money to start saving up for some pack equipment. There were no individual accounts, all the money went to the pack. By the time my son and I "graduated," the pack almost had more money than it knew what to do with and was lowering annual dues and subsidizing all kinds of fees for various events. If there was one thing I would change it would be that the pack would have had a better idea of how to handle the money once we got it; but the revenue problem itself was resolved, and the Show and Sell was a major reason why. Of course we also had boys going out and selling as much on their own as possible, but even there, the Show and Sell (usually being within a week of the beginning of the sale period) served as kind of a "pep rally" to go out and sell sell sell.

[Fat Old Guy]

"Here's a good one. Somebody is selling popcorn on ebay"

 

This has to the laziest parent or the laziest kid ever born.

 

I just weighed a 12 pack of popcorn and it came in at 2.5 lbs. so I'm guessing that the new 15 pack will weigh about 3 lbs.. Mailing that Parcel Post in the same Zip Code will cost $3.40 and that ignores the cost of packaging.

 

The pack gets roughly $4 per box so to earn the troop $4, this parent is willing to pay $3.50.

 

Just get your butt out and sell.

 

 

[evmori]

While I admire the idea, selling popcorn on ebay doesn't seem to be the "Scouting" way.

[Fat Old Guy]

"I would have no problem w/ Show & Sell if we knew it was an option. Should it be available to all councils / units?"

 

I didn't realize that anyone didn't know that "Show and Sell" was an option.

 

Sales tax? I don't know if anyone does pay the tax on the sales. I know that as a unit, we are not permitted to collect sales tax because we don't have a sales tax license. Under state law, the buyer is required to report the purchase and pay the tax.

[Bob White]

When you are selling Boy Scout popcorn you are doing so as an agent of the local BSA Council which is a non-profit organization and thereby is not required to collect or pay sales tax on a fundraising product.

[Fat Old Guy]

Works for me.

[SMT376Richmond KY]

We recieve out popcorn order forms in August at program kick off. Nothing was mentioned (nor in my previous 3 years as CM)that there was a start date. Last year the boys were sent order forms in the mail. If there is a start date then the forms shouldn't be available until that time. Not two months earlier. I wonder how the eBay guy is going to make anything off his sale. The S&H is based on package wt. and the fee for eBay is based on the $ amount of the sale isn't it. Even in the Pack we didn't do much on the popcorn. Being in a rural area in a large county the boys really can't go door to door and the nearest town (our county seat) with a Wally World is overrun with the 6 troops from the troops and 6 packs. The cubmaster that took over from me did the show and sell of course I left the pack with over $1200.00 so he isn't hurtin.

 

Our troop did better with the car wash at our CO seems the country folks liked having thier cars cleaned up better than eating popcorn. One farmer gave us $20.00 for cleaning his farm truck. I was thinking of running a rent a scout next spring as a fund raiser for the Troop. As we are new and don't have much in the treasury.