Popcorn prices out of control?

[CalicoPenn]

As I was leaving a local grocery store today, a nice, young man in a Cub Scout uniform asked me if I wanted to buy any popcorn today. I looked over the merchandise and just about choked when I was informed that the bucket of pop-your-own was $10.00. A small tin of pre-popped flavored corn (and I mean small) was also $10.00. And those are the lowest priced items available!

 

Next week, I'm going to be in Indiana, a leading state in popcorn production (Orville Redenbacher anyone?). I can buy a 50 pound bag of popcorn for that same $10.00.

 

Are you popcorn sellers finding people resistant to pay these kind of prices for an item easily available in the grocery store for half (or more) the price? I buy two types of Girl Scout cookies (the mint patties and peanut butter sandwiches) and though they are relatively expensive for cookies, I can't get those type of cookies in the store the rest of the year so I don't mind as much. But the prices the Boy Scouts are charging for a common product seems to be getting more and more outlandish every year.

 

At what point is the BSA either going to pull the plug on the sales (Boy Scout Popcorn Sales have never quite caught on in the imagination as Girl Scout Cookie Sales - I've never heard a local newscaster or radio personality talk about popping up some BSA popcorn but have heard plenty chat about looking forward to buying Girl Scout cookies, what kinds they're buying, and openly wishing on air that a Girl Scout comes by their house soon with an order form)?

 

Or will the BSA keep raising the price hoping that they will make up for lost sales because of ever increasing prices?

 

CalicoPenn

 

(ps. - I didn't buy any popcorn - I gave them $5 as a flat out donation and told them to use it to buy any unsold popcorn that I knew they would be responsible for).

[Fuzzy Bear]

Pointing out the price of PC only gets these responses:

 

1. It is a way to help the Council and the Unit finance their programs.

 

2. It is an official Scout program allowing Scouts a chance to wear their overly expensive uniforms.

 

3. Camperships come from the sale of PC.

 

4. Some Councils give a % off patches for participating.

 

5. Scouts can win nifty prizes if they sell enough.

 

All of this is off-set by the rules for a unit selling a product to fund their program. They are required to sell at only what the product is worth and they cannot wear their uniforms. I beleive this means that the unit/Scout will be penalized for not selling a product well beyond the product's worth. This instills in Scouts the American Business ethic.

 

By the way, thanks for the $5.00 donation and where can we send to get a catalog in Indiana to buy some of that 10 for 50 PC? Scout PC is over my income level.

FB

 

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

I tell people the who complain about the price of BSA popcorn the same thing I tell people who complain about $4 for a box of 10 GSUSA cookies -

 

You are not selling popcorn/cookies - you are selling SCOUTING. By purchasing the products you are supporting the scout council, the scout unit & the scout selling the product. If people wish to simply make a donation to the unit, that is fine. I will also give them the info on how to make a donation to the council.

 

Yes, popcorn is expensive. Yes, depending on the area, it can be hard to sell. One thing I have noticed in the 11 years I have sold BSA popcorn, once people know we sell it, why we sell it, & have tried it, many people will look forward to it each year.

 

We have TONS of kids in our neighborhood. They sell for school, sports & scouts. So do mine. Yet, if a kid comes to my door I will make a point to buy SOMETHING from them. Even if it is the cheapest thing on their list. Even if I am selling the SAME thing! Why? Because I know how hard it is on the kids to get out there & do it, so I will help any that take the time & effort to ring my bell.

 

There are boys in my area who were in scouts & who sold popcorn. In the 15 years I have lived in my house, only ONE (1) boy ever came to the door. I purchased popcorn from him & looked for him the following year, but he had stopped selling popcorn. When I asked his mom, she said selling was to much trouble & the popcorn was to expensive. So I purchased my corn from the grocery. It was cheaper, but somehow it just never tasted the same!

 

[loriechal]

I agree that the popcorn is a bit expensive. BUT, it is something that the boys take great pride in doing. It is very hard for many of these boys tho go door to door and ask people to buy from them. My oldest son has a hard time with it even when it is his grandparents who would buy a jar of sand from him if he tried to sell it to them. This is the first year my boys have sold the popcorn and they have done very well. In the first week they sold over $500.00 between the two of them. They have put very little effort into doing it. I had never tried the popcorn before today and let me tell you after trying it I will buy several boxes and will look forward to next year. My boys have sold to family and friends all over the country. I will happly be mailing popcorn to NY,FL, GA.KS and OK. We are in TX. WE will also have to take two weekends to deliver it to two other towns. The closest is one and a half hours away.SO as you can see it many be pricey many people like it and will pay the price to get it. GS cookies are also expenseve to buy and most all of us buy those and they don't last as long as the popcorn. When you look at cost of popcorn-V-GA cookies the popcorn is a better deal for you money.

[scoutldr]

I agree the prices are high, compared to what you can buy at Wally World. But it's a fund-raiser. The same people who complain about the price of PC are the same ones who won't think twice about paying $3.50 for a bottled water or $6 for a bottle of beer or $7 for a glass of wine at a concert or ball game.

[Eamonn]

I don't like popcorn.

I really like Cookies!!

As for:

" The same people who complain about the price of PC are the same ones who won't think twice about paying $3.50 for a bottled water or $6 for a bottle of beer or $7 for a glass of wine at a concert or ball game."

Think twice?

I complain all the way home.

I also complained about the price of a tube of Pringles at the Jamboree. $5.00 at the Jamo. $1.29 at home.

Eamonn

 

 

[moxieman]

Yes, it's expensive. So aren't Girl Scout Cookies (in some of those packages, you're buying as few as 12 cookies for $4). So isn't any other fundraiser you encounter--most candy bar fundraisers have a 50% mark-up--the seller's organization keeps half and the other half is the cost of the product.

 

Roughly 67-70% of that popcorn prices stays in your local council, the rest is the actual cost of the product (including shipping to your local area). Of that, roughly half goes to the unit that sells it (depending on the council) and the other half goes to council. So, they could drop the price, but then you'd have to sell even more for your unit and council to reap the same benefit.

 

Your yearly registration fee? None of that stays at the council, it all goes to National.

 

Other than Friends of Scouting and other such requests for donations by your council, popcorn funds your local program. It pays for your scouting professionals (I know, I know, some are way overpaid, but that's not the point here), it keeps the lights running (and other maintainance) at your council office and your camp property (or properties). If your council is like mine, it also buys insurance to cover all your registered members while they are out on scout functions. (Ex. A local scout broke his arm at district camporee a year ago--council covered all the hospital expenses through their insurance policy.)

 

And as others have stated, you're not buying popcorn (or girlscout cookies). You're buying Scouting. Popcorn doesn't pay for it all alone, but it sure makes it easier.

 

For those of you who don't hear much about popcorn in your area, it's because your council has dropped the ball on PR. Trailsend gives you all that you need for the PSA's (public service announcements) other then the scouts to read the parts and the time at the local radio station. Most stations will gladly air your PSA for you--they must air so many a day/week, and most of them (even those owned by the huge out-of-state firms) would rather air local-related PSA's when they can then the Federal ones. It's better for business.

 

We have two different competing radio conglomerates up here airing the same PSA with the voices of scouts from different units--promoting scouting in a positive light and with the scouts reminding the listeners to buy popcorn when they see the scouts.

 

Also, every year our state governor buys the first popcorn from scouts in both our state's two council's in a press promo covered on TV and in the newspapers--again, our councils are on the ball with promoting popcorn. If yours isn't, ask them why not? They're losing sales and $$$ if they aren't.

[CalicoPenn]

I'm not an MBA, nor do I pretend to be one on Television (as I always say, "$4.00 and an MBA will get you an overpriced cup of bad coffee at Starbucks and a fool willing to spend $4.00 on that cup of bad coffee") but I think I have some marketing and profit/loss sense banging around this head of mine.

 

Taking the assumption of 30% of the popcorn's price is product cost as true, then of a $10.00 tub of popcorn, $3.00 is the cost of the popcorn, $7.00 is the "profit".

 

I've certainly not done any studies, or watched any scout group for a long period to get any trends but lets make some further assumptions.

 

What if at the $10 cost only 1 in 10 buy your popcorn - thats a profit of $7.00. Drop the price to $6.00 and 3 in 10 stop to buy (because now you're attracting 2 people who would never pay $10, no matter how good the cause) - that's a profit of $9.00. Drop the price to $5.00 and 5 people stop to buy, that's a profit of $10.00. I suppose you could say that one might still only sell to 1 out of 10, but that seems rather unlikely, given all we know about the American Consumer. Think Wal-Mart. They sell known brand names of all kinds of items for less than a local store, or even other national chains, yet they make a lot of money. Why? Because they sell more of it. Why do they sell more of it? Because their prices are lower. If you can buy a GI Joe figure at Toys R Us for $10 and that exact same GI Joe toy at Wal-Mart for $7 - where are you going to buy? Same principle applies.

 

Selling more of a product for less money often means a greater profit - and shouldn't that be something to try?

 

CalicoPenn

[RangerT]

I hear you Calico and agree 100%, however popcorn sales never have gotten the publicity of GS cookies and every year it seems to me that fewer and fewer scouts are seen selling popcorn in my area. This afternoon there were a group of cub scouts selling popcorn outside the market and one young webelos invited me over to his table to show me his display. He explained each product to me and then talked about how sales benefit his pack. I tell you that I was so impressed by his pitch that I bought a tub and gave him an additional donation. This scout proved again to me why scouting is still so needed and beneficial to our youth that I did not even winch at the price. It is all about the program and not the products value, besides I now have another souvenier tin to store stuff. After all its all about the kids is'nt it.

[evmori]

The boxes of GS cookies I buy have two sleeves of cookies for $4. A lot more than 12! Better value than popcorn. Popcorn is over priced. There are many other fundraisers units can do. And yeah I know popcorn supports council but I'd rather write a check for $10 to council than pay $10 for an overpriced product.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[GernBlansten]

I'm just tired of having children go out and fund these organizations, whether it be high school sports, BSA, GSA, or the local drama club. Councils need to charge the participants the cost of the program. If they need more money, raise membership costs. For those scouts who can't afford the costs, offer opportunities for them to work it off (limited fund raising) or camperships (of which is rolled back into the overall cost of the program).

 

As for the $10 box of sub-standard popcorn (compared to Orvilles), Orvilles sells for $3.00. Markup at the grocery store is around 5% so wholesale cost is $2.85. In that cost is advertising, promotion, distribution, packaging, manufacturing and spoilage. BSA popcorn has little advertising, little promotion and limited distribution costs. Wholesale cost is probably closer to $1.50. BTW, Sam's Club sells 50 lbs bags of Pop Secret for $11.

[Jeffrey H]

Folks understand that the popcorn prices are for fund-raising.  They understand that they are not solely buying the product, but supporting a program.  I say keep the prices on the high-side and sell fewer units rather than selling cheap and be burdened with a high volume of orders and deliveries to customers.

 

 

Quote by Calico:  Think Wal-Mart.  They sell known brand names of all kinds of items for less than a local store, or even other national chains, yet they make a lot of money. Why? Because they sell more of it. Why do they sell more of it? Because their prices are lower.

 

Wal-Mart is not a fundraising organization and they have the distribution infrastructure to handle their business model of stacking deep and selling cheap.  Scout Troops and Packs are made up of volunteers that do not have the infrastructure to handle massive distribution of popcorn units to customers.      

 

[mmhardy]

Its not the price its the price point!!!

 

A $10 minimum is too high. People are used to paying $3-4 for GS cookies how come we don't have a product in that range?

 

We have resorted to selling packets at 3 for $5. Yes your not supposed too but thats the only way we can really move the product and the profit margin is way better!!

 

BTW we post the ingrediant list and have a handout if people want the calories

[sause]

We all understand it"s a fund-raising but so many people ask if there is any thing that does not cost so much. They want to support the boy's but that we are asking for to much. This is why the boy's don't want to sell the popcorn.

[moxieman]

evmori wrote: "The boxes of GS cookies I buy have two sleeves of cookies for $4. A lot more than 12"

 

It depends on which one you buy. Your best values are the shortbread and thin mints (which have two sleeves and roughly 30 or so cookies), but some of the others have a lot less--girls around here last year were offering animal cracker-type cookies but square with an animal depicted on oneside with the other side dipped in chocolate--12 in the box for $4. Some of the others like the peanut butter filled ones come 15 to a box.

 

Along the same lines, there are different amounts/types of popcorn for roughly the same price range and then they skyrocket from there. (shrug)

 

 

Walmart--don't get me going on that. I dare you to compare. Go into Wallyword and write down the UPC on an electronic gizmo or power tool. Then find the 'same thing' in another store. The boxes will look the same, but the UPC's will not be the same. Why? With Wally's clout, they can make the manufacturer produce an exclusive cheap knock-off. So you save money, but you get what you pay for.