That’s my new job — managing the Cub Scout popcorn sale for my son’s Cub Scout pack.
I don’t need to tell you how awkward it is to have to sell seriously-overpriced popcorn. I like my older sons’ wreath sale better, because the profit margins are lower and they provide value in home-delivering bulky wreaths. But the popcorn? How do you persuade people to spend $20 on an 18-pack of microwave popcorn, for instance, or for a small bag of popcorn? (The company used to provide tins, but not any longer.)
Actually, it’s not that bad, at least in my neighborhood, where a good number of people will buy one of the smaller items, anyway. I’d wish that the product on offer was something smaller, like the Girl Scout cookies, where a box is something like $4 or $5, though I suppose the profit margin as a percentage of the cost is probably just as great. The brochure promotes “70% to local Scouting” (a little under half that to the local unit and the remainder to the council), though when I do the match, even 30% of the sale price seems like more than you’d pay at a retail store, unless this is truly “gourmet” and I misjudge the cost of it.
But the council switched to a new vendor, and to the vendor-supplied prize program, instead of the in-house program they previously offered, which provided gift certificates of a high enough value to be a real motivator, at least for my sons. So now I’m wondering if we’d be better off with taking the cash bonus commission alternative instead, and creating our own prizes for the boys, or at least adding some bonus prizes, without spending so much on prizes that we deplete our own earnings.
So if you’ve got some experience (as a parent, or as a leader), please share it with me!
(Side note: for non-popcorn eaters, the company provides a “military donation” option, and it’s a sign of the times that, for the first time this year, the popcorn is not intended for “the troops” overseas, but for “the troops, their families, and veterans’ organizations.”)
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