Girl Scout cookie booths will accept credit cards
By Elizabeth Marie Himchak
This year, you might be asked “Cash or credit?” when purchasing Girl Scout cookies at a troop booth from Feb. 10 to March 4.
Poway Brownies Savannah Ibarra, left, and Savannah Roscoe holding oversized Savannah Smiles Girl Scout cookie boxes at the annual Cookie Kickoff held at Sea World on Friday. The new cookie commemorates Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary this year. Photo by Mary Doyle
The question will not be posed during door-to-door sales, which begin this Sunday and continue through March 11. Once again, cookies will be available immediately instead of requiring orders be placed.
After a successful pilot project last year in which 10 San Diego Council troops — including Cadette Troop 8162 in Rancho Bernardo — accepted credit card payments, the council is offering the payment option to all of the 1,600 troops selling an anticipated 2.5 million boxes of cookies this year. As of Friday, 240 troops opted to participate, said Lani Longacre, the council’s product sales manager.
The pros and cons of conducting credit card sales is something troops have to seriously discuss, Longacre said, since while secure card swipers are provided for free, each credit card transaction will cost the troop 8 cents. That fee — which is not being passed on to customers — will come out of the troop’s profits that depending on number of boxes sold is between 65 cents and 95 cents per $4 box.
In making that decision, she said, girls from elementary through high school will be taught financial literacy skills they will use for the rest of their lives. They will also have to make business decisions, weighing the price of conducting a credit sale with potential sales increase due to accepting a payment other than cash. Accepting checks is discouraged.
Valerie Brown, Cadette Troop 8162’s leader, said her girls found the credit option beneficial when selling cookies at the farmers market in Webb Park last year, a place Brown said she thought customers would carry cash.
“Nobody had cash. Every sale was with a credit card (that day),” she said. “I was floored people would go to a farmers market and not have cash. That is, until I walked around and found almost every vendor taking credit cards.”
When the troop has a booth outside grocery stores, she said customers often say they will buy cookies upon exiting because they can get cash back when making their grocery purchase via debit or credit card.
“Most people are going cashless,” Brown said.
Since during the pilot program troops did not have to absorb the fee, she said the Cadettes — now seventh-graders — are factoring the fee into their credit policy. They have not made a decision yet, but might only accept cards when cookie purchases are $20 or more.
As for financial lessons learned, Brown said the then sixth-graders were starting to learn a card is not “magic money … (but) real money attached to the credit card.”
According to the council, only Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards are accepted. The card transaction must be processed by an adult at the booth, transactions are secure and receipts are emailed to customers.
To celebrate Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary this year, a new lemon cookie called Savannah Smiles is offered. The name honors the birthplace of Girl Scouts — Savannah, Ga. Other varieties offered are Thin Mints, Trefoils, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Dulce de Leche and Thank U Berry Munch.
San Diego Girl Scouts anticipate their 2 millionth Operation Thin Mint box will be sold this year. The local program started in 2002 to provide free Girl Scout cookies to military personnel stationed overseas. Each box is accompanied by a note of support.
To find a troop booth, use the cookie locator by going to www.sdgirlscouts.org, calling toll-free 1-877-296-6468 or downloading the mobile app at **GSCookies (**472665437).
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Short URL: http://www.pomeradonews.com/?p=20991
Posted by Elizabeth Marie Himchak
on Jan 27 2012. Filed under Featured Story, Rancho Bernardo/4S Ranch (Click here for more stories).
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