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I never buy from the parent, especially the ones that bring it into work. And I tell that to the parent, too. This is something the scout is suppose to be doing.
Slightly OT but I wanted to address this.
Girl Scouts are no longer encouraged to do door to door sales for safety reasons, so for a lot of girls this only leaves the cookies booths and the order sheets that usually get taken to work.
When I had my troop often several of the girls were unable to participate in booth sales for various reasons (It didn't help that our booths were held in late Jan/early Feb!) Probably 50% of our sales came from the order sheets that were taken to parents workplaces.
Many of my girls didn't get to experience the "salesmanship" of cookie selling but OTOH they were very involved in the 'business' aspect.
They tallied up all those order forms and figured out how much of each kind of cookie to order, how much extra they needed to order (because there are always people who decide at the last minute they need another box or two of trefoils!)
They kept up with who had paid and who still owed, who had received their cookies and who was still waiting on delivery,
They filled out the order forms for the GS council, they learned to make out bank deposit slips, etc.
Maybe it's just me but I always looked at the "Hi, would you like to buy some cookies?" as the easiest and in some ways the least important aspect of a project that is a great learning opportunity for the girls. YMMV.
I haven't read the thread, but if you want to buy cookies without having to buy cookies. You can buy and support the girl scout and have the cookies sent to the USO, they will send them to military personnel stationed overseas.
It is ridiculous for her to be selling cookies and shipping them. Yes, it would be annoying if she was local but making you pay to ship when you could buy them down the street if you really wanted. Tell her you already bought girl scout cookies locally.
Also isn't the point of the cookies for the girls to sell them, not the parents?
Doesn't sound like her daughter was the "highest seller" in the troop....but her mother....I can't believe that she would solicite you by e-mail, when you live two states away....if you ask me she's taking complete advantage of your generosity...and probably giving her daughter a false sense of pride to boot....I'd just flat out tell her that you prefer to contribute to you LOCAL girl scouts.
Thanks everyone for your input. Reps for all. As far as when the cookies are sold I really am not sure. I don't know that much about Girl Scouts to be honest. I know last year she started early and that is why I forgot about them until they arrived in the mail. I sent her a message this morning that I couldn't buy cookies this year and wished her daughter luck on the sale. No other comments, just that. Honestly, if she would have just kept the darn cookies last year or wasn't so weird about the whole shipping thing, I would have sent another check this year. I also bought a mag subscription as well last year. I think I will support the local kids only this year. Honestly, I think she is hurting her daughter on all of this. I can't imagine I am the only one she is being pushy with.
I wish I would have thought about sending the cookies to the troops. What a fantastic idea! Ya know, since that was brought up I have to laugh because this woman's son joined the army earlier this year. She sent a mass email out to everyone she knows that we need to do things for our troops and she doesn't want to hear excuses because they keep us safe. That email was pushy too. She loaded her Facebook with those same sort of comments and then blasted every movie star that turned down the marine ball. I am getting the sense that whatever her kids get into becomes top priority and she insists it should also be top priority in other people's lives too.
I do remember that the one boy in our troop that always sold the most popcorn.
It was definitely his mother. She did some kind of home parties (jewelry or candles or something) and she sold TONS of the stuff there.
So, it truly was not like the boy was out there doing it ALL on his own; he was not. It was his mother who was the number one seller. I didn't begrudge her that because . . .well, that's just not my thing and my son wanted only to make a decent showing; neither of us were ambitious enough to win the #1 prize.
I see LOTS of parents on FB now trying to get folks to buy from their children.
Our boys did go door to door - but in groups and with a chaperone. My son always sold to family and local neighbors and I reciprocated when their kids sold things. That is how it's supposed to work!
PS: I love that idea about sending cookies to the troops too!
Having said that, there is no law or rule that states generous, thoughtful and kind people must always respond in the affirmative every time they are asked to contribute to a cause. It is not wrong to give a simple and unequivocal "no thanks" to these requests. You do not owe anyone an explanation. And please, know that the only one that is making you feel like you are being cheap is you. There's absolutely no reason for you to feel that way - EVER.
^^^^THIS!
Just say NO THANK YOU. Nothing else.
If you want to send cookies to the troops, do it via other means because this women has proven she's not trustworthy.
Doesn't sound like her daughter was the "highest seller" in the troop....but her mother....I can't believe that she would solicite you by e-mail, when you live two states away....if you ask me she's taking complete advantage of your generosity...and probably giving her daughter a false sense of pride to boot....I'd just flat out tell her that you prefer to contribute to you LOCAL girl scouts.
yep, that usually is the case in these things. The highest seller often has an over active parent or 2 doing all the work for them.
My husband took our daughter's Girl Scout Fall Album to his work. He didn't announce it or anything, it just sat on his desk. He also didn't ask anyone to buy anything from it . She made the majority of her sales from it. The girls weren't encouraged to go door to door (even with a parent) and we live on a military base where soliciting is frowned upon as well regardless of what products are sold. Seeing as how our family is in all different states and no one wanted anything this was her best chance of getting items sold.
Cookies are also welcomed at all the USO's in airports for returning troops.
For the OP: She sounds awful rude and passive aggressive.
I have a friend, okay...more of an acquaintance that has her daughters in Girl Scouts. This woman lives a couple states away and sent me a message asking if I would buy cookies. I hate when parents bug me to buy that kind of stuff. I understand its a hassle and when my son was in Boy Scouts and other groups I had to sell the stuff too. Most of the time, I just bought the minimum or donated the money because I hate the hassle of asking people. So I told my friend that I wasn't really interested in the cookies (as I had been nailed twice already at the local Lowe's) but told her that I would send a check and she could buy the cookies and have them for herself and family. I just didn't want more junk in the house and truly didn't see the point in having them shipped to me on top of it.
She INSISTED that she mail them to me. I told her no, just take my check and keep the cookies. I bought 30 dollars worth and forgot about it. My good deed was done I thought. About a month or so later I get a package in the mail. Yep, its the damn cookies. 30 freaking dollars worth. So I called her up and thanked her but letting her know it wasn't necessary. She said she appreciated it and her daughter was the highest seller in her troop. Then she goes on to say that another friend that lives out of state saw how much she spent on shipping and offered to pay for that as well. She kept saying it and I know it was a huge hint for me to chip in for the shipping which ended up being almost 8 dollars. When I got the box and saw the postage on it, I did think about sending her another check but it annoyed me. I told her not to send them and she did anyway. She brought it up one more time during another conversation. I cut her short and refused to deal with it. Overall she is an okay person, I don't see the friendship going beyond acquaintances though.
Well its that time of year again. I just got a message from her asking if Im interested in some cookies. She also threw in that she would be charging people for shipping this year since last year she spent too much on it. I haven't replied yet and its only been 2 days. I just got a second reminder today about the damn cookies. Sheesh...pushy. Her daughter seems like a nice kid and I don't mind helping her out but I didn't find the first experience all that great. I got a real problem with people trying to make me feel like a cheap arse when in fact, i was quite generous to begin with. How would you respond to her second request? I don't want to be nasty but I feel like anytime she mentions these cookies its a jab.
Just say no! Btw, where are you that the cookie sales are so early. We don't get to sell until January or February. If she is preselling early, that is against the rules of the Girl Scouts as all the girls are supposed to start at the same time to give every girl an equal chance of selling and meeting their goals.
Girl Scouts is a good cause, but this woman is breaking the rules and it is her dd who is supposed to be selling not her (though many parents sell at work, etc.). Unless her dd is in k or 1st grade, mom should not be selling without her dd going along. It's ok to sell to relatives and at work, but not to pressure people and not to sell to people her dd doesn't really know from the neighborhood or school or something like that.
My dd, btw, used to be a big seller when she was in scouts. She did it herself though - she went to the stores in our town, got all the young adults who worked part time to buy and wrote down their schedules so she could deliver. We were in a college town though.
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Thanks
What a fantastic idea! Ya know, since that was brought up I have to laugh because this woman's son joined the army earlier this year. She sent a mass email out to everyone she knows that we need to do things for our troops and she doesn't want to hear excuses because they keep us safe. That email was pushy too. She loaded her Facebook with those same sort of comments and then blasted every movie star that turned down the marine ball. I am getting the sense that whatever her kids get into becomes top priority and she insists it should also be top priority in other people's lives too. 
