Not mom related. Moms of Girl Scouts!! I need advice. Cookie season has ended and it’s our very first year ever selling Girl Scout cookies. I have A LOT leftover because I didn’t realize how much went into selling them and I didn’t have the time. But now, our troop leaders are saying it’s too late to return unsold cookies and I am now responsible for the cost by tomorrow. It’s almost $500. Can someone please help me in knowing what will happen if I don’t pay that? I quite literally cannot afford it and I am panicking and do not know what to do at this point. I have reached out to the leader about it for the last few days and haven’t gotten a response from her. I am so worried. Thanks for the help
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I’d like to buy some. I’m in South Florida and could help with shipping.
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Share it on your Facebook for whatever area you are in! They will get sold!
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What area are you in and I bet if there’s people on this page from your area, they would probably buy some from ya!
I think this rule and the date of no return needs to be clearly explained. I remember mom’s signing out the boxes of cookies with the “I understand if these cookies are not sold by this date they must be returned or I am responsible for buying the remaining boxes.”. I understand both sides of this situation
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Which cookies do you have ? I’m sure a lot of mamas here would buy if you’d ship.
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Unfortunately yes that rule has always been (I remember my parents 40 years ago having that situation)…
Last year I came across a leader who had tons she ‘ate’ cost on… She finally started offering half price to at least make some money off them…
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As a girl scout leader, i can tell you what i was told would happen… when the season began, we had to have all parents sign a paper that stated how many boxes they were wanting and that they understood they were responsible for anything that was not sold. Girl scouts do not all returns of cookies at all throughout the season so there would not have been a time that you could have returned by, however, there was a cookie exchange page that your leader should have been using to help you get rid of any cookies you still had during the last couple weeks. There is a form that the leader will fill out if you cannot pay for the cookies which makes it so the troop does not have to pay for the cookies you dont pay for, however that form would then make it so girl scouts themselves would send it to collections and work on getting payment from the family (you). This is how it was explained to me of what happens if a family failed to pay for the cookies they took
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Where are you located? I’d buy some from you. Ask neighbors too bc they can’t get them anymore lol maybe people will help n buy some
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Former Cookie Mom here. Yes, you are responsible for paying for them but you can continue to sell them and keep that money. I allowed the girls to return cookies up until a certain date but after that point, they had to pay for them.
I’d be at every Walmart store or
grocery store standing there with them and sell to
people coming in or out. They will be gone in no time. Beats paying $500
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Sell them where are you located ik there are a lot of people that would still be willing to buy some. I bought some this weekend but didn’t buy enough.
I would post on a local page. I bet you can get rid of them. By now most people have gone through the boxes they bought and don’t think they can get more 
I mean sounds like there’s some people on this thread that may want to help out!!! Is there a link you can put on your personal page make sure it’s made public so folks can order them??!!!
I think that’s crazy to do to someone. My daughters troop does it differently we pay as we go, so people will order and prepay and then wait for cookies. I wouldn’t do it if I was going to have to pay for unsold cookies, sorry this is happening to you!
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Is that the retail price because it should just be the actual cost. Maybe post your link and sell some more off!
Where are you located? I’ll buy some.
Take window paint and write on your vehicle windows. Park in a parking lot. You will sell out quickly
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I promise if you post them, they’ll sale. Alot of people (me included🥴) was so busy they missed the deadline & would still be happy to buy some
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From a troop leader. yes you are responsible for the unsold cookies. Unfortunately the council will take you to collections and sometimes even small court claims if the balance is high enough.
You have to sign the agreement to sell which says you are responsible. Your daughter’s troop will have to pay for it if you don’t. If it is a newer troop they may not have the funds to cover. I would call and text the leader to work out a payment plan. Hope it works out for you.
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A prior regional cookie mom here, unfortunately yes you and the troop are responsible for the unsold cookies. If you don’t pay they can and likely will file a police report for theft and depending on your area $500 may be a felony theft amount. I had to do so with a troop leader/mom who didn’t turn in money for her troops cookies, so if you don’t pay and troop can’t cover cost it would fall on the troop leader to cover or be held legally responsible.
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Do u have any mint ones left? How much are they per box now? I’ll take 10 off ur hands
I am intetested in buying some…desperate for cookies.
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What kinds do you have left?
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This happened to me also! This was 4 or 5 years ago and I never paid it and nothing happened. I had tons left over also!
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What’s the cannabis situation in your state? Fill your trunk with cookies and go hang out in the parking lot of the local dispensary, CBD if recreational isn’t an option. Or just ask the manager if you can set up a table out front. I give it a day, 3 tops.
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The troop will end up having to pay it. It will pretty much come out of the money the troop would have earned. When my daughter sold, I would only sign out the bare minimum that I knew I could sell and then get more if I needed more.
An option. Continue selling the cookies that you have on hand. Turn the money in when you sell.
My daughters troop took the cookies back and signed them over to other troops still selling.
Tip. Make cookie dealer cards to hand out to all your friends family. I put my cell number on them, not my daughters. And continue selling the cookies. I paid my balance which made the cookies mine to do with as I pleased so I ate some and sold them to make my money back. I JUST ordered some from a friend just last night that still had a few boxes sitting around. So keep selling.
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I’m a troop leader of a small troop (6 girls, multiple levels) so here’s how I typically handle cookies…
First, there is a “pre-sale” season for a reason. This allows the girls to “estimate” how many boxes of cookies they will sell throughout the season. Our girls gather a list of customers interested in purchasing cookies, but cannot collect any money from customers without the product. That each turn their pre-sale list into me, and I total all of them together. I then determine a general schedule (how many weekends for booths, etc.), research how those booths fared the year before in sales, and total all those together. Add to presales and then place a total Troop order with council (who sends all initial troop orders to bakers, along with extra for additional inventory available for troops to pick up as needed throughout the season).
When I hit transfer on that initial order, my troop is now responsible for paying 90% of the total cost of my order that council paid the baker for. The other 10% is what my troop gets to keep for selling. So if I order 500 boxes on my initial order at $5/box, my troop owes council $2250 of the $2500 the troop ends up collecting. They direct ACH debit this money in 2 drafts - one 2 weeks after initial orders are placed, and the last at the very end of the season. If the funds are not available in the troop account on the final day of the sale, the troop account is overdrafted, and council can file a small claim suit against troop leader(s).
All of that trickles down to each scout/parent as well. When cookies are picked up from council, troop leader disburses the cookies to each scout per her initial order form. A receipt should ALWAYS be provided to scout parent anytime cookies or money exchange hands - tracking for both the troop and the parent what is owed. Parent gets one copy of the receipt and troop leader keeps the other. Also, an agreement is signed at the beginning of the season stating each scout is responsible for payment in full of all ordered boxes. Each party should have a copy of this signed agreement, as well.
What happens when a parent can’t sell what they ordered is that the troop then has to cover the payment to council for the parent (troop has no control over this).
So back to original example, troop owes council $2250 for 500 boxes of cookies. If scout owes $500 to troop, this means the scout/parent ordered, and contractually agreed to pay for 100 boxes. This means the 400 sold boxes brought $2000 into troop account. The $250 balance overdrafts the troop bank account, and troop leader could be responsible for personally covering the other $250 owed. Not to mention, no money in troop account means no money to cover troop costs and activities for the rest of the year for the girls who ordered and paid as required. Likely, there would have been $250 already in the account, meaning the council ACH draft wouldn’t have actually overdrafted the account with possiblity of small claims suit. But that also takes away from the other girls who now won’t have as much to do activities and events throughout the year.
What I do if a parent is having trouble selling what they ordered is have them bring what they have left to our last booth (or couple of booths) and then do some back work in the system to deduct those as individual sales and add to the booth sale instead. Usually this would only be 20 boxes max, so a $500 (100 box) order would be super difficult to add as booth cookies and actually not hinder the troop itself financially. If a parent does not pay the money they agreed to, and the troop has proof (signed agreement and proper receipts - also signed by both parties), there is a form the leader files at the end of the season stating which scout/parent has not paid and how much. The council can then file a small claim suit against that parent.
So my first question - do you have ANY of the money owed from delivering the cookies you ordered to customers? If you ordered 100 boxes initially, do you have the money for say, 50 of them? Whatever money you have collected, turn in and get a receipt for ASAP. If you still have the cookies, it can get pretty interesting trying to get rid of them, but definitely possible.
Do you have copies of the signed agreement and all receipts? Also a copy of the initial order you sent into your troop leader?
These items will help you keep track of the money you agreed to pay and balance owed. If you don’t have copies, ask the troop leader to provide them to you. If there are no records, you cannot be legally held accountable (but please remember that means your troop leader could end up being responsible for “your” cookies - not exactly the most couth way to handle the situation in my opinion) and also that all the other scouts in the troop will pay the consequences for your scout not selling what was agreed to.
All of this should have been explained in detail at the start of your cookie season. I’m sorry you’re going through the stress of it all, but hopefully this helps you understand why it’s important to sell what you order.
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We put a couple out at my office and sold so many. (I work in a dental office) go see if people you know would promote. Leave an envelope of money for it. Most of the ones we sold were from employees lol
Unfortunately yes. And if you get caught selling now that the season is over you can also get into trouble so be careful. I’m a GS leader in TX and had a few girls run into this too. We told the moms repeatedly when deadlines were, heck even my daughter had about $70 left in cookies that I had to pay. It sucks.
Where are you? I’ll help, and might have a little one to join if you’re close 
Yup any mint? Live in Indiana
Sell them on your local online yard sell! People always want some especially when the season is over and there are no more!
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Rule for years… I’m not going to lie… that like what at least 5 cases or more? They ordered extra for you to get those… guaranteed no one else ordered that amount… find that $500… and don’t bite off more than you can chew next time… it’s a fricken NON PROFIT!!!
You signed up for the cookies and now you have to pay. They are not responsible for your not having the time to sell them. Pay the money.
Sell them online, I’ve seen people looking for them
Assume as a business they can turn it over to collections after a certain time of non payment, which eventually would affect your credit… and no one wants that. Id ask to do a payment plan and not partake next time knowing you can’t return unsold product.
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If you signed the contract, you do have to pay , if not the cookie person can turn you in and you either pay or may not be able to sell cookies again
Need to go back to take orders, they pay for them then they are delivered at a later date
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Everything is about the money! Even girl scouts. Never sign up to sell anything anymore
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Yes thats the rule. You signed a contract with the rules. Your troop leader should have advised you of this in detail though. I suggest you get out there and sell. Have your daughter make signs saying “Last chance for cookies”
Just share to facebook groups in your area or ask grocery store if you can stand outfront of it & sell the remainder
They will send you to collections unfortunately and that will show up on your credit
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If there’s an ice skating rink near you & teams are playing, I’m sure if you stand out in the parking lot, you’ll sellout
Set up a table in front of a supermarket or church, you will sell out fast
I can buy some… and pay for the shipping f
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You owe the money, keep selling. The troop leader ultimately is responsible so she will be out the money until you can pay her back.
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Just post on here the will sell especially if it’s the mint
Been the rule for at least 25 years
Yea that’s usually how mlms work lol
the troop leader should have given a date of when the troop will take back unsold cookies, usually a month before end of cookie sale , but if you decide to keep the cookies to continue selling than you will be responsible
The troop will end up having to cover it if you dont pay. I would go to a large stores parking lot and make a sign and start selling cookies
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Yeah your pretty much responsible. Is there a very populated area that you can set up a table and sell? Or go park and sell out of the trunk of your car? My daughter had a lot of success at our local bowling alleys on league night. Still this month technically to sell, right? At least in my area 
Wow I couldn’t imagine doing it the way your troop does. We take orders and sell what we get $ for.
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I had cookies that I had to pay out of pocket for, so then I sold them to everybody for half price so I at least got half of the money back that I had to pay the troop.
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They sell themselves. You are responsible, so just get out there and sell them.
Interested in buying some where are you located
And the Girl Scouts wonder why their membership has plummeted? 
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Post on your local Facebook garage sale sites- I’m sure they’ll sell!
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Stand outside of a dispensary,show up out front for last call or find a concert venue…you’ll profit if you up the price. Lol.
The time wasted crying on here, tou could be out selling what you can.
Go set up in front of a dispensary and sell, sell, sell 
Cookies are ran differently for every Girl Scout council. I work for a Girl Scout council and can only speak to that councils policies. So please be aware that others comments may not be helpful in your case. I suggest you reach out to your local Girl Scout council and ask for advice there not here where you will get MANY different answers that may not pertain to you.
So, as a co troop leader… you have to pay for the cookies because they are not able to be returned to the company. And, you had to sign a piece of paper that listed your driver’s license number as well basically stating that you would be responsible for any unsold cookies. So what our troop did was, we had a date for where parents could return any unsold cookies. And if they return the unsold cookies by that date, then they were not financially responsible for them. But any cookies that were not sold after that point, the parents were financially responsible for. I ended up selling a majority of my cookies at flea markets. Girl Scout season is over, so you should freely be allowed to post on Facebook marketplace. I know during cookie season you are not supposed to, but I don’t see an issue with it now considering you’re trying to get rid of them. I would see about getting on a payment plan. Otherwise, you risk it going to collections and / or a suspended license until it gets paid.
Also, I don’t know why your girl scout troop leader allowed you to have that amount of cookies if they were not guaranteed sales.
Yes unfortunately you will have to pay for the unsold cookies. This is why I don’t buy to many extras
Put some on ebay, I’ll buy some
That’s crazy to me. I don’t recall that rule when I was a girl scout. We had people order and pre pay…then we ordered what we needed.
What do you have left? Could you ship?
I’d be out selling as many as I could.
If you’re local I’d love to pick some up
Yes, you will have to pay for them. Our troop signs paperwork at the beginning of cookie season stating whatever we order, we pay for if they don’t sell. If you do it again next year, place a smaller initial order and then order what you need throughout the season so you don’t end up owing at the end.
You had to sign a paper accepting responsibility for those cookies before you take them, and you control how many you take. If you do not pay for them, girl scout council will come to you for the money, and you can end up in collections. Your daughter would not be able to sell again in future. I know everyone is busy, but you knew your daughter was supposed to sell those. It is your responsibility. You could possibly try to sell them to get the money to pay it. Otherwise it comes out of your pocket.
Not to be an a%*, but it’s pretty clearly laid out what the deadlines are. I sent all sorts of reminders when I did it. If your troop didn’t that sucks, but yeah, you do have to pay it.
Yes, you have to pay for them. You picked them up with the responsibility of selling them. Post on your local facebook what you have or set up for a day in a crowded area. We sold out quickly as everyone wants them.
Former leader here, all parents sign a form saying they are aware that unsold cookies will be your responsibility. I often told my newbies to only order what was sold and maaaaybe a few of the popular ones for extra. They could always get more cookies from our cupboard. One year, I had to pay just under $800 for someone’s cookie bill because they wouldn’t respond with their extra cookies. Towards the end of the season, I would set up booths for girls with extra cookies. I was always wanting to help. So just know that if you don’t pay for those cookies, your leader will have to out of her own pocket and that sucks. I wouldn’t let that girl get extra cookies the following year because of it.
Go on your towns Facebook page and post what you have. Do that for all surrounding towns. It will help sell a lot of them. Or at least people will know you have them. I just see the people around here trying to get rid of the last bit they have
Hell I would still try to sell them on the side. It doesn’t matter where the $500 comes from.
We all want to buy some cookies lol girl scout cookies ended over here.
I was a cookie mom. The cookie pantry always took back unsold boxes.
I would buy some! I didn’t get any this year 
Where are you located? I’d buy some. Pirate ship is the way to go with shipping
I want some!! Message me the kinds you have!
I was told, by one of our leaders that it would be sent to collections.
If you don’t pay for it her troop has to. You literally have to check a box stating you’re responsible. Continue selling those cookies you have on hand and see if they can set up a payment plan for you. Because the option to just not even attempt to pay it makes you a TERRIBLE human. Don’t punish an entire Girl Scout troop because you didn’t read before signing.
Can we buy some off you???
Advertise those cookies on social media. Go stand outside your local Walmart. People love girl scout cookies.
Pm me, I’ll buy some if you can tell me how much shipping will be