Friday, September 11, 2015

The Different Kinds Of Kid Sellers You'll Encounter During School Fundraisers

It came.

The dreaded paper about the school fundraiser.

I've written before why I don't like fundraisers. I'd rather donate directly to the school. I live on base so it means I get lots of kids knocking on the door even though it's not technically allowed. It's irritating.

Here are the different sellers I've encountered.




--The shy seller.

You know, the one that knocks timidly on the door and then stares at you with saucer eyes when you open it. They don't speak and wordlessly lift the box or paper of what they're selling. Sometimes they might whisper to the point where you have to really crane to hear: "I'm selling this." If you ask questions, they shrink back as if they've just been slapped.



--The persistant seller.

This one won't give up. Maybe it means they'll be CEO of some company. But right now it's annoying as Dora the Explorer. If I say no, I mean it. Don't keep talking to me. If I only want to buy one thing, don't keep urging me to buy more. Go home. Just. Go home.




--The lazy seller.

Mommy or Daddy drives them around to EACH HOUSE! I can understand if they wait at the end of the road, but stopping and going is ridiculous. Junior can walk. Trust me. Junior will meet you at the end of the street. If you're worried about an abduction, perhaps fundraising isn't for you. Go to the school with a check. Hand it over. Your deed is done.



--The seller who gets their parents to sell their stuff at work.

Tom has had to deal with this a lot. He's polite and will buy one or two items. But sometimes the guy he works with tries to guilt him into buying more. This pisses Tom off. First of all, it's your CHILD'S job to sell the junk. Second of all, be grateful for the stuff that IS sold.



--The seller who keeps coming back.

Good gracious. I once bought 2 candy bars from a kid. And then he shows up 3 days later. "I figured you'd want more!" When I said no thank you, he seemed surprised. Look, I love chocolate. I love sweets. But the chocolate that is sold in schools is meh. I want a Twix. I want Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I'll buy the school chocolate to be polite and support the school, but I have my limits.


--The forgetful seller.

"I'm selling...um...what am I selling again? Um?" *Kid stares at the paper* "Oh right! Cookie dough. Did you want....wait, what kind do we have?" "Are you asking me?" I'll wonder, wanting to get back to my book. "No! Um. I think we have chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal...anyway, it's $15. I think."



Do you buy stuff from school fundraisers? Do you let your kid sell stuff?

43 comments:

  1. I hate fundraising. That's why I just don't do it. I know the school needs money but I think turning kids into street beggars is awful. I'd rather just write a check or pay for something kinda fun like a festival or something. I hare almost all the garbage they sale too.

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  2. This is hilarious!! We haven't experienced this yet, but you know we will.

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  3. Annoying kids and parents, annoying! Though I do love when parents sell Girl Scout cookies :).

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  4. Ha ha! It is that time of year! This post was too funny!

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  5. This is hilarious! We don't get any kids selling things door-to-door in my neighborhood. I live in apartments right next to base in a military town, so around the first and the 15th of every month we get a lot of grown-upsl trying to sell us stuff, but not kids. Now I kind a wish I could see what a kid does :-)

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  6. Lmfao! My husband comes home with so much weird shit! I ask him why and he says "oh major/capt/Ssgt so and so's kid was selling it!"
    Sucker.

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  7. My Dad always took mine to work, but I did go door to door too. Fundraisers are crazy

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  8. I have seen all of these as well. I was totally the "mom takes it to work" seller. My mom worked at a hotel with lots of employees and she would leave it in the breakroom, lol. I rarely bothered people at home.

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  9. I have seen all of these as well. I was totally the "mom takes it to work" seller. My mom worked at a hotel with lots of employees and she would leave it in the breakroom, lol. I rarely bothered people at home.

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  10. Oh ugh! I have that kid. For several years there, he had at least 5 or 6 major fundraisers a year between Scouts, band, and school. I did take a few to work (although technically it's not allowed), but I was determined that he needed to do his part. He's not the pushy kind of kid, but he did pretty well at it, but I felt bad. It seemed like people were starting to run and hide when they would see him coming. Now though, some people seek him out and actually ASK him to buy the stuff, which is a nice change. We have a Christmas wreath sale and a fundraiser BBQ for Scouts and those are things that people seem to want to buy. We just did a BBQ for 600 people that will fund our Scout Troop for the year, but it's a TON of work. You've never lived until you've sorted out $10,000 worth of ticket envelopes all filled out by a bunch of 12 and 13 year old boys! Yes, writing a check is definitely easier.

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  11. Haha, this is hilarious and so true! I hate fundraisers.

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  12. I don't mind purchasing from fundraisers, but it's usually a bunch of crap I don't want or need. I hate those school fundraiser chocolate bars. They're so sub-par.

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  13. When the girls were younger, their fundraiser was magazines, you could even renew your current subscriptions through their fundraiser. It all sounded like a good idea, but everyone reads their stuff online now.
    I never ordered anything from them.

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  14. LOL, so glad kids over here don't do this. They have bake sales in schools but kids don't knock your door selling anything. Fundraisers are great though.

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  15. Hahha yes to ALL of these. I'm also an obliger so I don't know how to say no to people. I just wish I could say no and then not feel guilty about it!

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  16. This cracked me up. Well written. Children usually don't come to my door to sell anything, but I often see them at grocery stores. My parents usually made us sell our own "junk". So my heart goes out to those who hustle, and sometimes I just give in a buy something. Lol!

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  17. UGH! I am with you... so NOT a fan of these fundraising techniques. I'd much rather donate to the school. Or even get a few kids together and let them run a garage sale or something... figure out making change and dealing with people... and donate all of the money and the rest of the stuff to a shelter or some other place after the sale is over.

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  18. This is so funny! I remember being all this type of children when I was younger!

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  19. This is such a funny post! I love the line about the persistent seller being as annoying as Dora the Explorer lol

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  20. Agreed! I get that it is hard selling stuff door to door. In fact I always worry about the kid that is doing it because there are some crazy people out there. But most of the stuff they are selling is overpriced junk that I really don't need or want. I'll still take it over someone trying to knock on my door trying to save my soul. Doesn't mean I'm buying.

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  21. Fundraising can definitely be some work and pretty annoying, yet I love supporting the kids.

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  22. I was the kid who went to harass my parent's coworkers! I always sold cookie dough around Christmas time so I don't think too many people minded!

    xx, Tomi
    http://goodtomicha.com

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  23. I love fun reads like this! So accurate since all the kids have such unique personalities. Kids...gotta love them.

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  24. Hahahaha I have encountered some of these seller types and it never gets old in annoyance

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  25. Absolutely great list.
    The parents selling we have all faced.But it's a part of life's lessons.Selling.

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  26. Oh my this is hilarious. I hate fundraising season.

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  27. I hate fundraisers and I'm constantly being hit up at church by some kid or his parent. Last week I was asked to sponsor a girl in a beauty pageant. Thanks, but no thanks! I don't even like pageants! :)

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  28. Nope never happened in my household. I pay good amount of taxes to the school, my kids aren't becoming door to door sellers of anything.

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  29. I will buy some things from fundraisers for my kiddos to school. I know when I was a kid I was shy one and I did not like.

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  30. Too funny. As the former PTA president at my kids' elementary I have met ALL of the sellers mentioned in your post. As much as I abhor fundraisers I do try to support a project or two during the school year.

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  31. Hahaha. I hated the fundraising portion at school when I went, and when my girls went. The kids that are the luckiest are the ones with big families and their parents work at large places with lots of employees!

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  32. Hahah we don't really have this sort of thing over here where kids go door to door, I think I might be quite thankful for that.

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  33. Ha, you nailed the list! My kids are the kind where hubby sells their stuff lol. I used to participate in fundraising a lot but I slowly pass some because I am the one selling, my kids are very shy!

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  34. I hate fundraisers. Luckily my sons school holds events and charges admission.

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  35. I hated selling stuff as a kid because of those kids that their parents sold their stuff at work!! My dad never would and my mom stayed home! My kids were homeschooled so I didn't have to deal with it lol.

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  36. Haha. Great list. I always hated the lazy kids whose parents drove them around everywhere.

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  37. It is so funny seeing all the different approaches people have towards selling. I was always a go getter.

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  38. We used to sell Girl Scout cookies. You could see all the kids in the group with different approached to selling.

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  39. Haha! My children are now in college and I remember those days. I always bought everything and sent in a check. I will admit I would like to be hit up for Girl Scout cookies, though. We live in an area with 10 acres between houses so nobody comes here to sell anything. :)

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  40. I can relate to those moms who sell tickets for their kids. hahaha. I have an officemate who supports her kids by selling tickets to us. - ANOSA

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  41. Haha...this is so spot on. I'm all about fundraisers for schools and other non for profit organizations, but I don't really like when kids are asked to sell stuff. It can get super awkward.

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  42. With my kids I think I have the forgetful seller and the lazy seller. Then I step in in order stuff and have my coworkers order too.

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  43. Oh what a great article,Such a nice idea,especially for our kids,cooperating with them in their school fundraising is important.

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Thanks for the comment!

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