Thank you for all of these posts! We were recently approached by them primarily about the Summer Vacation books. However, that is just how they got their foot in the door. They have been very pushy about us doing their entertainment books and their gift wrap/candy program. I personally was not very impressed by the entertainment books. They didn't really have a lot for our local area other than McD's/Wendy's sort of thing. I didn't think they would be worth it to our school. However, some people did think they would be worth the try. So hearing opinions on here has been a help. Thanks!
We stopped selling Entertainment books years ago. Too little return for the effort and TOO much competition with other schools/non-profits in our area.
When I was recently selling them (for a non-profit association) some of the favorite coupons have dropped out over the years (gas coupons, etc) and made the E-books harder to sell.
Our school has been selling Entertainment books now for sometime but we have needed to start as soon as the kids start school as ALL the schools in the district use this fundraiser! I have seen the smaller C-books or E-books that go for half the price and that may be worth looking into as it's with the Entertainment book "thing" too. If the money wasn't going towards the Music Dept. I don't know if I would be so gun-ho on selling the books either! I do like the fact we are able to give friends and family out of state our school code to order a book in their city online, THAT has REALLY helped sales! (My best friend in Des Moines would rather buy from my kids anyway!) We have also sold Salley Foster but not sure why we stopped, I LOVED their wrapping paper! (Perfect for shipping gifts, they stay pretty and wrapped!)
Next time you have a meeting with the rep talk to them, see what all your options are and what ideas they have to boost sales. For our skate parties, we took out dates; added better "advertising" ie more posters, color flyers etc; and worked with the owner for better meal deals for the kids and door prizes. It can't hurt to just talk, maybe it's time to offer an Entertainment book AND one of the smaller discount books (if they offer them in your city) just a thought.
Sometimes your best outfit just needs a new pair of shoes....
Our school has done Sally Foster for the last two years and will do it again this fall. We do not do the entertainment books because we have a competitor, Kidstuff books,in my area of PA. They sell for $25 and we make $12.50 profit per book. They are more oriented towards family places - resturants, activities, shopping, etc. And they have a deal where if you sell 5, you get one free!
I did talk our middle school into doing entertainment books and they have done them for the last two years. I had done the Entertainment books for our Boy Scout troop before the middle school did it and it was not that successful for a small group.
I was chatting with our Sally Foster rep while we were sorting our fall fundraiser and she hinted that they were having trouble with the sales of the Entertainment books. I personally like the books and have bought one for the last several years. With the kidstuff and entertainment books, I never pay full price!
I was just wondering if anyone else is dissapointed in thier Entertainment Book sales this year? Here in Louisiana at most schools I have talked to, the sales are down a good bit. The book seems to have lost alot of over the past year. No major grocery, a lot of popular restuarants have pulled out, and lots of places not honoring. Also, rumor has it that they will be going up on the prices of their books next year. Customer service, which always has been good in the past is way down too. My school is not signing on next year. Plus, we do Sally Foster with them also and we have NEVER had complaints on their chocolate, but this year I can't tell you how many parents I had call me about the chocolate having a whitish color to them. It was like they were melted and solidified several times. Anyone else have similar complaints about the Entertainment books or Sally Foster?
