# Anyone ever try selling crap from comics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767 "2026-01-17T05:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/41 "2026-01-18T16:13:05Z")
I had a friend in middle school that shoplifted gum and Certs, then sold them on campus. Can’t beat that profit margin. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/42 "2026-01-18T16:51:08Z")
Wow. You deserve a parenting award for that. I am humbled and inspired ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/43 "2026-01-18T16:55:44Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > The most successful sales I ever did as a kid involved selling light bulbs. (This was NOT a comics-based sales program.) The Boy Scouts had me sell light bulbs (60, 75, and 100 watt) for $0.25 each. I doubt that they were of any quality, but you might be surprised how many people said, “Light bulbs?!? Sure, I always need those. Here’s a buck.” I probably made a sale at two out of every three houses. Could have sold a lot more if they had given more to me. i remember my Cub Scout pack being tasked with selling lightbulbs when I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. This was when I was living in suburban Chicago, and while it might have been a winning program elsewhere, it was a struggle to sell them here: at that time, the local electrical utility (Commonwealth Edison) had a program where customers could get reduced-cost lightbulbs every month when they paid their electric bills. I did sell some bulbs, but most of the neighbors said, “I have plenty of light bulbs!” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/44 "2026-01-18T20:20:57Z")
The Boy’s Club put me on the street selling coupons for fireworks. Buy a coupon for $5 and redeem it for $5 worth of fireworks. What a deal! I sold enough to win a swim mask and snorkel. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/45 "2026-01-19T01:48:21Z")
I hated selling too, magazine subscriptions, raffle tickets and such. I am familiar with the sell Grit ads, but I have never nor know anyone that has ever seen a Grit paper. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/46 "2026-01-19T15:46:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Plus there were all of those things we were selling that the school wanted us to. My grade school was in a town of about 300, surrounded by farms (one of which I lived on). Selling stuff for school in town was right out, because all the townies beat you to it. And since 3/4 of the farms had a kid or kids in school, you couldn’t sell to them either. So a useless task. I don’t know if the school teachers and admin types every realized this. It was a “business model” that just didn’t work in tiny town America. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Maybe you need an organ. Don’t listen, those women lie! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/47 "2026-01-19T15:51:43Z")
I remember in junior high or high school we sold little boxes of peanut M&Ms for band uniforms or some other fundraiser. (I think these were the “[theater box](https://www.google.com/search?q=peanut+m%26m+theater+box)” that holds 3.1 ounces.) The school paid $0.25 each and we sold them for twice that and we were allowed to sell them in school. That was a very popular item. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/48 "2026-01-19T16:01:04Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Maybe you need an organ. I donated mine. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/49 "2026-01-19T16:08:55Z")
The kids in my neighborhood all bought ‘The Sylvan Glade Jumbo-Giant Guaranteed Growth Raise-Them-in-Your-Cellar-for-Big-Profit Mushrooms’ from the Great Bayou Novelty Greenhouse, and fed them to our parents. 👽 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/50 "2026-01-19T20:17:43Z")
At least they sold a product people actually use. The Boy Scout popcorn is so massively overpriced, it’s just as good an idea to simply donate that amount of money to the local troop or council. Speaking of which, this popped up on Facebook a couple days ago. Good information, for people who have any kind of dietary restrictions. > **[Ashley - Nova’s cookie sales have kicked off eith pre orders! Cookies will be...](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10215679118088853&set=a.1351201037954)** > > Nova’s cookie sales have kicked off eith pre orders! Cookies will be available in February and as a reminder if you live out of town or do not work in town select deliver to address > > Use this link... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/51 "2026-01-19T21:56:42Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The Boy Scout popcorn is so massively overpriced, it’s just as good an idea to simply donate that amount of money to the local troop or council. Substantially all of those “sell things to raise money for [good cause]” are massive ripoffs by the logistics company, exploiting the beneficiary entity (scouts, school,etc), the free labor, _and_ the donors. They win, everyone else they touch loses. In a just world ICE would be raiding those companies and hauling their owners & leadership to jails. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/52 "2026-01-19T22:01:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They win, everyone else they touch loses Trump’s lifelong business model. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/53 "2026-01-19T22:54:30Z")
A neighbor girl sold Christmas cards, specifically personalized Christmas cards. My (step)father felt like he could help the girl out, and made a big order. When they arrived, his name was spelled “Maurice” instead of “Morris”. We could hear the poor girl sobbing on the phone when he called her to adamantly state he wouldn’t pay for them. At thus I learned not to go into sales. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/54 "2026-01-20T03:19:19Z")
True, BUT the last Boy Scout popcorn brochure I saw said, “70% of the sales price goes to the troop.” Yeah, just donate. When I have bought merch, I have limited myself to purchasing things I could actually use. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/55 "2026-01-20T03:33:13Z")
I remember Christmas wrapping paper sales brochures brought home. Noped out on all those things. Right in the garbage. My kids had no taste for asking strangers to buy. I had no way of doing it. We had no neighbors. Yeah, donate cash to the group if you wanna help. That’s what I did. As well as sponsoring(like cheer), chaperone(bus, ugh) and volunteering in their activities(band concessions). I was on all decorating committees. God the heady days of parenting!! ---
**Author:** ![Kelby2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@Kelby2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/56 "2026-01-20T17:24:19Z")
I was just going to mention this…we had similar “entrepreneurs” when I was that age. There wasn’t much future in it, turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Cheetahkins](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheetahkins/32/20603_2.png) [@Cheetahkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheetahkins)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767/57 "2026-01-24T02:56:39Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The most important thing I learned is that a lot of grownups had no compunction about rudely telling a little kid to get lost. Haha, that was a big take away for me as a kid as well. Very eye opening. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-try-selling-crap-from-comics/1026767.md?page=2)