Why you definitely shouldn’t buy Girl Scout cookies online

This might sound familiar: You’re craving a box of Thin Mints or Samoas but you can’t find a Girl Scout troop anywhere nearby, so you turn to Amazon or eBay. Sorry to tell ya, but you really shouldn’t buy Girl Scout cookies online, no matter how much your taste buds are screaming for them, because, little did you know, those lifesaving boxes of cookies are not actually coming from Girl Scouts themselves. They’re being resold by someone who bought them off an adorably uniformed Girl Scout.

This is a problem for many different reasons. Firstly, you’re getting in the way of Girl Scout work that is meant to help these young women grow and learn. A spokesperson for the Girl Scouts told NY Mag that the cookie program “is a financial literacy tool for girls.”

"“We’re trying to help them learn, and for them to do that, they have to be the ones doing the selling, interacting with a customer (either online or in person), making the change, learning the skills. Buying the cookies through Amazon is giving people access to cookies without access to Girl Scouts, which undercuts the programmatic element," the spokesperson said.

By not being able to sell you those cookies themselves, they’re missing out on the educational experiences that make up the cornerstone of the Girl Scouts organization.

Sadly, a lot of the Girl Scout cookies you see online are also expired. Since they’re not being sold directly by the organization, there isn’t any obligation or accountability that what you’re getting is fresh.

Even sadder is how expensive Girl Scout cookies are on a site like Amazon. When you would normally pay around $5 for a box from a Girl Scout in person, you’re paying upwards of $10 for a box online.

So at the end of the day, there are plenty of reasons why you should resist the urge to purchase nirvana Girl Scout cookies online. Wait until you see a hard-working Girl Scout on the sidewalk — doing her duties, learning how to be independent — and help her grow by buying all the Samoas your little heart desires.