"Raspberry Rally" Girl Scout cookies are a hot item — if you can find them
A new Girl Scout cookie flavor has proved to be so popular that resellers are hawking the treats online for a premium.
The "Raspberry Rally" cookie is a thin, crispy chocolate-covered, raspberry flavor-filled cookie that the Girl Scouts call a "sister" cookie to the popular Thin Mints variety.
Although it's sold out online from the Girl Scouts, consumers who secured boxes are listing them for sale on sites like eBay for as much as five times their usual price. For example, one Girl Scouts troop in New York City sells them for $5, while single boxes of the cookies are listed for sale on eBay for between $20 and $30.
Unauthorized cookie sales in the secondary market hurt troops' fundraising efforts, according to the scouting organization.
"Girl Scouts of the USA is disappointed to see unauthorized resales of Girl Scout cookies online through third-party e-commerce platforms," a Girl Scouts spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
"While we are happy that there's such a strong demand for our cookies year-over-year, we're saddened that the platforms and the sellers are disregarding the core mission of the cookie program and are looking to make a profit off of the name without supporting our mission and the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program in the world," the group added.
Purchasing cookies through an unauthorized third-party seller deprives troops "of valuable experience and, more importantly, proceeds that fund critical programming throughout the year," the spokesperson added.
An eBay spokesperson said that while the company encourages "cookie-seekers to also support their local Girl Scouts," the sale of Girl Scout cookies on its platform does not violate eBay policies.
The Girl Scouts introduced the "Raspberry Rally" cookies during their latest selling season, with the product only available for purchase online, rather than at troops' in-person booths. That was by design to enhance "girls' e-commerce sales and entrepreneurial skills," the Girl Scouts said last year in announcing the new flavor.
The new cookie is sold out online, while other flavors remain in stock.
Girl Scouts urges consumers looking for its signature cookies to support girls by buying other cookie flavors, like" Adventurefuls," or through donations.
The Girl Scouts have staged an annual cookie sale for more than a century. Originally, actual Girl Scouts baked and sold the cookies for 25 cents to 30 cents per dozen to finance troop activities. Selling cookies helps members learn skills like goal-setting, decision making, money management, business ethics and marketing, according to the organization.
All of the net revenue raised through the annual cookie sales stays with local council and troops. One troop used the proceeds from its sale to help rebuild homes destroyed by the Almeda Fire in the Rogue Valley area near Medford, Oregon, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Cookie proceeds also funded a trip to Paris for troop members.