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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

WWYD - teen running their own tuck shop in school

504 replies

PinkPansies · 08/02/2022 16:06

We've realised recently that ds1 aged 14 has become quite flush with cash (more so than his pocket money would allow anyway!).

On questioning we've discovered that he's quite the entrepreneur and has set up his own tuck shop in school on breaks and lunches. In short, he's been stopping at the local Coop on the way to school and buying sweets and chocolates then selling them to the kids in his year for double the price. Who are more than willing to pay.

From making the odd quid here and there his 'business' has expanded rapidly in the last 3 weeks and he's got quite a following in school - and he's currently making about ten quid A DAY in profit. I can't quite believe the amounts.

He's taking specific requests from kids that get the bus to school so don't have the opportunity to visit a shop and has a price/order list to show his customers and a book with a record of his sales and profits each day 🙈

He's taking it very seriously and is incredibly organised. He's explained to his parents that his profit is limited only by how much stuff he can physically fit in his bag - so he's currently looking at smaller, higher value sweets and sounding our his customers for interest levels.

Parent A and Parent B have different opinions.

Parent A is thrilled, has congratulated their son for his driven, entrepreneurial spirit and told him to crack on...but that he needs to be aware the school will probably give him a detention if he's caught. It's a risk ds is happy to take.

Parent B is amused and a bit impressed but thinks he should stop as obviously the school would frown on this. Haven't seen any specific school rules about this but obviously the school would probably want it stopped!

WWYD?

OP posts:
Darbs76 · 08/02/2022 17:26

My eldest did this for a while, watch out as the school won’t like it

EmilySpinach · 08/02/2022 17:26

Will Parent A expect the school to support on the day when he gets mugged by the Y11 boys on his way home?

jay55 · 08/02/2022 17:27

It was on educating Manchester.

Schools get pissed off because they can no longer have vending machines of junk to make money from.

countingto10 · 08/02/2022 17:27

So my DH was the only one who ran a “book” at school then Hmm Grin

1forAll74 · 08/02/2022 17:29

Great, here comes another Lord Sugar for the future.

ButtockUp · 08/02/2022 17:29

Looking forward to seeing PinkPansies Jr on Dragons Den.

CushionSpiral · 08/02/2022 17:29

A

tolerable · 08/02/2022 17:31

time to introduce the claim of not for profit charity gig ...every start up flourishes a while n fades out after while.i believe(except for genuine ones of course)

Ilovecharliecat · 08/02/2022 17:31

@Ratherdogsthanpeople

I know someone who managed to install a popcorn machine in their locker and sold pocorn. Made a fortune. He’s an electrician now.
that's hilarious
heyitsthistle · 08/02/2022 17:31

Kid's got a head for business. Well done!

Abra1d1 · 08/02/2022 17:31

My son did this at school! Used to order in hot pizza in the winter after rugby or rowing. Cold cokes and ice lollies in the summer.

The school told him to stop as the tuckshop was taking a hit.

LookItsMeAgain · 08/02/2022 17:36

@Jvg33

A lot of people are saying it's not against school rules! Every school I have worked in, when they found out, they put a stop to it. There are a few reasons why tuck shops were stopped in schools. One of them was due to a conflict of interest with the out of house service - catering company.
It sounds to me that there isn't a conflict of interest here as there isn't a market for the items the OP's son is selling being met by the external service provider - the catering company.

If the catering company perhaps stocked the items that the OP's son sells, they could use their buying prowess and undercut his prices and still make a profit.

Queeniepies · 08/02/2022 17:37

Parent A, definitely!

My husband used to do this at school. He had a paper round so would stock up on sweets etc first thing and then sell them all at school that day!

Myonlysunshine123 · 08/02/2022 17:37

I'd be impressed and probably take him to home bargains where the sweets and chocolates are cheaper than co-OP to maximize profitGrin

multivac · 08/02/2022 17:37

As has been pointed out, this is nothing new; there's at least one in every school and has been since forever. Sure, it's 'entrepreneurial' - but in a very specific style (flog cheap crap to a captive and undiscerning audience at inflated prices - oh, well done!)

Mildly impressive and amusing? Sure. 'Awesome!' 'Brilliant!' 'Well done, mate!'? Not so much.

And yes, in some schools the sanction for this could be extreme.

PS - whoever mentioned "allergies" [sic], you can fuck right off with your inverted commas, thanks.

VikingsandDragons · 08/02/2022 17:38

Parent A. When I was a little younger I started making badges on a badge machine in my dads office (they had it for doing promo freebies in the days before the internet and rapid ordering was really a thing) in the 30 minutes a day I had to wait for him between school and him driving me home (we lived rurally but school was next to his office) from drawings I did, or pictures of celebrities I'd cut out of magazines and I'd sell them at school. I learned the basics of commerce, never did business studies or anything but discovered I loved enterprise. I've now founded several companies by my late 30s, have employees, a recognised brand etc and I'm very happy with my work life balance and salary this affords me and genuinely feel like I haven't 'worked' in a decade as I love what I do, but I do still wonder if I have achieved the same if it hadn't been for that badge machine. I really wish more schools encouraged entrepreneurship and independent thinking than rote learning.

Marmite27 · 08/02/2022 17:38

I’m with parent A.

My brother used to sell sachets of tomato ketchup cheaper than the canteen. He made a fortune.

disconnected101 · 08/02/2022 17:39

I am so impressed.

Toanewstart23 · 08/02/2022 17:40

It can’t be a particularly academically successful school, that’s for sure

babyjellyfish · 08/02/2022 17:40

I know someone who did this at school. Multimillionaire by 30.

Also a complete arsehole but that's neither here nor there.

ByMyName · 08/02/2022 17:41

Really impressed with the initiative! I’d be proud of this was my DC. In practice, school will make up some rule against it. So enjoy while in lasts!!!

SkipThisStep · 08/02/2022 17:43

One of my neighbours did this, I remember him bragging about it (I didn't go to school).
He still lives at home, a few doors down From my mother, he is still dealing 'sweets'. Apparently there's always people coming and going to buy. I'd probably just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't turn into drug dealing. I imagine that is where the concern is from schools part, they'll have seen it time and time again.

CraftyGin · 08/02/2022 17:43

My DS1 did this.

He went to the supermarket before they closed and bought their bakery cookies on mark down.

He sold them before school and at break. He kept needing to up his numbers as they were so popular.

I can't remember the details now, but the other kids were willing to buy a cookie for £1, and it probably cost him 10p. It was very lucrative to him.

After 3 or 4 weeks, the deputy head got wind of it and stopped him.

This was before all the food allergy regulations.

Now, if it had been a Young Enterprise company, that would have been completely different... (not true as YE don't allow you to sell unwrapped or homemade food).

5foot5 · 08/02/2022 17:44

1. Allergies. What happens if someone gets ill from consuming something bought from your ds.
At secondary school I would expect anyone with allergies to be old enough to take responsibility for their condition and know what they can and can't eat.

2. Profiteering by charging high prices. This is certainly not acceptable.
Supply and demand! Nobody is forcing the kids to buy at that price. These are not essentials, they are treats so if his customers are happy to pay that price, it is acceptable.

3. The impact on school rules about snacks etc.
Maybe there isn't a specific school rule.

4. Amount of cash being carried around.
Yes this is a concern. Hopefully he only carries the amount of cash he needs and/or takes from one day's trading

MingeofDeath · 08/02/2022 17:44

Good lad!

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