Magazine Solicitation

Over the last week, I have been pestered by solicitors visiting my home--in my neighborhood. They’re buying uniforms for a baseball team; looking to earn points for a trip; looking to raise money for school; selling candy; etc etc. They were all youths and all had tattered sheets that served as their catalog. Frankly, Mr. I-Need-A-Baseball-Uniform was pudgy and surely wasn't playing baseball. Mr. I-Want-A-Trip-To-Hawaii was a little too glad-handing. The warning bells went off.

After a bit of basic Internet research, it seem that the basic scheme is this:

“Magazine subscription companies contract with independent sales crew managers, who hire young people to sell subscriptions door-to-door. The sales crews travel from town to town. Working on commission, the salespeople often use “sympathy” sales pitches, such as claims that the sale will enable them to earn or keep the job, or earn “points” towards a prize or scholarship. Sometimes there’s high pressure, for example, the salesperson won’t leave. Complaints also allege non-delivery of the magazines.”

Did a quick search on the web and found the same thing happening all over the US, St. Petersburg and even on campus at OSU:

“A man or woman, usually a man, approaches an unsuspecting student and explains he or she is in a contest for which they are trying to collect points. They say they will receive points for selling magazine subscriptions. The solicitor tells the student he or she is trying to earn cash or a trip to a sunny locale. The solicitor then turns up the charm and uses every trick in the book to convince students to part with upwards of $100 of their (or their parent's) hard-earned cash.”

And a “51 dollar subscription to People Magazine” that smacks a lot like coercion:

I kept backing up, but he kept coming a little closer. I was like no I don't want to do that but he kept on, and kept on and he was very persistent, more or less he wasn't leaving until he got my check. (emphasis mine)

Scams, my friends, all scams.