Decision to forgo popular food items pays off 

Even with the dismal sales that surrounded this second semester’s Club Day on Jan. 15, some clubs were able to make the best of it with more potential customers and new rules. MV Stars, a service club based on visual and performing arts achieved relative success amidst the sea of clubs.

While many larger clubs ordered popular food items such as Chipotle and pearl milk tea by the hundreds, MV Stars opted for a lesser-known dessert called roti buns, "the giant cream puff filled with cream cheese". Representative of a mid-sized club with around 40 members, the food choice was less cost-intensive and not ordered on as large a scale. 

MV Stars was the only club that sold roti buns although Club Commission changed the policy to allow up to three clubs to sell the same food item as opposed to last semester’s limit of two. With no other clubs selling the same food as MV Stars, they were spared the trouble of price-matching. This prevented competition with a bigger, more well-known club.  As a result, the roti buns sold out during the first half of lunch. 
While the objective of many clubs is to make profit on Club Day, that ideal has been proven to be difficult to achieve with many clubs having to slash prices — and many more taking home leftovers. But with the regulations placed by Club Commission, risks of losing money were smaller than that of a normal fundraiser.

"Many clubs are inexperienced at fundraising, so [Club Day] can be a big fundraiser for them," Club Commissioner junior Nishad Joshi said.

Though Club Day is one of MV Stars’ main fundraisers, MV Stars President senior Mengya Wu sees it more as a fun experience for its members and younger officers since the club itself does not require a lot of money to run.

"Fund-wise we are pretty stable," Wu said. "But in case we need to have more funds [in the future, younger] officers would have more experience [with making money at Club Day]."

Club Day remains an educational experience as clubs hone their advertising and fundraising skills.  The process of selling food at Club Day proves much more complicated than it would seem to a buyer.
 

"Having changed from the consumer to the seller, I appreciate Club Day more," MV Stars Vice President senior Mengyou Wu said.

While it takes skill for a consumer to maneuver through the crowds unscathed with all the food items she wants, Mengya and Mengyou know that it takes real planning and strategy to put on a good show at Club Day.