Who Did I Just Order Flowers From - Part Three
In my previous post I alluded to some choices a florist has when they receive an order from an order gatherer. As a member of a wire service they are bound by some rules. One of which instructs them to fill the order to value. The entire conversation began here.
The $100 arrangement of flowers you ordered online arrives in a flower shop reading a value of $100 but in essence the value is discounted as the order gatherer take their cut, 20%. The florist who receives this order for the flowers you ordered online can either accept the order or reject. An acceptance of the order will be based on the reality of it being a profit to them and a rejection will be based on the opposite or even if they haven't the flowers requested on hand.
There is a great chance that if the flower arrangement you ordered online is filled by a local florist it will be done in a manner that ensures it is done at a profit. The best avenue to take for this florist is to use flowers of a weaker grade, an inferior quality. If you are particular about what you are ordering and quality is important to you, you may be disappointed with the end result.
Have you ever seen the segments on the morning news programs when they experiment with ordering flowers for a holiday such as Valentine's Day or Mother's Day? The results are always the same. Not ordering directly with your local professional florist leaves so many doors to be opened for errors to happen.
So you would think that while placing your order for flowers online that the order gatherer would be satisfied with their cut of 20% for simply passing your order to a local florist to be filled and usually with the casual ease of a few keystrokes on a keyboard. No. You are charged for this service! On top of accepting your purchase for the flowers you ordered online they charge you a fee. This fee is typically anywhere between $10 - $15. It is not forwarded to the florist that will be filling your order and it is not part of the value found in the flower arrangement that will be delivered for you. It is theirs as part of the service of acting as a middle man. The discount you may be offered and enticed with to place an order with them is covered by this fee that they charge you.
This is something you will never know about, especially when ordering flowers online, as it is usually the sentiment that inspires you to make your purchase for flowers online that keeps you from questioning it. Even I have been guilty of having a sentiment cloud my judgment when making a purchase online.
In addition to all of this that we have tried to teach you of there is still more information we would like to educate you about before you order your flowers online. In my next post to the blog I will start the explanation of the pricing anatomy of a fresh floral arrangement after clearing up one other part of this equation that is relevant to our conversation.
Creatively Yours,
Bobby and Mia
