Are you planning to go WIRE $ERVICE FREE?

[virginia_Bob]

We don't ask for or expect the split either Rhonda. We charge a $10.00 fee for sending the order that we tell the customer about up front. We then give the filling florist 100% of the money for the arraangement plus a delivery fee unless the customer has advised us that they would like the delivery fee to come out of what they ask for in the arrangement. But it is the customers INFORMED decision to make. What does the customer get for their $10.00? We make the call, and if their is a problem (complaint) with the arrangement on the other end. We deal with it with the filling florist. So far we have had only one problem. We sent an arrangement for a customers cousin's son's funeral. WE asked for a nice wicker basket designers choice ( what ever they could do the most with the money ) for the family to take home after the service. What they got was a very small vase with wilted flowers. Our customer let us know and we called the florist. They sent a new arrangement to the home in a basket as requested with an apology. You can't unring a bell but they did all they could to fix the problem and it wasn't any worse of a problem than we have had before through a WS and was resolved just as easily.

Bob

 

[Jerry]

My feeling has always been, if you get out of the system 80-20-rebates(ws) then get all the way out. Anyone that is aggresively advertising for w/outs, they really would be foolish not to go after the rebates. So they would not need to get out of the WS. If a florist is advertising his business and the w/outs happen to be there, then charge the customer a send fee and send out at 100%. I feel this is were the rub comes in, everyone wants that edge on their competition, no send fee, no delivery fee, no anything, to get the order. So it then is asked of the filler to discount their work by 20% or they won't get the order. Let the customer pay for the product they want plus a send fee.

The game changes when a florist gets out of the game. The 80-20-rebates have killed this industry, so if a change is going to happen it needs to be changed all the way. A lot of florists are near the end of their careers, and do not want any changes, but that is not reality today. To have your cake and eat it too(20%), is only prolonging the inevitable. I know it helps your bottom line, but no one elses.

Milk it for all you can, thats what I feel is happening.

Sorry to rant about this ToTo, I don't even send out at 100% anymore because my customers were getting screwed by the recievers. And it was tarnishing my name in this small little town. I'll leave it alone now.

 

[Jerry]

My feeling has always been, if you get out of the system 80-20-rebates(ws) then get all the way out. Anyone that is aggresively advertising for w/outs, they really would be foolish not to go after the rebates. So they would not need to get out of the WS. If a florist is advertising his business and the w/outs happen to be there, then charge the customer a send fee and send out at 100%. I feel this is were the rub comes in, everyone wants that edge on their competition, no send fee, no delivery fee, no anything, to get the order. So it then is asked of the filler to discount their work by 20% or they won't get the order. Let the customer pay for the product they want plus a send fee.

The game changes when a florist gets out of the game. The 80-20-rebates have killed this industry, so if a change is going to happen it needs to be changed all the way. A lot of florists are near the end of their careers, and do not want any changes, but that is not reality today. To have your cake and eat it too(20%), is only prolonging the inevitable. I know it helps your bottom line, but no one elses.

Milk it for all you can, thats what I feel is happening.

Sorry to rant about this ToTo, I don't even send out at 100% anymore because my customers were getting screwed by the recievers. And it was tarnishing my name in this small little town. I'll leave it alone now.

 

[Chezbloom]

Actually, we do the same as Jerry. We just really don't send out much at all to begin with. I think I've sent a direct order once in the last year. And it was for an elderly man who kind of would'nt take no for an answer and I was'nt about to go into the whole Wire service sending thing so I simply found a shop in the area he wanted to send and sent it. I will go out of my way to find a real shop for a customer to send out of our delivery area and I WILL tell them why we don't belong to any Wire services and never will again. I have never had a problem doing this and the customer always thanks me for being up front. But the bottom line here is, we simply don't have Wire outs. And I don't want the responsibilty for what another shop might send out.

 

[TOTO]

RANTING is GOOD Jerry!

My feeling has always been, if you get out of the system 80-20-rebates(ws) then get all the way out. Anyone that is aggressively advertising for w/outs, they really would be foolish not to go after the rebates. So they would not need to get out of the WS. If a florist is advertising his business and the w/outs happen to be there, then charge the customer a send fee and send out at 100%. I feel this is were the rub comes in, everyone wants that edge on their competition, no send fee, no delivery fee, no anything, to get the order. So it then is asked of the filler to discount their work by 20% or they won't get the order. Let the customer pay for the product they want plus a send fee.

The game changes when a florist gets out of the game. The 80-20-rebates have killed this industry, so if a change is going to happen it needs to be changed all the way. A lot of florists are near the end of their careers, and do not want any changes, but that is not reality today. To have your cake and eat it too(20%), is only prolonging the inevitable. I know it helps your bottom line, but no one elses.

Milk it for all you can, thats what I feel is happening.

Sorry to rant about this ToTo, I don't even send out at 100% anymore because my customers were getting screwed by the recievers. And it was tarnishing my name in this small little town. I'll leave it alone now.

The old 80%/20% ratio of SENDING FLORIST EARNED COMMISSION to NET TO FILLER FLORIST PAYMENT was and is STILL A GREAT SYSTEM.

What S-C-R-E-W-E-D that all up was the advent of the 800-FLORAL-TELE-BUCCANEER which began in earnest back in 1984.

Once they began to INTERCEPT the orders which were, by tradition, acquired by a REAL FLORIST, and then TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER REAL FLORIST, and vice versa, they tipped the scales of the balance of trade within our industry.

Add to that anomaly, the advent of the REBATE, in which, those florists would then SELL their OUTBOUND orders to any wire service, who would agree to pay them, THE HIGHEST REBATE!

In turn, that caused the eventual demise of the OLD FTDA as well as the OWSs to include AFS, CARIK, FCN, RFS (Redbook Floral Services) and Florafax as well. And so, it's back to OZ and his old saying of: " When the Whales Fight, the Shrimp Get Killed! "

REBATES, and in my umble opinion, in today's world, winds up to be FOOL'S GOLD WS crack!

When a REAL FLORIST breaks down their WS costs on an annual basis and finally figures out that, their base cost is $3K per year at a bare bones minimum and more with any added bells or whistles, and the other one costs you over $5K per year, and even much more if you have more of their add on bells and whistles, there is NO AMOUNT OF REBATES any florist can acquire, which will offset those costs, UNLESS YOU BE AN OG, DOG, OR SKIMMER!

And, add to that, any WS POS Technology that you've been imprisoned by, and your net profit on that spreadsheet becomes even worse.

Make NO MISTAKE that, this SMOKE & MIRROR FOOL'S GOLD mentality, which all of them perpetrate and perpetuate is BY DESIGN! They count and depend upon FLORIST IGNORANCE in order to make their SMOKE and MIRROR system work.

All I can say, and I've said it before, is to CRUNCH THEIR NUMBERS on an annual basis, see what they cost you, put the rebates into your final equation, and tell me if you're still making any money with them?

Unless a REAL FLORIST is sending out 75 or more orders per month, while earning a $4 per order rebate, you're still in the LOSS COLUMN with a WS.

And, I don't count your earned 20% sending florist commission and your shop's $ervice charge as being a part of the offset of their expenses. When you do that, it's called COST SHIFTING, and like our current Medical system and our Border, City, and County Hospital' rush to bankruptcy (at taxpayer expense), they cost shift the charges incurred by those that CAN'T PAY, (Illegal Aliens and newly arrived Legal Immigrants) over to those that can pay with our medical insurance in the form of higher hospital charges for us, or in the form of HIGHER TAXES ON US, at the Federal, State, and County Levels, to pay for THEIR MEDICAID. Did you know that, both ILLEGAL ALIENS as well as LEGAL GREEN CARD newly arrived immigrants, are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits, and despite the fact that, THEY NEVER WORKED A DAY IN THEIR LIFE in the USA? And thanks to our LIBERAL SOCIALISTS who perport to represent WE, THE PEOPLE, in our Congress and Senate, HELLO? These are the very same people who want to cut back on your father or mother's Medical or Medicare benefits.

In my opinion, that's money that A SENDING FLORIST EARNED, when they created that SALE to begin with, while providing that $ERVICE TO THEIR CUSTOMERS, in an effort to MEET and/or EXCEED their customer's expectations.

Fact is that, DA WS can take NO KUDOS nor any ACCOLADES for the sending florist's ability to perform that vital function, and the WSs wind up being just a method of transmission for OUR ORDERS, and as nothing more than a COATTAILER, and an ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT!

When they all decided to SLEEP WITH OUR ENEMIES and to our EXCLUSION or DETRIMENT, that's when THEY CROSSED THE LINE in OUR SAND!

To support any of them is like, sending your money to the competing florist just down the street from your shop, while telling them that, IT'S ALL OK, I LIKE YOU, and have a go at me anytime you like!

As always, this is JUST MY UMBLE OPINION, and you're all CERTAINLY FREE to draw any conclusion you choose to, even if it's through a WSs rose colored sunglasses.

In closing, just ask yourself one very importent question!

When was it that, any of them were able to bring a customer into your shop with their 100% SALE for a REAL FLORIST PRODUCT they marketed to DA PUBLIC which resulted in your ability, to CAPTURE THAT SALE and at your full markup?

The best that, any of them can do now, is to draw your customers to THEIR WEBSITES and either do the BAIT and SWITCH over to their DROP SHIP GIFTS or DROP SHIP FARM DIRECT, or, worse case scenario, give your customers a full 20% discount while expecting YOU TO FILL THEIR ORDERS at a FULL 29% DISCOUNT plus NOTHING FOR YOUR DELIVERY $ERVICE.

What I find AMAZING is in the fact that, some of you insist on telling MEE that, THIS IS STILL A GOOD THING!

Here's a thought! S-C-R-E-W them, save your money, and go back to the tried and true order transmission of an 80%/20% REAL FLORIST to REAL FLORIST order transmission scenario, and ELIMINATE ALL THE MIDDLEMEN!

They really don't care about you, so why should you continue to ENABLE THEM?

The INEVITABLE SOLUTION for US WEE BEES is, to STOP FEEDING the WHALES and before they EAT ALL THE KRILL in OUR BODIES OF WATER!