Florist Interlink

[Rhonda]

Had a call this afternoon from Florist Interlink who wanted to place an order for Millinocket. I said by Credit Card..she said okay. Then she asked for 80/20 split, I said no and without letting me finish she hung up. Was going to ask if a service charge was taken by the sending florist, but she didn't wait...
Now those of you who use this service.....
Is it a florist to florist thingy or is it an internet site?
I searched on google and found "take your 100% order and transmit to a filling florist, minus $2.50" on a "Flash Floral" something or other.
I have a slight problem with taking orders by credit card, giving a discount, when the sending shop has taken a service charge up to $9.95 and sometimes higher to send the order. How do the rest of you do it?
Please no flaming...

 

[Blue Oyster Cult]

Pure 100% from us with going direct. Sure we charge a "service charge" but that is our only commish we receive..we never ask for a discount from the filling shops because we want our customers to get what they pay for and our customers know we have a "sending fee".

I do not expect a florist to fill an order for a discount anymore nor will we.
Discounts are for Oil Changes..no flaming here either!.

 

[jbarb]

Rhonda, stay away from Florist Interlink. They are major scammers. They still owe me money from two years ago and they just flat out refuse to pay me. It's a long story but don't deal with them. They are a small wire service, they do all the same things that FTD and TF do. They take their 7%, the sending florist gets 20% etc. The reason they are calling you direct is because they do not have a member in your area.
There are several florists that I have talked to that have been scammed by these people. At one time there was talk of a class action suit against them.

Jim

 

[BOSS]

Originally posted by jbarb
The reason they are calling you direct is because they do not have a member in your area.Jim

Do they have access to the MercDuck ?

Have heard of them, but I can't recall ever getting an order, as I personally go over every incoming order and check it against the web.

Likewise, I am most likely the florist with the highest minimum in my city (we still have one that lists $15.00 del inc) and if an order comes in below my prices, and once its run thru the costing program if it does not pass its sent packing....

But still don;t remember these guys....

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

It's a "rip" Rhonda....

Florist Interlink has ZERO credibility, and is not worth considering as a vendor for order transfers!!
Seems to me, they pop up from time to time, when times are tough, and hope to "score" the unknowing florist into joining!
Mike

 

[Griff]

Rhonda- for the sake of discussion, Florist Interlink is a internet operation. This site may list some florist members, but most searches will not give you any florist, but florist interlink will gladly find a florist for the customer for a fee. Anyone who has joined operations like florist interlink are looking for incoming business and not for sending orders. It is for that reason that I think that the vast majority of florists are getting dumber and dumber, not smarter. No matter how much we talk about operations like this one, florists are still willing to get involved hoping for more business at any price. Much like buying a map to find the fountain of youth.

On the other hand, most independant florists who are sending orders to other florists are not asking for 20%. If they have charged a sending fee, that covers their cost and the receiving florist should get the full amount for product and delivery.

The floral business is very confusing these days. The receiving florist has no way of knowing where many of the incoming orders are coming from and how much the customer had to pay to send the order. It doesn't speak well of the consumer very much either.

 

[jbarb]

Actually Griff, that is not entirely correct. Florist Interlink has a full blown membership directory just like TF and FTD. They have a clearing house and members can send shop to shop through them. They charge a clearing house fee etc. The directory, just like TF and FTD comes out quarterly.

Jim

 

[Blue Oyster Cult]

Griff was talking about Independent Florists

Originally posted by jbarb
Actually Griff, that is not entirely correct. Florist Interlink has a full blown membership directory just like TF and FTD. They have a clearing house and members can send shop to shop through them. They charge a clearing house fee etc. The directory, just like TF and FTD comes out quarterly.

Jim

Like Griff said there is always someone who wants money to send your order out and some will say," but I make a commision of 20% on that outgoing order" but the kicker is you have to pay a membership fee to do this.

If your willing to pay a monthly fee to do this and be willing to take an incoming order for 60 cents on the dollar value and buy into other things to do this well Good for YOU!

Some will say "we control what we fill" but step back and look...your paying out money to CONTROL incoming so you can send out for a commision of 20% and a rebate check?.

This Math only works if your a SENDER like in OG or SFO. Sure hope your ratio is 70-1 so you can break even because that is what OUR MATH told us and I was kicked for telling it like it is.

 

[Griff]

Originally posted by jbarb
Actually Griff, that is not entirely correct. Florist Interlink has a full blown membership directory just like TF and FTD. They have a clearing house and members can send shop to shop through them. They charge a clearing house fee etc. The directory, just like TF and FTD comes out quarterly.

Jim

Jim, I don't have a doubt that Florist Interlink is still selling themselves as a wire service. However, I will also bet my weekly pay check <it will be very small this week> that almost all of the florists listed as members are there to receive orders not send. Afterall, you only need one WS to send and many florists still believe that you need many WS to receive.

The problem is that once a WS also sets up a consumer oriented directory, orders become very "foggy" as to where they came from. For example, if a sending florist on interlink can't find a receiving member listed in the correct zip code, interlink will find one. If a receiving florist receives a incoming phone order from interlink, that florist does not know whether that order came from another florist or the website.