Just seen $12.95 website service fee on some tf florists websites...wondering?

[FANCIES]

I was looking around at some different websites this am and came across some florists that are charging $12.95 for a web fee. Some have an additonal delivery fee and some do not. I noticed this especially on TF websites. Is this something new that TF is doing as an option on their websites? I was wondering if any of you are aware of this or are any of you doing this? If you are how has this impacted your online web orders? One of the things that has been a big concern of mine is the credit card processing fees along wlith website fees that a person has to pay to someone along the way to keep their website up and running.

 

[lori042499]

On my TF hosted site every order charges differently based in zipcode just like my shop...

so when browsing my website, you see the arrangements with their price...if you add an arrangement to the cart, it will ask for the zipcode...orders within my delivery zips are charged for the arrangement, the appropriate delivery and tax...orders outside my delivery area are charged for the arrangement, a 9.99 local delivery fee(filling florist gets this), a 12.99 service fee(my money for calls, etc.) and tax...if the local florist has a lower delivery fee, they still get the full amount and can add it to the arrangement...in the shop I will collect just the proper amount for listed local delivery fee because I have more control.

I saw no difference in the amount of orders when changing to this format, but it did save me the trouble of calling any wireouts to try to collect more money after the sale or lose it out of my service charge when florists couldn't realistically deliver the arrangement that my website sold...it saved me a huge amount of headaches and a sing and a dance after the sale..

as a side note, I try to have all of my prices and sales styles mimic the shop experience. I know so many shops that in store will have different prices than online, or different policies or different service or delivery charges simply because they don't pay any attention to the online protion, I think this would affect the online business far greater than having the same charges as you would in store...

 

[lori042499]

I implemented a convenience fee on my site at one point putting my per order fees off on the customer, but it was badly percieved by many people and I nixed it in a few weeks....I actually had people call me up and complain about it...bad...very very bad...

 

[FANCIES]

Lori I know what you are talking about with the TF website because that is how I set mine up. This seems to be different. Take a look at fruitsandflowers.net. If you click on a picture to buy it gives you the option to CONTINUE , then it shows the web fee and the delivery fee. At that point it is not asking for the zip code. It was just something new I just seen this morning. I checked out a few other random sites and seen similar fees. Just curious.

 

[lori042499]

it is a wire fee...they have their site set that if you want to browse the prices what you see is wire out prices...so that noone is duped into thinking they can have a lower price if it is not local...if you put in a local zip it gives just a delivery fee, if you put a non-local it stays the same...

This company is assuming that the order will be a wire out if continue is hit...

My site defaults to demanding a zipcode if continue is selected...not sure which I like better...

 

[OB1]

So, this may sound stupid, but...
I charge 5.50 on each outgoing order as a "wire and service charge" fee. ( Plus I always add another 10-15$ for delivery)
It seems to me like I am way undercharging, based on your observations.
Your thoughts?
JP

 

[concord]

So, this may sound stupid, but...
I charge 5.50 on each outgoing order as a "wire and service charge" fee. ( Plus I always add another 10-15$ for delivery)
It seems to me like I am way undercharging, based on your observations.
Your thoughts?
JP

After seeing what others charged for a wire fee I went up to $10 and haven't had any complaints.

 

[lori042499]

I never ever have anyone complain....if they do question the charge I let them know that they are free to navigate the world wide web and find a florist themselves for free...I also let them know to be careful of online brokers who will charge them the same fee and just send to any florist who will fill their order without first qualifying them and I let them know that they may or may not help them if their order does not go as planned....I rarely ever have anyone ask though...I am not embarrassed by what I charge especially for the service before, after and during the sale...I think it is a bargain compared to the online guys who suck before and during the sale, after I have heard the give back money pretty good, but I really do think people would rather not have to get their money back, I really think they would rather get what they order the first time out..

 

[FANCIES]

I've only been charging $3.50 for a wire out fee and $10.50 for the delivery fee. It's hard for me to think about raising the wire out fee but I know I probably should. There is expense & sometimes ALOT of time involved in making certain orders & deliveries happen. So I need to rethink my wire out fee.

 

[theflowersmith]

We only charge $5.00 for wire-outs and after reading this thread, I'm rethinking my charge as well. Not sure I want to take it all the way to $9.95, though. It makes good business sense after reading my TF bill. Dove charges have been climbing.

 

[BBJ (Big Bad John)]

So, this may sound stupid, but...
I charge 5.50 on each outgoing order as a "wire and service charge" fee. ( Plus I always add another 10-15$ for delivery)
It seems to me like I am way undercharging, based on your observations.
Your thoughts?
JP

Joanne, since you don't have the Dove system your costs of phoning a order may be different than that of florists using Dove/Merc as there are fixed costs involved in having those systems.......but then there are also costs involved with looking up florists in the old cumbersome directories and phoning but they will very with the amount of orders you send.
By the way our sending fee is 6.95 and a 9.95 delivery charge which is passed on to the filling florist.