Signing up with FTD

[sandytf]

I agree with what everyone else has said. There are lots of fees they're not telling you about that are going to show up on a statement besides the monthly membership. BELIEVE ME! I also concur with Boss....any services they offer you can get elsewhere for a much better price.

 

[anytimeflowers]

Before you yoke your business with another business, be sure to take the time and get to know that company very well first. If the best looking guy you ever saw stopped by your shop and told you he was completely in love with you, that he was a millionare, he would make your wildest dreams come true, take you to the most exotic places in the world, would never cheat on you, would never make you angry or upset, would do all the housework, and build you a dream home complete with a staff, however, you would have to mary him that day (and, by the way, doesn't believe in divorce), would you do it? Probably not. If you wouldn't give your hand to a stranger, don't give your shops hand to a stranger either.

Well put Pat! That has to be one of the best analogies I've ever seen.

 

[BOSS]

Print mine out if you wish... leave my name on it too... they are pretty familiar with my mantra... no reason to hide...

 

[kt4ye]

Most of that sounds like an Arab trying to get a green-card marriage.....except for divorce point....interesting conclusion and it is so true, we tend to spend more time at our shops than
at home with our partners....

 

[Eric S]

Well it really depends on how many orders you will be sending and how many orders you will be reciving.

We left FTD at the end of 2005 and have been very happy with how the business has continuedd to grow.

This year we took their offer to give it a try again. Started out looking strong with February March April we were making money with the amount of orders I was sending and the orders they were sending to us.

But then May the bottom hit. No incoming orders for Mothers Day and I didn't have any going out. June the fees went up and I had no choice but to give them notice shortly after. They came back after I gave notice and offered some more deals and we agreed. But still nothing in incoming orders and our outgoing orders continued to decline. I gave notice in October.

Bottom line. Our net profit using the FTD service for the past 9 months was $290.76.

I really believe the Wire Service days are numbered.

 

[BOSS]

Your story sounds all too familiar Eric...

 

[pfmflowermarket]

Well guys, the FTD rep called yesterday afternoon to see if I had gotten a chance to check out FTDI.com and make a decision about joining. She started the conversation like we were the best of friends. I told her that I had taken her advice and contacted some florists to get their opinion on FTD and their services. I wish she had stopped in instead to show her your responses.

I said that what I found out wasn't good. I didn't cover everything as I wanted to make the phone conversation short and sweet as I had other stuff going on. I told her that I was told by FTD florists and non FTD florists to stay far far away from the wire services especially FTD. I mentioned Hidden Fees and Drop Shipping to her. She made this remark to me on the phone about hidden fees, like she was trying to play dumb that she had never heard that before. She said that she had been very upfront and honest with us about the cost. She said $50 a month for a year and $12 per zip code. She said regular $149. She said the book costs more. Her response about the drop shipping is that FTD has to do that with customers in my area because there is no one to fill the orders in my area and florists keep dropping FTD all over the place. Ok, why would hearing that make me want to join? She said to think about how many flowers we throw away on a daily and weekly basis and how we have to be here at the flower shop with the lights on yadda yadda yadda and that these flowers would be getting paid for now because they could go into the FTD arrangements and wouldn't need to be thrown away before they go bad. I'm not saying that very well but I hope you get the gist of what she said to me. She said that granted we wouldn't be getting 100% of the order because of the clearinghouse yadda yadda yadda we would be making a 73% profit. She again asked me what types of florists I talked to. I just told her some FTD some not. She said that we would probably be getting more orders than the florists I talked to. The words she used was "I'm guessing that you would be getting more orders than the florists you talked to, I'm guessing." She kept dangling this idea that she knew how many orders Price Chopper was filing and that there was so much money in orders coming to this area that it would be such a great opportunity for us. I told her that the florists I spoke with said that the money making was on the sending side not the filling side. She kind of acted like I was stupid for saying that, saying that "well anyone could figure that out it's simple. You make 20% for doing nothing" Then she repeated the 73% thing again. I told her it was a no at this time. She said she wasn't going to push or pressure us, but pretty much said we were making a mistake but ultimately it was our decision. Said thank you and hung up.

 

[steve]

You made the right decision. They like the other wire services have lost still more florist since the last book which means they are going to have even more delivery issues this holiday season than last. But unless they make changes in the cost associated with filling their orders they are not going to reverse the trend of florist dropping out of wire services.

 

[Flowermomma]

You made the right decision..

Love her remark about think of all the flowers you throw out those will be paid for.. umm I don't throw out much at all and If you are getting a wire order its for things you then have to order in special (in some cases) and that might be what is being throw out!


It will be interesting to see how many shops are in the wire services in a year or 2. OR even how many wire services there are.

 

[BOSS]

While no wire service can guarantee (it's up to the consumer) any amount of orders into a specific area, the wires do track past orders and can guess.

BUT, like florists, the wires are losing volume too. Many consumers have figured out how to go direct, and that trend will continue and increase...

The wires are desperate for membership volume, they make a lot of money on the monthly TAXES and add-on fees... the fewer florists there are, the less they make.

 

[sandytf]

I like the comment about 20% to do nothing. Hmmm....if that's they case why do they take 20% as well as the 7% clearinghouse fee on the orders they send? What a joke. I would so hate to be an FTD rep. Almost as bad as being a telemarketer. They must have very thick skins.

 

[Flowerchatter03]

"....we would be making a 73% profit..."

How does she figure that? Let's say you get an order for 2 dozen roses for $100 including delivery...In simple math, you are left with $73 dollars including delivery. Take $10 off that for delivery and you are at $63. If the roses cost you $1 each, you are now at $39. Subtract your vase, greens, filler, ribbon, pick, tag, labor. Where is the profit???

 

[jamie]

"....we would be making a 73% profit..."

How does she figure that? Let's say you get an order for 2 dozen roses for $100 including delivery...In simple math, you are left with $73 dollars including delivery. Take $10 off that for delivery and you are at $63. If the roses cost you $1 each, you are now at $39. Subtract your vase, greens, filler, ribbon, pick, tag, labor. Where is the profit???

you haven't subtracted the membership fees, mercury fees, quality control fees, directory advertising, directory fees or any of the other fees that I can't remember.

 

[DesignedToOrder]

FYI, we were a Telefloa shop fora few years. Then started to really look at the bottom line. After several months tracking costs, charges income and expenses it was actually costing us all our labor time to fill and send orders. Our net was 0 with any money going to the wire service. After figuring out we were just sending all our profit to TF we dropped them. But the still forced us to be a member until the end of their "book" suscription.
Then FTD cam in with heir "frre" offer. for 6 mon=ths but the contract required a membershiip and fees starting in month 3 them we would be locked in for a year. total rip off. when I called them on it they stopped con=ming araound. Run from wire services.
We refuse every order.

 

[Nicole's Greenhouse & Florist]

I know I'm a week late getting to this thread but I had to! Everything said here is true, true, true! Maybe if more people cut their ties with the wire services then they will have to stop offering so much to order senders and actually offer the money to the order fillers! Or perhaps they'll just close down (what a dream!) and let the real florist do the job!

 

[clarkflo]

We have left FTD & Teleflora in the last few months. The thing that I feel the worst about is that we stayed in as long as we did. They continually come up with new fees, & pretty soon their cut of your business keeps getting bigger. Independent is the best. The one value that the wire services does have is that they do educational programs & webinars that are helpful. We did appreciate that, but we could no longer afford to continue with the loss of profitability.

 

[pfmflowermarket]

A friend of mine who has a flower shop about an hour south of us had this same lady approach her shop. Gave her the same song and dance but offered membership to her at $39. She is already Teleflora & Bloomnet. I told her not to do it for the above mentioned reasons. I wonder why she would say $50 for us and $39 for her. Maybe she thought we were buying her BS and could get more money out of us.