Vegas Wholesaler ? Brides a bit upset :)

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BOSS

BOSS

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Oct 31, 2002
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Had a Bride call today, the "Vegas" wholesaler she bought from online shorted her 90 Gerbs for her wedding this Friday...appearantly they are not going to fix the issue...she bought the balance from me....and even decided to pay us the labor to assemble the bqts...(our stems of course)...

When I asked her how much she paid online, she said around 2 bucks each, I told her I would have matched that price on the 300 she ordered...she was sad....

She mentioned that after reading alot online that she was under the impression that "most florists" would not give a discount based on quantity...

Couple questions...

First would you give a discount to beat the 2 dollars a stem on Gerbs, I would and mine are Canadian....

Next, who is the Vegas Wholesaler that runs www.onlinewholesaleflowers.com the whois data lists a street address at 5115 S Industrial RD #404, Las Vegas (Romano Enterprises is the tech contact)... is this a Vegas B&M Wholesaler like their site claims? They have some not so good words about Real Florists, and their site states they sell to ANYONE and No Re-sale license needed...
 
Mark,

We often sell in bulk to brides, others as well depending on their needs. We do not process most times, that ends up being cheaper for them most times. If they want to pay for processing, we're happy to.

I would be hard pressed to sell gerbs at 2.00/stem, much of the time we pay about 1.25 to 1.40 per stem for Canadian gerbs but would certainly sell them at a discount in bulk.

Erlene
 
Mark we sell to brides wholesale. I buy my gerbs for 40 cents each, and retail them for $2. I make brides who are buying wholesale pick up and process themselves.
 
BOSS said:
When I asked her how much she paid online, she said around 2 bucks each, I told her I would have matched that price on the 300 she ordered...she was sad....

She mentioned that after reading alot online that she was under the impression that "most florists" would not give a discount based on quantity...

Couple questions...

First would you give a discount to beat the 2 dollars a stem on Gerbs, I would and mine are Canadian....
Click to expand...

Discounting ehhh? I hope some of you can just imagine the response I could put together with Mark's question.....

Mark, this is one of these deals where you didn't have the sale to begin with, but you can get it now. You are probably in the drivers seat and probably could have got full price for the gerbs. She was demanding them and you could supply them. However, your goodwill may make her a future long term customer. I would shoot her a lower price sure as long as I didn'nt have to supply any labor.


Joe
 
Joe Mioux said:
Discounting ehhh? I hope some of you can just imagine the response I could put together with Mark's question.....

Joe
Click to expand...
OK...start another thread and lets discuss it...but I'll only participate if the WS debate can be left out of it ;) (growing tired of that topic)... Discounting in Bulk is different than....

As to the other part, about a "long term customer"...perhaps... I had called her back to inquire about "What color (colour for my Canadian friends) Pink she needed..." and just before closing last evening the Bride, and several members of her family came in to look at what I have available...her Mother and Father, and an Aunt (I think) all mentioned having never been in my biz...

IMHO...the $30-40.00 I'm giving up on the Gerbs is worth getting them in the building to look around....
 
I completely agree Mark. It's good to get them in the store. :)

V
 
We've brought flowers in, in this case we would help the bride in question. Help anyone in need during an emotional time and they remember forever.

Audra
 
Boss

Boss, while I agree with what you did to a certain degree, my concern is the underlying reasons with this customer. Think about this.

First, if the wholesaler in Vegas did ship the gerbs, you would have been out of the loop and would have never known about this sale.

Second, the buyer of these flowers chose to go around a normal florist in favor of saving money. This was not a florist customer in the first place.

Third, why discount your ability. You are supposed to be a professional. You have the knowledge and experience to both obtain the flowers needed and create the designs necessary. Why give away that to someone, who had the internet sales company done their job, would have bragged about how they cut the florist out of the sale.

How come a florist is happy to get the crumbs that are left over when these internet companies drop the ball? Oh, yes, maybe this person will become a customer in the future, but maybe they will develop the idea that they can continue to shop the internet and go around your florist shop, but you will be their backup plan at the last minute, just in case something goes wrong.
 
sFox, I agree.... this is a customer I would never have known about, but I look at it a bit differently.

I "would have" discounted solely based on quantity, no matter the scenario, no matter the customer, as I do for schools and churches any time stem count passess 100 of a type when I have no processing involved.

In this case, I did not have to discount anything, and did get the order for the Bridesmaids, Brides and all other "people flowers" thinking that I got full value for this work, plus the "Smith;s saved the day" talk at the reception, and the good will developed by helping out someone not in the know...

I'll admit, each cases is decided on a case by case basis, I have said no to some, and yes to others, I guess she just got me this time because she was desperate, and I would never want to see a wedding go down in flames....
 
There's no person more willing to share info than a Bride. Whether it's positive or negative info, those girls can and do talk. To each other on chat boards, to their family and anyone who will listen.

I would have jumped at the opportunity to make her situation better. While at the same time gently educating her on the positives of dealing with a florist on a personal level.

It takes a lot of work to acquire a new customer, this would be an easy one.
 
An excellent approach in my opinion... and far more beneficial all the way around.

V
 
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