wire transfer fee

[flowerknife+us]

We charge 3.95 service fee and 6.95 for our local delivery fee. We always charged the same for outgoing and rarely ran into a problem with that until a few years ago when gas started to rise. Wire orders and deliver charges started to become a hassle. This is what we started doing...We started doing a search on the Dove while the customer was placing the order to get a general idea what florist were starting to charge now for delivery. we can see right away what the minimums are and what they list for delivery. We always charge them at least what we charge even if they say they deliver to the hospital for free. If it is more than what we charge, we tell them it is more and charge them accordingly. We have gotten so there is so many cities that we no longer have to look up, for example I know that when I send to Caruso, my favorite florist in Washington DC the Del Charge is 10.95 so I automatically charge my customer that amount. I know this sound like a pain but it really only takes an extra minute to do and saves a lot of hassles and disappointment in the end for the customer and ourselves. We have had no request for additional funds for out wire outs and I sent out at least 300.

Knifes Wife

 

[Doug Hatcher]

we charge

we charge 9.95 for north america and 24.95 for retrans.

 

[PhillyPhlorist]

Good Topic Mickey...

we started charging an $8.00 Relay Charge about 15 years ago - when we went fully automated OE/POS... It was my Father's logic that the $8 collected goes towards paying for the system and w/s fees. We still have th $8 but am REALLY thinking of dropping it. Lost revanue - yes, but gain in customer sales? Good marketing tactic???? Don't know....

We ALWAYS pass on a MIN of $6.00 for delivery, and give more if asked. In some cases (cash sales, etc.) the extra $ for delivery comes from the relay fee we collect. But, this is rare. Ever since delivery charges have been listed in the directory, it has made it MUCH easier to charge the customer the right amount for delivery at the time of the sale. In the "big" cities, we usually pass on a 8 or 10 delivery.

We charge on the average $7.95 for delivery. Many are at 8.95. Rural delivery is 10-15.

ABOUT MARK'S POST on wire IN fees. This I think is against w/s rules.... could be wrong. I have run into this while training shops, and it seemed to have started when the FTO transmission started with FTD. Anyway you look at it, it is petty at best. Come on, taking a stinkin' dollar off an order??? Makes no sense to me. Heck, if I did that I would have raked in about $300 from FTD orders in the month of Dec. alone! But, it's not right.

- H.

 

[FlowerMike]

some shops do, some shops don't...charge a wire service transfer fee!!
For some years now, we dropped charging for handling wire out fees, and with the amount of work that 'sometimes" occurs in re-handling and re-sending, and sourcing filling shops for direct orders, we implemented a nominal $2.99 handling fee starting this Christmas!!
This is what caught me completely off guard!!
When we offered the service for "free", nobody seemed to notice, and very few positive comments accompanied our wire outs!!
Soon as we started charging a 'nominal" sending fee of $2.99, we were consistently getting rave reviews about how "inexpensive it was to send orders through our shop, and our wire outs have just "exploded" whether direct wire outs, or ws handled!!
So, my question IS.....what do you all charge???

customers are confused and are comparing your $2.99 with the OG's like TF's $11.99 service fee
We get the same comments when we state $9.99 for all local deliveries. The most frequent comment is OH! that's not bad.

 

[mvflowergirl]

Wow! I guess I'm not seeing how you consider this order skimming. If someone places an order for $50, we send the shop $50 PLUS their delivery fee. This gives us approximately $2.50 to $5.50 for handling the order or "wire service fee". This seems completely in line with what everyone else has posted (everything from $2.99 to $9.95).

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

ABOUT MARK'S POST on wire IN fees. This I think is against w/s rules.... could be wrong. I have run into this while training shops, and it seemed to have started when the FTO transmission started with FTD. Anyway you look at it, it is petty at best. Come on, taking a stinkin' dollar off an order??? Makes no sense to me. Heck, if I did that I would have raked in about $300 from FTD orders in the month of Dec. alone! But, it's not right.

- H.

RULES....what rules??....an oxymoron if ever there was one!!

 

[bluebonnet]

answers for Pam & Joe

Yes, we charge local customers the same fee. ($15.00)
In 03 -11/04 we had charged ($10.00) but when gas went up in 12/04 that is when I had to go up to $15.
Our area we cover is half rural & half suburbia, you have to understand I deal with a large area (Katy, Cypress and some zips in west Houston) in these areas are A.J. Foyt, Clint Walker, the Rocket players, the Texans players, alot of the CEO's of the major oil companies like Exxon/Mobil , BP, shell, the list goes on, these people along of the rest of the suburbs population pay the $15 and never bat an eye! They have me running from Cypress to Katy from Katy to Cypress. And yes we do have some neighborhoods in the blue collar and they too never bat or bulk at my delivery fee or mini um. This area I am in is very customer service oriented, what they want they get, if want something delivered at 6 or 7pm it's done, even at 9pm! The office deliveries are by 2pm guaranteed....or the delivery is free. Most of my orders run $150 a pop, so I do whatever it takes for them to be happy. Because I have the best driver in the state of Texas I have never had to give back a delivery free.
But back to the delivery/wire fee, you should only charge what is affordable in your area not what everyone else charges. You, and I can not stress enough... RESEARCH! your area. example: west side Houston very luxurious, customer service oriented, considers flowers a necessity , my bud florist across Houston on the east side..her area considers flowers as a luxury. she can't charge more then $8 for her delivery/wire out with her walk-in clientele, the cost of living and income level is very low, if she says on the phone it's $10 delivery they tell her that's outrages and hang up or walk out, but if she says $8 they say that's a little high but I guess I'll go ahead and get it delivered.
I guess I am the only one on flower chat that owes up to me charging $15, but trust me .... when I have called Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami or New York for some wire outs I have even called Washington DC , and I get the reply their delivery fee is $15, so really I do not think I am the highest florist in the country here charging for delivery. LOL trust me they are out there just won't fess up to it charging that much on flower chat!
Good Luck in choosing the right fee for your area,
Cyndi

 

[Eric S]

Your post was fine I think it was just read wrong.

 

[Connie]

Wow! I guess I'm not seeing how you consider this order skimming. If someone places an order for $50, we send the shop $50 PLUS their delivery fee. This gives us approximately $2.50 to $5.50 for handling the order or "wire service fee". This seems completely in line with what everyone else has posted (everything from $2.99 to $9.95).

If this is skimming, then I "skim" off the our relay fee ($5) in order to give the filling florist additional delivery that may be needed to complete the order. And I suppose that we actually charge a $15 fee, as some here would determine it, because we charge, usually, a $10 delivery fee. The filling florist is given the delivery fee and the arrangement price as a total. If the delivery fee is not that high, extra flowers can be added. We tell the customer that the arrangement is $$$, the delivery $10, and our fee to send it is $5.

A wire-in fee?? We don't do that, and I cannot imagine that we ever would. That would be skimming to me.

My .02 worth.