ws costs

lori042499

lori042499

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2006
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Melrose, Massachusetts, United States
www.affairstorememberflorist.com
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MA
I just added up my actual costs for the membership and fees, I am sure I was just as surprised last year when I did this as to how fast the little nickle and dime fees add up...



8393.49 this is before any product or books...that was another

2658.96

Qick figs mean, I only got 2600.00 of the full money I took in including my own website orders to pay my vehicle, any wages and put towards store overhead...for the year...whoa...glad I be silly no more!!!
 
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Cathy,

Yes that does involve pos and webhosting, but at least i will not be paying extra for aggravation and flowers for those companies..I actually paid TF to fill some orders, subsidized by my own customers money from my website...silly, silly...

Now I will be hoping my website performs as well as if not better than the old one and I will be very good...

So I guess my point is that I and my shop gained nothing by having TF services...I can get the same services elsewhere and pay similar base prices and do away with all of the nonsense...dealling with silly calls, little nickle and dime charges, book surprises, several fees going up at a whim, I guess it is possible that the companies that will be providing my services could have their own set of hassles and aggravation, but I can't imagine it is on the same scope as the crap the ws deal out...
 
lori042499 said:
Cathy,

Yes that does involve pos and webhosting, but at least i will not be paying extra for aggravation and flowers for those companies..I actually paid TF to fill some orders, subsidized by my own customers money from my website...silly, silly...

Now I will be hoping my website performs as well as if not better than the old one and I will be very good...

So I guess my point is that I and my shop gained nothing by having TF services...I can get the same services elsewhere and pay similar base prices and do away with all of the nonsense...dealling with silly calls, little nickle and dime charges, book surprises, several fees going up at a whim, I guess it is possible that the companies that will be providing my services could have their own set of hassles and aggravation, but I can't imagine it is on the same scope as the crap the ws deal out...
Click to expand...

Lori, I'm doing some research on the above issue. Would you mine sharing the cost after taking out what Cathy suggested POS, Internet & cost of internet order (going forward that goes away) and then any other costs that will remain. Would you mine sharing the total number of orders recieved/delivered so I can see what you "customer aquisition costs" we're for that segment of your business.
 
Wow, Rick...
I think we might share a brain cell or two..I just logged on to post this info

The money I will not have to spend next year due to membership, fees(per order and late), ads, marketing, SAF membership, dues, and dove tranfer software use is 5548.00..I will also not spend the 2658.96 in product... the savings is 106.00 a week just for the rgular savings, I am assuming I will spend money on other product to use in my shop but even there I should get way more product for my money or have a savings...
 
I agree Mikey..

It looks so daunting a task when you have 12 statements sitting in front of you and it is easy and tempting to say the hell with it...but really in bulk cahrges you can really see how those small charges every month add up and spend through the year and when you see how much it costs you for the extras to the tune of 100 a week and you haven't been paying yourself...you kind of say WTF?? Why the heck am I doing this?? Why do I need to pay someone else 400 a month when 400 dollars a month can help me, my shop or my family??? All of a sudden it becomes personal and obvious...
 
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Thanks !!

On the $5548 number, how many del. did you do for that amount of costs. I think i know the number, $26 - $30 dollars. I'm trying to determine the cost of each customer that the fees cost you.
 
271 total

135 florist to florist
29 national marketing orders
107 website orders


On website 80% of the people finding me are looking for flowers, florists melrose, ma another 7% actually are looking for my name and the rest is a mixed bag of transfers not sure if that palys a role in what you are doing...also a good number of those f2f orders are relationships that I myself developed over the years..they are direct orders from industry friends..
 
You are doing the right thing Lori. In the UK the VAT has just risen again to 20% and I know eFlorist (formally Teleflorist) is putting up prices to customer - they are putting up the relay charges not particually other prices and guess what - they are the ones that get that extra money not the florist . Enough said.
 
lori042499 said:
271 total

135 florist to florist
29 national marketing orders
107 website orders
Click to expand...
IMO the waters get muddied when website orders are added to the WS costs. Why? They were a function of your own site and you could have been using a different hosting company with different fees all along.

To get a clearer picture of just the WS costs, also be sure to add commissions and rebates earned on outgoing orders. They will offset some of the WS costs and will let you see the overall cash cost/profit of the service.

I also noticed you included SAF dues in your TF cost. Again, this is not a WS expense. Those are professional association dues that TF collected and remitted to SAF on your behalf. I do hope you continue to be a member of SAF and mail dues directly to them. :)
 
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Thanks Lori

I took out 25% for direct relationship and others not associated with, I then divided and your numbers fell right in line with all the others. There's about 6 of us who track this type of stuff. So each customer cost you about $27 dollars to come into your doors.......

What I'm tracking now is something CHR posted a few weeks ago (my accountant) went ape......on the handling cost not associated with the order. We've determined it ads another 1% to the cost, so our real number now is .34 on the dollar for the order. The time to answer HQ, reject orders, forwards, talking to people who don't understand me, etc. We had never added a number for that. That 1% translates over into real money and your fees also do.
 
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bootcampguy said:
Thanks Lori

I took out 25% for direct relationship and others not associated with, I then divided and your numbers fell right in line with all the others. There's about 6 of us who track this type of stuff. So each customer cost you about $27 dollars to come into your doors.......

What I'm tracking now is something CHR posted a few weeks ago (my accountant) went ape......on the handling cost not associated with the order. We've determined it ads another 1% to the cost, so our real number now is .34 on the dollar for the order. The time to answer HQ, reject orders, forwards, talking to people who don't understand me, etc. We had never added a number for that. That 1% translates over into real money and your fees also do.
Click to expand...
I'd be interested to see your calcs.
 
CHR, that was the reason why I separated out the web orders..they aren't TF's orders at all, they are mine...They should help fund TF's enterprise they shouldn't even be figured into their figures, but anywho...

I am on the fence about SAF...I probably will start up with them direct, they do do a whole lot for the industry as a whole...They are always asking me personally for quotes and stuff and the low amount of cost per year is definately worth it..
 
I am reviewing my years worth of statements, (Teleflora & Ftd), It sounds like I have done all the everything you did. But I am wondering if dropping FTD is going to help my shop, There is only 1 other florist in my town that has the wire services and I am scared that I am going to miss out and my sales are going to drop. I please need help or suggestions on how to find the courage to stop being taken advantage of by the wire services. HELP!
 
You will have less orders to fill no question about that. The point for me was, do I want to be busy, or do I want to be more profitable? Since I became free of all wire business I seldom have to pay overtime, I never have to turn away orders on a holiday, I have so much less stress, and I'm making a slightly better profit. I feel like I'm working smarter, not harder. Maybe bigger shops need the busy work to keep employees, but I'm really loving the independence. It's not an easy decision, and you need to get an indie web site, POS, etc. lined up before you cut ties with them. If you belong to FTD and TF at least drop one and save yourself a bundle of money. Then you can think about whether you need the other one.
 
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