SmartMoney.com on Florists: Almost... but not quite

For the last few years, SmartMoney.com has released an article offering advice to consumers in advance of the floral holidays like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. In 2006, Kelly B. Grant's Flower Power  gave great tips about saving money with local florists.  2005's article by Stacey L. Bradford, The Best Buck for the Bloom,  delved into getting the best flower values for Mom - again urging consumers to 'go local'.

The latest article about florists and flowers, 10 Things Your Florist Won't Tell You  by Rene DeFranco, presents a mixed bag of sound advice, poor examples, a few inaccuracies and some over-hyped bullet points that add more heat than light.

"Price gouging on Valentine's Day? You betcha!" *Sigh* Finding a florist in Manhattan selling roses for $125 is old, over-blown news that may shock Mid-West consumers but really misrepresents the prices of professionally arranged roses across the US. My recent discussions with florists suggest a base range for long-stems from $55 - $90, depending on the stem length, vase quality, foliages and accent flowers.  I wish the writer had read The Economics of the Rose Market to understand just how much florists hold the line on retail prices considering our steep rise in costs during the holiday period. Labeling prices as 'gouging' is hardly accurate or responsible.

In addition to the suggestions for flowers other than roses given by SAF's Jennifer Sparks, Valentines might also want to consider the excellent values of romantic arrangements with tulips, gerberas, orchids or lilies during the holiday period. Each blossom has its fans and the flowers can be purchased at modest to mid-range prices.

"The Internet makes it easy to order the crappiest, overpriced bouquets..." DeFranco makes some keen observations about avoiding the middleman companies that pose as local florists, charging more while delivering less. Since it's one of the smartest ways to save money and avoid Valentine's Day disappointment, this would have been a far more useful point #1 for consumers. 

What Are Your Dollars Paying For? The article incorrectly states "For example, while Teleflora's $12 fee includes service, delivery and wire-service charges".  As in the case with all national broker sites, including FTD and 1-800-Flowers, the $12 and up service/handling fees do not go for 'delivery' - i.e. the physical delivery of the arrangement. Those fees are retained by the brokering companies. For florist-delivered arrangements, an estimated local delivery charge is bundled in with the prices of the flowers presented on those sites.

And some order gatherers charge even higher fees for 'same-day service'. All those fees are avoidable by ordering direct from the florist who will hand-deliver your flowers.

As far as ordering a bouquet online goes, more than 15,000 local US florists have their own websites with their own prices and products, making shopping for a distant Valentine easy. Using the recommended Calyx & Corolla or Hallmark means your sweetheart gets to put his or her own arrangement together since both companies use shippers like FedEx to deliver their flowers - which arrive bunched in cardboard boxes.

The writer interviewed some top-notch floral experts including George Staby, Micheal Skaff (FTD's design director), and Amy Stewart so overall, the advice is sound. Let's just hope readers get past some of those incendiary sub-topic titles to take in the good stuff.

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