Blooming rip-offs in
relay bouquet game
went in commission and $29 went to
the florist filling the order.
HOPPING on the internet is often
‘‘We don’t take orders from relay
the best way to find value but
florists anymore,’’ Mr Craven said.
when it comes to flowers, you’ll
Thomas Hegarty, managing director
get more bloom for your buck buying
of Perth-based company Ready
the old fashioned way — by ringing the
Flowers told Value Hunter that the
local florist direct.
company bought a product from a
A lot of online florists are actually
supplier and sold that product for a
relay florists and charge a substantial
higher price to cover expenses and
commission, sometimes up to 30 per
make a profit.
cent of your bill.
But Mr Hegarty denied the company
Value Hunter decided to play
took commissions.
shadow shopper and put it to the test,
‘‘We differentiate ourselves by taking
sending a deserving recipient, Julie
Russ, an ovarian cancer survivor, a few full responsibility for the orders that are
bunches of roses in honour of ovarian placed with us, which, in practical
terms, means that our customers have
cancer awareness month.
a relationship with us and not with our
The budget was around $100,
suppliers or wholesalers,’’ he said.
including delivery.
In a recent survey of customers, he
This was the week of Valentine’s
said, price was the third most important
Day, so roses were more expensive.
factor in people ordering through
First up, a local florist in Julie’s
suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Irina’s Ready Flowers.
Flowers (found
Good service
and convenience
the old fashioned
In a recent survey of our
were the two most
way in the
customers, price was the
important things.
telephone book)
third most important factor
charged $90 for a
Relay florists
good bunch of
in purchasing (flowers)
and internet florist
red roses and $10
are entitled to
delivery. A bunch of 19 long-stemmed charge a commission or a service fee,
roses thrilled Julie.
but none of the big ones let the
consumer know exactly what that is.
It’s a beautiful bunch, metre long
roses that are just gorgeous.
Value Hunter checked the small
print and terms and conditions on the
The next bunch, ordered online via
most popular sites and only one,
an internet florist, one of the first ones
to pop up on Google, delivered only six direct2florist, was upfront about the
red roses at a cost of $95, with $12.95 fees and charges.
Brisbane florist Geraldine Hore from
delivery on top, a total of $107.95.
Bouquet Boutique said that florists
That’s just six knee-high roses
compared to the other massive bunch often have to pay fees to be member of
big networks like Interflora and the
of 19 roses.
Still playing shadow shopper, Value Petals network.
‘‘It’s a case of you scratch my back,
Hunter called the Melbourne florist who
had been enlisted via Google to fill the I’ll scratch yours,’’ she said.
‘‘So, if someone walks in to my shop
order, a different company to the
and wants to send flowers to Sydney,
original internet company.
The florist admitted that 70 per cent I send it through the network I get
had been taken out in commission and 20 per cent of the order, the other
florist gets 60 per cent and the network
admitted the end price was high.
gets 20 per cent.’’
Gordon Craven is the father of a
But it also works for her if an out-offlorist in Cooroy on Queensland’s
state customer wants flowers delivered
Sunshine Coast and, after working in
ion Brisbane.
his daughters shop part-time, he
Melbourne florist Ian Sparkes, The
noticed what he calls a rip-off.
Fresh Flower Man from South Yarra,
When orders came through one of
the bigger relay florists, Ready Flowers, doesn’t deal with internet agencies.
‘‘If you spend $50, by the time it gets
the amateur sleuth checked what the
customers were actually paying, before to the florist, it’s only $30 worth of
flowers, so we don’t associate with
the order got to his daughter’s shop.
If a customer paid $50 and sent the them,’’ he said.
Place your orders direct, he said.
order through Ready Flowers, $21
By JANE HANSEN
S
Cost is
an extra
thorn on
roses
ACCORDING to rose grower
Harry Schreuders (pictured),
love is definitely in the air despite
tough economic times.
‘‘We’re looking at a record for
this Valentine’s Day,’’ the grower
for wholesaler Grandiflora said.
He has sold ‘‘hundreds of
thousands of roses’’ from his
Skye based property.
Consumers would have
noticed a significant retail
mark-up on roses this week.
At the wholesale markets 10
roses sold for $18 last week and
$35 this week.
Many florists in turn sold a
dozen roses for well over $100,
in some cases $150.
Mr Schreuders denied
opportunism and said the
wholesale markup ‘‘was nothing
like that’’ but he also declined to
give a figure.
‘‘Look, we sacrifice a
considerable amount of saleable
crop after Christmas so the
flowers can be ready for
Valentine’s day, so it’s not as if
we just put the price up because
we can,’’ he said.
It’s supply and demand,
he said.
Interestingly, all coloured
roses were popular this year.
‘‘It used to be just red roses,
but all roses are popular this
year,’’ Mr Schreuders said.
BEST BET: It is better value buying flowers direct from a florist
‘
’
ONCE you’ve opened a bottle of
champagne and you don’t have a
stopper simply put a silver knife or
spoon (lengthwise) into the bottle which
will keep it bubbly for hours. — Patricia
Ryder, Manly West, Qld
WHEN breastfeeding and using
disposable nursing pads, use only one
pad at a time. Putting it in the side that
is not feeding not only makes them last
longer but serves as a reminder for the
lights for children. Two batteries last a
long time, are cheap and will save on
your electricity bill. — Cathryn Whitelaw,
IF YOU wish to save on your power
Margaret River, WA
bill, clean your ceiling fan blades,
KEEP a thermos flask beside your
pedestal and desk fans blades and
safety cages. — Val Collard, Park Ridge, kettle. When making a cup of coffee/tea,
fill your cup and then put the boiling
Qld
water into the flask. You then have hot
USE battery operated Christmas
water for your next two 'cuppas' without
string lights instead of having lights on in
boiling your kettle. Alternatively, if
the house while viewing TV or as night
washing a few dishes, use the flask hot
next time you feed, from which side to
feed. — Karen Mason, Baldivis, WA
www.sundayterritorian.com.au
water. Saves putting on the hot tap,
using electricity and waiting for the hot
water to come through. — George Cook,
Woodlands, WA
RE-USe baking paper. After using
baking paper for making biscuits it is
ideal to use for cooking any oven-bake
food — oven fries, chicken nuggets and
other items. By doing this, your baking
paper will last at least twice as long. —
DONNA FERGUSON, Aspley, Qld
Sunday Territorian, Sunday, February 14, 2010 — 27
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