Sending flowers

[MatryoshkaMan]

Is it just me, or are the companies that deliver flowers to women in the FSU, dramtically overpriced? Here is an example:

http://www.flowers-to-russia.com/shop/bouquet175.html - up to $186 delivered!

I bet the actual flowers and arrangement are worth MAYBE $5-$10 US if you were to buy them on the street - with retail markup, acutal cost is almost nothing.

So I am paying $175US to deliver flowers to an apartment in a densely populated city (as opposed to middle of nowhere)? How does this compute? This is the equivalent to a half-months wages for many Russians!!

I want to send flowers to my lady (which you all would say is acceptable under the umbrella of the "10 Commandments") but really if I wanted to spend this amount on flowers which die in 5 days wouldn't it just be better to send cash and she can buy the SAME flowers and have $175 left over to go shopping with?

Where is the logic in these prices? Who would pay that outrageous amount for flowers in a 2nd world country? Am I missing something?

[kryten41]

I feel your pain brother!  As long as they are all charging outrageous prices, they can all continue to charge outrageous prices.  They know the only alternative is to fly over there and deliver the flowers yourself.  I agree that in theory it sounds like a better idea to send her the money and let her buy herself some flowers and go shopping with the rest, but in practice you run the risk of looking cheap or insulting her by offering to send her money.  If you've been to see her and you have a good relationship you might be able to discuss it, but I wouldn't even know how to begin that conversation, let alone manage it if it took a wrong turn.

If you find a cheaper source of flower delivery, please share it with the rest of us!

[ECOCKS]

You can try to not do it. I didn't and it worked for me, though I met mine the first time face-to-face (sans flowers) and explained it satisfactorily.

 

[Taz]

In country to have delivery of flowers, it is still expensive. I'd suggest saving the money and doing something for her in person. I've noticed that flowers are disproportionately expensive there.

On the Net places seem not too bad until you add in this fee, and that fee and another fee. For example flowers might be $55 for 7 roses. Not terrible but possibly acceptable. Then they had a 9.95 handling fee. Then 4.95 if your woman is in Kiev or some other bigger city. If not it goest to 14.95 if not so big. If around 300,000 people or less, then often the delivery fee is 29.95. Then you have to add sometimes a commission fee on top of it.

Top it all off, then they often send out crappy roses as the final insult. I long ago gave up on Internet ordering of flowers to the FSU. I'd rather flush my money down the loo than give it to some of those crooks! I am sure they are not all bad but I haven't found a good one yet. Typically a rose in country is anywhere from $1-$3 US so at $55 it is a total ripoff to begin with. Don't forget to send odd numbers of flowers too!

[MatryoshkaMan]

Note to self - Nix the flower delivery. Do not feed the flower mafia. Find another way to make my girl happy.

MAYBE I will get the contact of her best friend, send HER the money, then she can surprise my girl!! How does that sound???

[Andrew]

I also felt that the cost of the flowers was a rip off. I still do. But, sending the flowers scores a lot of points for you.
Whether you send 5, 7, 9, 11, or 101 roses it really doesn't matter. Its the thought, effort and gesture that counts.
I got my girl to take a pic of the flowers that were delivered and I was pleasantly surprised. They were a lot better than what I expected.
I'll try to post the pic of them, if it will work. IIRC it was 7 roses and I think they cost about $120 - $130. here's her reaction to receiving the flowers:
must tell u for first big thank you for the flowers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
at morning i was surprised , bc first thing was my ex , he come and cry at me and do me nervose.
after this  in the door ring again , i was think its he back and was not like to open , but they was ring alote i go and see what there is other guy , i ask him who is he , and he tell about flowers
so i get the flowers and feel very happy about it
thank you u make my day!!!!!!!!!! it was really nice surprise!!!!!!!!!!!

and the look on her face was even better when we had a video call later that day. so in my opinion, bite the bullet, send the flowers. After all, she just might be the one, so don't be ummmmmm greedy ........

[Phil dAmore]

Why are flowers to the FSU so expensive?  Well yes, greed on the part of the vendors is a factor, but maybe not as much as you might think.

Before those flowers get to the kiosk they have to pass through many hands.  Each of those hands has to be paid.  Then there is the cost of kiosk rental, wages for staff, transportation, telephone and other expenses like power. 

At the wholesale level flowers are quite cheap, even around the major flower giving holidays. However the sheer number of people who have to be paid (or paid off) before those flowers hit the street can be mind - boggling.

So yeah, $175.00 for a bouquet is pricey but it's not like any ONE person is really reaping the rewards... well, except for the bigwig that owns or runs the flower - distribution racket in a given area.

ProTip:  Always, ALWAYS get a photo of your girl receiving flowers.  From time to time a gal will ask the florist for the money instead of the flowers.

Now don't get me started on what it takes to put a fruit basket together.  There is a definite reason why those are so damn expensive.

[kryten41]

Phil, the big complaint is that the flowers are so expensive to have delivered in comparison to the price at the kiosk.  For $15 u.s.d. you can get a lot of nice flowers at a kiosk, but to have that same bunch of flowers delivered increases the price by a factor of 10.  Unless you are talking about the kiosk at the airport, which is still considerably cheaper than the price charged by international flower delivery services.

[Phil dAmore]

Most of the kiosks do not facilitate their own deliveries.  All they do is sell flowers.  All delivery services are provided by outside contractors and yes they get greedy.

When I did a delivery it was always a time consuming process.  From start to finish the average in-city delivery took about 3 hours.  Now, I did have to rely on public transportation so that added to the time but did reduce the cost of the delivery because public transit is cheaper than a private car.

Then there is the scheduling issue.  Some of these ladies are very busy and can't seem to find time to accept a delivery... unless there was money involved, that they always seemed readily available for.

One of the ways I kept my costs down was by only dealing in cash, no credit cards.  If you paid with a CC then those merchant costs will be passed on to you.

Even factoring in all of this there is still a lot of overcharging going on.  Why?  Because they can.  The first rule of  any business dealings with Russians is that they WILL attempt to extract as much cash from you as possible while you are in front of them (or involved with an online transaction) because they believe that they will never see you again.

Get as much as we can, while we can.  This is how Russians think and live.  There is no tomorrow for them, only now and THAT is why flowers to the FSU cost so much.

I assure you, the person making the actual delivery isn't getting much more than 500 rubles or so for a local delivery.