Price Transparency: Flowers

June 4, 2012

preston bailey low floral centerpiece pricing

Pricing is always a challenge. I truly believe that the reason our clients sometimes resist paying our prices is because they simply do not understand what things actually cost. We’re partly to blame for this, because we resist complete transparency with both our clients and with other vendors, fearing they’ll outbid us.

I’d like to spend a few blog posts this week discussing transparency. I’ll share what things truly cost in several different industries in our business. Today, I’ll start with the cost of flowers. (Later in the week, I’ll move on to planning, music, lighting, and food.)

Here’s a test for all my florist readers: If you were pricing a low centerpiece that included a glass vase filled with roses and hydrangeas and placed on a cymbidium orchid pedestal, how much would you charge?

A) $350
B) $550
C) $700
D) None of the above

Please share your answer in the comments below! In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll explain exactly what I charged for this centerpiece and why.

Be Sociable, Share!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Main
  • http://www.fiorire.ca Rosalba (Fiorire)

    I count approx 50 roses, 20 green hydrangea, dusty miller & 80 standard cymbids (or are those mini?) That centrepiece would be approx $700 I’m in Vancouver, Canada so not sure what our wholesale costs compare to those in the US and Easter Canada

  • http://www.sprout-flowers.cm Sprout

    D.

  • http://flourishflorals.com Pam

    I say none of the above. I feel the price would be $800 or more, based on a 3x mark up on flowers and 25 % labour. That pricing is actually a little low for many shops and event florists in my area.

    Stunning piece, as always!

  • http://www.NaturalElementsByPS.com Patricia Simitakos The Eco Conscious Planner

    C) $700. It looks like you are using high quality blooms, no filler. Too often clients forget about quality, labor, and of course transportation.

  • Michelle

    I would have to say D none of the above. It’s hard to judge how many of each bloom is in the photo, but my estimate would be closer to $850 for the centerpiece, including the glass vase.

  • http://www.bloomsberryfloral.com Lisa @ Bloomsberry Floral

    I say it’s none of the above. i would have to charge in the upwards of 900.00 for that. Here in Portland, Or we just don’t see that kind of clientele. Beautiful though.

  • http://houstonflowergirls.com Mary Ann Webb

    In Houston, Texas the pictured arrangement would run $550. That would include delivering and setting it up. BUT it would not include the glass vase.

  • http://luciamilan.com lumilan@uol.com.br

    Here in Brazil I would have to charge $700.00 each. But my clients usually pay $ 250 to $300 in an average centerpiece for a regular party here…

  • http://verdeflowers.comYOURWEBSITE michael

    i would probably charge 550 the cymbidiums look like minis and ill probably get them back and hopefully they’ll 20 of them

  • http://YOURWEBSITE FETE

    Definitely D. Don’t forget the prop to make the stand, the glass and the designer dish to hold the arrangement. This would be a 950.00 + arrangement.

    I had a bride just this past weekend that ended up booking a cheaper florist and my decor colleagues told me they were awful in terms of design. She ended up in tears. You truly get what you pay for because in the end, something has got to give.

  • http://YOURWEBSITEwww.florallab.com carrie chang

    this i would say more than 1500, but not more than 2500. it’s lots of blooms and design wise very unique.

  • http://YOURWEBSITE david vasquez

    HI PRESTON MY CLIENTS USUALLY PAY FOR THIS CENTERPIECE IN COLOMBIA $200 US! HERE THE FLOWERS NO IS SPENCER

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Camilla McFee Lyle

    $550

  • http://www.jerifloraldesign.com Jeri

    D. None of the above. I’m guessing there’s about $200 wholesale product in the centerpiece. Not including cost to rent/buy the vase. If someone brought this photo into my studio I’d tell them $850.00

  • http://zudunseventflowers.com Zsuzsana Dunn

    Gotta go with “D” none of the above…thinking around the $800 mark

  • http://www.avdesignandevents.com Ana

    700

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Gloria

    Just want to drop a note saying that you could do a very similar blog post on the cost of catering. I’m in the process of developing new catering packages for two large hospitality organizations that I work for including some for niche marketing collateral for weddings. Just the other day, I was approached by my company’s CEO. He urged me to push us to move into the wedding business and continued on to tell me how he felt he was being “ripped off” by a “Hotel X” where his daughter’s wedding would be occurring shortly.

    Hotel X is excellent at what they do. In fact, I would say that in many respects they would be a model for our own new catering initiatives. I told him that I thought that I felt we needed to be strategic for our local market, but that Hotel X is worth what they charge. To my horror, a colleague working on the project agreed with HIM.

    I tell this story to point out that the CEO of a corporation that earns hundreds of millions annually and a senior manager in catering, who both must be considered sophisticated persons, don’t really understand how catering pricing works. And if THEY don’t get it and stand behind their own product, how can we expect the general public to understand and value this work properly? How many of us have sat and listened when a client or their family inform us of how they could get a cheese tray from a grocery store for so much less and then pooh pooh the labor and skill involved in producing a professional result.

    As professionals in the event world we really need to step up our game in explaining to clients about the quality of our raw materials and stand behind the value the labor and artistry our teams and we need to do this TOGETHER. Something great can be made at every price point but so often the operation can be crushed by its own internal apologists that in turn threaten all of us with under-performing revenues.

    Thanks for letting me vent!

  • http://www.weddedluxe.com Deniesha Joseph

    From the first look, I would say C. There are at least 3 dozen roses and 20 stems of hydrangeas in the centerpiece. There are at least 50 orchids on the bottom stand. The top stand by alone would be priced at $300.00. This is a tough one. Can’t wait to hear the answer.

  • http://www.fleurs-evets.comWEBSITE Amparo Abeyta

    the price of that table top needs to be 700.00 or above just in wholesale material you have over 200.00 not including the vase labor and hardgoods

  • http://www.thymeforcelebration.com larissa

    $700 here in Los Angeles, just for the one centerpiece. If they ordered 10 or more, I might be able to charge less, like $625-650 because I can get a price break on cases of flowers. This would only include set up if they bought other services as well, otherwise that would be an additional charge.

  • http://www.flaireweddings.com Cassandra

    D, none of the above. I charge my brides a design fee and then offer them the flowers at wholesale cost. They can google the cost of the flowers (Transparency at it’s finest) so this way they know my fee upfront and accept it.

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Jennifer

    D – I would charge at least $1000. It should not matter the cost of flowers. You are selling your art. How much are you willing to pay for that delicious steak dinner from Prime? Oh yea the steak itself only cost the chef $4.00, but he turns it into something magical and you pay $150.00. Sure I could go to somewhere else and get a steak for 1/4 the cost of this…but it does not compare. Same here 1-800flowers vs Preston Baily….in the end the flowers cost the same, but is it worth it. That is what you are selling!!!!! Oh yea and by the way Preston I think you are priceless: )

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Sandy

    I’m not a florist. But my guess is D. If I were planning on this as a centerpiece for my event, I’d budget about 900 or 1000 dollars each. That is a lot of flowers!

  • http://carolynshepard.com Carolyn

    I would say D. none of the above. I would charge a minimum of $950.00.

    On another note, I’m dying to hear what PB has to say about underbidding, and only charging a design fee/giving the flowers to the client at wholesale prices. It’s impossible to compete with those who do not follow any sort of industry standards.

  • http://Blossomsfloralartistry.com Shannon Palmer

    I would say B. $550 for you level of design expertise. I probably wouldnt even charge $350, none of my clients would pay that.

  • http://www.flowersbysnapdragon.com Snapdragon Studio

    I’m in Vancouver, WA and I would say “D” as well. At today’s prices, I’ve calculated about $800 for that baby!

  • http://www.petalsstemsandleaves.com Nicole

    My estimate would be at least $900 including the glass. Beautiful as always Preston!

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Debra

    I would go with D, I am in Toronto and I am sure it would be at least $750- $800

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Mel

    I’m sure you COULD do this for 700, or more! But that doesn’t mean it HAS to be 700 and it doesn’t mean it’s not still absolutely crazy.
    If it is 700, find a way to make it 350.

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Jolie

    I’m not a florist so I have no clue how much flowers cost wholesale. I’m thinking it’s def worth C) $700 and you could get that in a good economy. But I’m thinking the current market will only bear $350 for it? Maybe add and extra $100 for orchids and $50 for set-up delivery? I have no clue. I’m in Los Angeles where talent abounds and work is scarce. I’m sure you could get more in smaller markets with less competition.

  • http://YOURWEBSITE YOUR NAME

    Coming up with $300.00 wholesale x 3 = $900.00 ! Could only dream of such a client. Here in the suburbs down in Australia that’s nearly the whole wedding floral budget… Thanks Preston for sharing and streaching my floral mind!

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Maria Lebron

    I say D none of the above.
    I’ll charge $ 1,200.00 to $ 1,500.00

  • http://floweralliestyle.com Allie

    I am also coming up with 300.00 COG. What I would charge would be based on a lot of factors-how many, time of year, etc. But I would go with 600.00 to 900.00. I probably wouldn’t do my normal mark up on the bed of orchids because I always seem to have people trying to talk me down and the bed of orchids, about 70 full sized cyms would go for close to 500.00 if it was priced correctly. On the other hand it can be made by a 10.00 an hour assistant….is this a trick question????

  • http://www.flowersbysnapdragon.com Snapdragon Studio

    Really people? You’d “try” to do it for $350? How on earth…. It’s close to that at COST. I’d love to know how you would make any money doing that. Do you really work for $4.50 an hour? Sure, it only takes 40 minutes to design the arrangement, but what about the hours to process the flowers and prep them for designing? Seriously.

    Of course most of us don’t have customers who will spend $800 on a centerpiece. If you want to do a $350 option, you could swing it by replacing half the roses in the top with carnations and replacing the orchids at the bottom with spiders and poms. But please for the love of all that is holy, don’t tell me you would that centerpiece for $350.

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Chris Burson

    If I used silk orchids for pedestal that I will get back 550.00 without delivery. If I used real orchids 700.00. However you are fortunate to have clients with these types of budgets.

  • http://www.chicagolightingdesign.com Len Woelfel

    I don’t know floral prices, but that looks expensive. I’m guessing a minimum of $700, and maybe more. What the average florist would actually CHARGE for that is probably less, because they don’t fully value their time and/or they’re trying to get every job that comes their way.

  • http://carolynshepard.com Carolyn

    @Snapdragonstudio ***APPLAUSE!!!!!***

  • http://www.delsoltravel.ca Muriel MacRae

    $550

  • http://Www.marcecooksplace.com Ricardo Rivera

    Dear Preston, I agree with Jennefer, first of all you are an artist and this center piece has a design cost plus the cost of the flowers, labor, transportation, set up, and everything that involves the production of the center piece plus the profit you have to make to produce it. D) none of the above.

  • http://www.blushbespokeflowers.co.uk Sharon Crampton @BlushFlowers

    Carolyn and Snapdragon – I totally agree with what you have both said. I am in the UK but am saying ‘D’ – more than the above.

  • Pingback: Price Transparency: Flowers Part II | Preston Bailey's Blog, Event and Wedding Designer

  • http://www.mg-etalages.be Michael Grieve

    As a window dresser living and working in Belgium i can only hope that one day my clients would be prepared to pay such prices ;-)
    I think it would be difficult to ask more than 400 euro in this country.
    People would compare the price of this piece with the price in the flowershop and would not pay more than that.

  • http://Joshandcompany.com Josh

    I would charge around $450
    Product should cost approximately $190 bases on whatever I can see in the picture.

  • http://www.viviancolls.com Vivian Colls

    Pricing is always a challenge… pricing on floral design depends “most of the times” not only on the cost of flowers but the area, design, vase, quality, labor, etc.

    I will say $550.00 for the centerpiece including the rental price on the vase…i’m a floral designer and business owner in Miami Area and sometime we do get down the prices for our customers…. Sometimes we quote the overall look and decor of events or weddings depending on the quantity on centerpices,etc…I’m very interesting in PB response…!
    :-)

  • http://YOURWEBSITE Marie

    I would price it at $1100.

  • http://www.flowersbyiran.com iran

    my answer D. I’ll charge at least $950.00 A wedding is not a need, is a want, if you want, you must willing to pay the price.

  • http://courtenaylambert.com Courtenay Lambert

    Just doing some quick math, and guessing that the picture includes about 35 roses, maybe 30 Hydrangea, and maybe 12 – 14 sprays of green Cyms, and vase rental – I would put it at NONE OF THE ABOVE. I think it would probably be somewhere around $1500, and that’s without tax and delivery.

  • http://www.lovetheblooms.com susan

    I would charge $350

  • Pingback: Charging A Design Fee and Flowers At Wholesale | Preston Bailey's Blog, Event and Wedding Designer

  • http://www.creativeweddings.ca Cathy MacRae

    I think the price should be about $600 or $650!

  • http://Blogs.albawaba.com/julieti51/112453/2013/04/16/637281-movers-common-reasons-to-find-hiring-a. Houston TX movers

    I am sure this paragraph has touched all the internet
    visitors, its really really pleasant paragraph on building up new blog.