Funeral Home Websites, what next....

bigvic

bigvic

Active Member
Feb 22, 2006
105
104
43
Plymouth, Michigan, United States
www.vanessasflowers.com
State / Prov
MI
Had conversation with a local director today. They are getting ready to have website redone. He wants people who come to his web site to be able to order flowers, that he collects the payment for and then pays the florist. He is looking to cut out the 1-800 and other order gathering sites. He dose not like them but is looking to maximize his income from his site.

Any ideas. I told him I would look into to see if there is something out there or to see if I can have site that i have pay him...... lots to think about.

This was brought up at the latest convention and I initiated because of the SAF email about 1-800 and tributes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anytimeflowers
I have 2 funeral homes and I give both of them a 20% discount and I don't inflate prices to compensate. They pay all del. charges, etc, I usually takes me about 45 days to get the money in. The other 2 wanted 35%, I said, "no thanks". One of mine did call a few months back about the Bates deal with FTD and said, "I think I can make more". I told him that I understood. When he found out that I would not be the filler, he declined.......smart man.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LOTAKIDS
That is really great news, I have several funeral homes in the area who hate dealing with the boxes that show up from "non-traditional florists".

My thought is this. He will have to have an e-commerce site in order to do this if he wants to collect the entire amount. He's trying to go backwards from what an affiliate site would do, essentially he needs to become an order-gatherer. If he is planning on giving the orders only to you, then I would offer to build a page for a selection of sympathy pieces that are HIGHLY PROFITABLE for you so that you can take the percentage hit. I would NOT have those same images on my own website, clearly he plans on putting his own prices on them to skim so you need to give him a catalog of what is available to him or his customers to order.

If you turn it around, he could also have an affiliate site with you, where YOU collect the amount and he automatically gets a percentage any time a purchase is made through his link.

Just my thoughts ~ interesting concept.
 
You could just make him a sub-domain smithsflowers.com/xyzfuneralhome and show the designs you want to feature for him, handle the transactions/delivery and send him his cut once a month...
 
  • Like
Reactions: anytimeflowers
bootcampguy said:
I have 2 funeral homes and I give both of them a 20% discount and I don't inflate prices to compensate. They pay all del. charges, etc, I usually takes me about 45 days to get the money in. The other 2 wanted 35%, I said, "no thanks". One of mine did call a few months back about the Bates deal with FTD and said, "I think I can make more". I told him that I understood. When he found out that I would not be the filler, he declined.......smart man.
Click to expand...
Ours DIDN'T "decline"the offer from Bates, and NOW, all those so-called "favours" I CHARGE FULL PRICE for.......
 
  • Like
Reactions: bootcampguy
Kristine said:
when do we get a cut??? just axin..... .
Click to expand...

Mikey the Flower Guy said:
Ours DIDN'T "decline"the offer from Bates, and NOW, all those so-called "favours" I CHARGE FULL PRICE for.......
Click to expand...
That was my initial reaction as well... why do folks think florists should give up ANY amount of the sale, and it's the stance I have taken with the funeral homes here. However, I do understand that in some locales it's become a cost of getting that work. I don't have that type of thing going on here, but many do, and to get the orders you have to give a kick back. It's not right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kristine, joanne and anytimeflowers
Before I got the funeral homes I do now, I went and visited with a letter telling about myself, my shop, and offering a 10% discount. They were positively horrified that I would suggest they take a cut.

It was another seven or eight years before they called with an order, and I've been doing them ever since with no cut. The only thing I have to do is be given a price and color and style. When they give me the price, typically $150 per piece, they expect me to bill them $150 per piece so I do have to back out sales tax and I give them free delivery.
 
Sabrinas said:
Linda if they are reselling you should not have to collect tax, they should
Click to expand...


Hmmmmm.....thanks D, I'm going to check into that! I never thought of that, they may have already charged the family the sales tax, I don't know if they bill them all together or if they "forward" my bill to the family in their final bill. Gonna have to ask.
 
My invoice including tax to the fh appears as a line item on the families statement from the fh. The funeral home pays me and the family pays the fh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anytimeflowers
I collect no slaes tax, they have charged tax at the consultation. Some items (in Florida) are exempt on sales tax in the industry, so if they are re-sales, then just get a copy of their tax certificate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anytimeflowers
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back