You are on a Funeral Home or Newspaper website reading the obituaries. You notice a tab that reads: Send Flowers, Send flowers from a local florist or similar wording. Click, and within seconds, you are looking at an online catalog of beautiful floral tributes.
Now might be the time to stop and consider the price of convenience. 
On those sites, there is most likely a third party involved who created and maintains that site on behalf of the funeral home. Generally, the funeral home will recommend one or two florists to the web developer. The florists enter into a contract with the third party and agree to pay a commission on the sales made on the website. The florist will receive payment of about 70% of the dollar amount you paid. To compensate for that 30% commission the florist will generally price the product offered on these websites about 30% more then what the same product would cost on the florists’ own website or physically at their own store.
A few months ago, a funeral director told me about an article in an industry magazine announcing that FTD and Batesville Casket Company were partnering to provide a website to assist funeral homes in selling flowers to their clients. Recently, 1-800-Flowers and Tributes.com also created an E-Commerce Program for Funeral Homes.
There are countless other commission based relationships that some funeral homes and florists have maintained throughout the decades.
Please consider that a $500.00 floral purchase as part of a funeral package offered by the funeral home or from a website linked to their website, could cost you up to $150.00 more than shopping directly with a local florist. The money you could have saved buying from a traditional florist could have purchased another large tribute for the service!
Gillespie Florists works closely with funeral homes to provide superior products and services, but not on a commission basis. In the present business climate, I predict that margins could shrink even more dramatically. I understand the need for funeral homes and other businesses to consider new income streams.
While there is nothing wrong with industries having partnerships with other industries, or businesses with other businesses to create efficiencies, income streams and conveniences, I feel that in these times especially, a penny saved is a penny earned. It pays to go directly to the source.
Shop with Your Real Local Florist, Gillespie Florist!
