We are so immensely grateful for the thousands of people who order our garden roses! One of the most common emails we receive is in regards to our “exorbitant shipping costs”. People ask if we ever offer free shipping and after reading this blog, we hope you will understand why it’s not possible. We thought we’d take a moment to unveil the real cost of shipping flowers, so that next time you consider purchasing our roses, you’ll know all that goes into making sure they arrive in great condition. We consider part of our duty here at Grace Rose Farm to provide insight regarding the real costs of running a farm that prioritizes the health, livelihood and safety of our employees, as well as the sustainable care of our land, and organic rose farming methods.
Let’s break it down in terms of numbers:
FedEx: Our clients pay $25-35 for FedEx Priority overnight shipping, but it actually costs us up to $50 to ship our smallest box depending where in the country it is going. And, our rates are 70% off retail FedEx rates! (Our huge wholesale florist boxes are significantly more to ship, but we’ll save that for another blog.) The same small box would cost the average consumer $100+ to ship overnight. In the world of “free shipping” via Amazon and other online retailers, consumers have come to expect cheap shipping, but this simply isn’t possible when shipping perishables. Most businesses make money on shipping, whereas we actually lose money on shipping. Why are perishables so expensive to ship? Our roses, and all flowers, must be shipped via overnight service. Cutting corners by shipping 2-day or slower isn’t an option. Not only do our roses require multiple airplanes in order to arrive the next day after we ship them, but there is also extensive ground transportation both to the airport and the customer’s home.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Grace Rose Farm
