Saving Money on Flowers

Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!

It’s lovely to have fresh flowers in your home or to give them as a gift. We buy fresh flowers often, and I find myself ordering flowers for others at least a few times per year.

Unlike ordering photo prints, ordering flowers online is an absolute maze, with far more options than I could hope to cover in a single post.[1]

But, here are some general tips for saving money on flowers:

• Shop Locally When Possible - The best deals on flowers are generally (though not always) from a local florist. Buying direct from a florist eliminates many of the logistics costs and fees that come with buying online, not to mention that flowers always take a hit from being shipped in a box. You also get to support a local business. Just make sure to research which local florists sell high quality flowers at a reasonable price. My wife often goes to our local florist, gives them her budget (say, $25), and works with them to choose flowers she loves within that budget. We find they look as good and last longer than bouquets bought online for double the price. But, if you need to buy online…

• Buy Discounted Gift Cards - It’s often possible to buy online floral gift cards at a significant discount. For example, I often buy 1-800-Flowers gift cards at Raise.com for ~15% off face value.

• Always Use Cashback - Online florists typically offer very high cashback rates, often as much as 20% back on your order (I typically use Cashback Monitor to check rates). It’s also possible to shop for flowers online through travel programs (such as United Mileage Plus or American AAdvantage), and sometimes the effective savings can be far greater. Amtrak, for example, currently offers 30 Amtrak Guest Rewards points per dollar spent at 1-800-Flowers, or a flat 750 points for each order through Teleflora. Amtrak points are worth 1.85 cents per point in free travel and sometimes significantly more, so 30 points per dollar can work out to an effective discount of more than 50%.

Even better, you can generally combine gift cards and cashback (purchase the gift card first, then click through a cashback website to the retailer and place your order), yielding significantly greater discounts. For further reference, check out my Cashback Guide and guide to buying discounted gift cards.

And now…Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:

Ghachar Ghochar has a lot to say in its fast-moving 118 pages. A fascinating drama that touches on family, wealth, and class issues. You won’t be able to put it down.

And…what happens to all the stuff we return? Amanda Mull at The Atlantic wrote a fascinating piece. I learned a lot, including that consumers return 15-30% of items ordered online (depends on category, higher for clothing), and that experts estimate retailers discard 25% of returned items.

I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.

[1] Wirecutter has a great overview of the online florists.