Guide Note:

An online florist is a company that takes flower orders the internet.

Fast Facts:

1. Caution: Beware of hidden service fees and handling charges above the cost of flowers and local delivery.
2. Flowers shipped by FedEx and UPS generally require the recipient to assemble their own arrangement.

Buying Guide:

There are generally three kinds of online florists: local, third party, and courier.

Local florists tend to be the cheaper and faster than online florists. No shipping is required although there may be charges for delivery.

Third party florists take your order and give it to a local florist to deliver. They will take a cut of the total cost, which means you pay more than you would have if you went directly to the local florists. Third party florist often try to act like they are local, and may even refuse to give their address.

To avoid being deceived by a third party florist acting local check the 'About Us' section on their website for addresses and local numbers. If they have a toll free number Google it and if many businesses come up, it is a third party florist acting local.

Courier florists ship your order directly from the farm, importer or wholesaler. They are convenient for places where there are no local florists. The flowers are delivered in a box and most likely will need to be taken out of the box and arranged. Consider the weather at the time of the purchase; flowers don't hold up well in freezing weather. Expedited shipping is often needed with flowers which will increase the price.

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