Q: What's the difference between "Service charge" and "Delivery charge"? You say no
Service charge, but ask us to pay for Delivery charge. Isn't this just semantics?
A: Absolutely not. "Service charge" is a fee paid to the relay sender, in this case we
Flowers insolita, who relays your order to a florist in the destination town ("destination
florist"). "Delivery charge" is a fee paid to another florist, the destination florist who actually
makes and delivers your flower.
No "Service charge" means that Flowers insolita does NOT collect any fee from you for our
order-relay service. But you still need to pay for the "Delivery charge" by the destination
florist; if you don't, they are allowed to deduct this charge from the value of flowers.
Most Internet "florists" (i.e., Order Gatherers) collect "Service charge", ranging from $8 to
$12, which is their markup. What is troubling is the fact that some of these Order
Gatherers call this fee "Delivery charge", which is not true, because this money is NOT
transferred to the destination florist. As the result, the destination florist will deduct their
delivery charge from the money they receive, resulting in the flowers of lesser value than
you pay for.
Confusing? Here's what happens if you order $40 flowers.
(1) If you go through Order Gatherers: You pay $40 for flowers plus $10 "Service fee" which
goes to the Order Gatherer's pocket. The destination florist receives $40 order and, after
deducting $10 delivery charge, delivers $30 flower arrangement.
(2) If you go through us: You pay $40 for flowers plus $10 "Delivery fee", which is paid to
the destination florist. The destination florist therefore receives $50, not $40, order and,
after deducting $10 delivery charge, delivers $40 flower arrangement.
As you can see, even though you pay the same amount of money ($50), you will get more
value from us, because we do not pocket any Service fee. You can get the same result, if
you call the destination florist directly, i.e., without a middle man.