Many people don’t realize that some large, national flower-ordering websites are not local flower shops. Instead, they often operate as order-gathering marketplaces by collecting orders online and then sell them back to independent florists to fulfill.

These companies don’t have brick-and-mortar shops in your community, and they do not design or deliver the arrangements themselves. When an order is placed, a portion of what you paid may go toward marketing, service fees, and platform costs before a local florist ever sees the order.

As a customer that business model is concerning alone, yet here are additional reasons to avoid ordering flowers through large, national online sites:

Poor Reliability & Service: Delivery, especially on high-demand holidays, can be delayed or missed entirely, with little to no customer service option to fix the issue.

No Direct Communication: Because orders are placed through a third party, customers can’t speak directly with the florist creating their arrangement, making customization and special requests incredibly difficult. 

Inferior Design: Because online photos are often styled for marketing purposes only, their floral designs can be outdated, lack creativity and be highly photoshopped to an unrealistic standard. Rarely do recipients receive a bouquet that resembles the design selected from their online sites.

Reduced Freshness: If not filled with an actual, local florist, some orders may be shipped over long distances, highly impacting the freshness, stem quality and vase longevity.

Hidden Fees & Extra Charges: The final price rises above the too-good-to-be-true advertised arrangement cost with the addition of inflated service/processing/delivery fees that are often only disclosed at the final stage of checkout.

Scams: Just like with purchase you go online to place an order for, be aware that there are websites that are not legitimate, potentially leading to stolen personal or financial information. 

Instead, choose a better alternative: 

Ordering a bouquet online is designed to be an easy and convenient experience, but if you order from an order-gatherer website, it will likely be a stressful experience. For best value, pleasant and helpful customer service and a freshness guarantee, order directly from your local florist. That sounds simple enough, but you should know what to look for. To ensure you are actually ordering with a local florist we recommend using search engines to find a flower shop based and located in the recipient’s city. Call the shop and ask specifically where their brick-and-morter shop is located. If you wish to avoid calling, check the website for an “About Us” tab that shares information about the business, proving local legitimacy, before placing an order. Order smart, gift better.

Red Flags:

• Nationwide or same-day delivery
• Discounted, too-good-to-be-true prices
• Sponsored listings at the top of the google search

Green Flags:

• A google listing with a local address + a photo showing their faces and/or storefront
• Limited delivery radius
• Disclosed order cut-off timelines or limited same-day/short timeline delivery options upfront
• Small business that is individually or family owned and operated
• Proud to share their roots within their community that they live and work

When you place your order directly with Olive & Honey, you will enjoy a real person to talk to, more blooms in your arrangement, and an order made with love and care. We are not affiliated with any of the above mentioned companies. All designs on our site are original, signature designs that showcase creativity, using unique, unexpected bloom varieties, artfully arranged to surprise and delight. We are located in Hamilton, Missouri, but deliver from Jamesport to Polo, Chillicothe to Stewertsville, and everywhere in between! Below are all the cities & zip codes that we service:

• Altamont – 64620
• Braymer – 64624
• Breckenridge – 64625
• Cameron – 64429
• Chillicothe – 64601
• Cowgill – 64637
• Dawn – 64638
• Gallatin – 64640
• Hamilton – 64644
• Jameson – 64647
• Jamesport – 64648
• Kidder – 64649
• Kingston – 64650
• Lake Viking – 64620
• Lathrop – 64465
• Lawson – 64062
• Lock Springs – 64654
• Ludlow – 64656
• Maysville – 64469
• Mirabile – 64650
• Mooresville – 64664
• Nettelton – 64644
• New York – 64644
• Osborn – 64474
• Polo – 64671
• Turney – 64493
• Utica – 64686
• Weatherby – 64497
• Winston – 64689

Now accepting Valentine’s Day pre-orders. It’s never too soon to get ahead so you don’t forget!

*This post reflects our perspective as a local, independent florist and is intended to help customers make informed purchasing decisions.