190 Principles of Floral Design Methods of pricing fl oral designs will be discussed in Chapter 18, Floriculture Marketing, Pricing, and Sales. However, before you begin selecting fl owers for your designs, you should know a little about how your choice of materials affects the price of an arrangement. Design Costs Before you select the fl owers for a design, consider both the customer and the application. Many customers have a price range in mind when they come to the fl ower shop. That price range has a defi nite effect on the materials you choose. The profi t you make on an arrangement equals the price you charge the customer minus the cost of materials, overhead costs such as rent and utilities, and your labor. Therefore, if a customer gives you a low price range, you will need to choose less expensive materials than if the customer gives you a high price range. For example, suppose a young woman comes to your fl ower shop wanting an arrangement for her sister, who just had a baby girl. She wants a pretty arrangement with pink roses, but she does not have much money to spend. You agree on a price of $50 for the arrangement. This price includes a labor charge of $15.00 (many fl orists charge a 30% labor fee), a $10.00 vase, and $12.00 for fi ller materials and accessories. In your shop, you have the following fl owers available: • Pink and white carnations, for which you paid $1.00 per stem • Pink spray roses (two to three roses per stem), for which you paid $1.37 per stem • Pink sweetheart roses (one rose per stem), for which you paid $1.75 per stem Obviously, the carnations are the least expensive choice, but the customer wants roses. Figure 8-23 shows several different options for this arrangement. As you can see, the obvious choice is not always the best choice. The “Total Cost for Flowers” column represents the combined total of the different types of fl owers in each of the other columns. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 8-23. Options for a low-cost arrangement. Carnations Spray Roses Sweetheart Roses Total Cost for Flowers No. of Flowers Cost No. of Flowers Cost No. of Flowers Cost 7 $ 7.00 $ 7.00 4 $ 4.00 2 $ 2.74 $ 6.74 7 $ 12.25 $ 12.25 3 $ 4.11 2 $ 3.50 $ 7.61 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.