Everyone wins with the customized shipping charge system used by Flowers by the Sea. Customized fees allow us to adjust shipping prices based on how far away you live from FBTS and how many plants you purchase. We think this is a more equitable way of covering delivery fees instead of increasing plant prices -- something that is common among companies using a flat-rate system.

We ship via UPS, because their rates are fair and their service is reliable and careful. Shipping charges are calculated on a day-by-day basis. When placing an order, you enter your location. Our computer server then communicates with the UPS computer server and calculates the shipping charges from our farm to your location.

For example, the fee to ship a single plant to San Francisco would be about a dollar less than what it would cost to ship it to Gainesville, Florida. However, shipping 10 plants to either location would only increase the fee by roughly $2 to $5.

The following lists of custom delivery costs -- based on UPS ground delivery prices for March 13, 2013 -- gives you an idea of the incremental changes in shipping charges. Please keep in mind that these sample fees only reflect differences in charges between two cities and are subject to change if UPS increases or decreases its charges.

FBTS Sample Customized Delivery Costs
UPS Ground

To San Francisco:

• 1 plant $13.20
• 3 plants $13.43
• 6 plants $13.79
• 10 plants $14.75

To Gainesville, Florida:

• 1 plant $14.20
• 3 plants $16.12
• 6 plants $17.32
• 10 plants $19.61

So you can see that shipping expense decreases when you wait to place a multiple order instead of ordering plants one at a time. Also, it is difficult to order plants one at a time due to our minimum order being $30, which is more than most of our individual plants cost.

Click here for more details about shipping costs. For in-depth details about our packaging process and 100 percent guarantee of customer satisfaction, please view our blog article Buying Salvias Online from FBTS: How to Order and What to Expect. Also, feel free to call or send an email if you have more questions. Your satisfaction is important to us.