The Pricing Challenge for Irish Florists
Ireland has a thriving floristry culture, but many Irish florists struggle with pricing. Whether you are running a shop on Grafton Street or operating from a converted shed in County Kerry, the principles of profitable pricing are the same. Getting your pricing right is the single most important thing you can do for your business. Underprice and you will burn out working sixty-hour weeks with nothing to show for it. Overprice without justification and customers will drift to competitors or supermarket bunches.
Markup Methods
The simplest approach is to multiply your total flower and sundry costs by a fixed factor. In the Irish market, the standard multipliers are:
| Arrangement Type | Typical Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Hand-tied bouquets | 2.5x – 3.5x |
| Vase arrangements | 3x – 3.5x |
| Wedding florals | 3.5x – 4x |
| Funeral tributes | 2.5x – 3x |
The alternative is cost-plus pricing, where you build your price from the ground up: flower cost plus sundries plus labour plus overhead recovery plus waste allowance plus profit margin. This method is more accurate but takes longer to calculate. Use the Arrangement Calculator to speed up the process.
Wholesale Sources in Ireland
Most cut flowers arrive via the Dutch auctions at Aalsmeer and Naaldwijk, shipped through Irish importers and wholesalers such as those based in Dublin's north docklands. Irish wholesale prices tend to sit slightly above UK equivalents due to additional freight costs, but Ireland benefits from EU single market access — meaning no customs paperwork, no phytosanitary certificates, and no post-Brexit delays that UK florists now face.
Some Irish growers supply seasonal foliage, garden roses, and wildflowers through local markets and direct farm sales, particularly in the south and west. Building a relationship with a local grower can give you unique stems that supermarkets cannot match.
| Stem | Approximate Wholesale Price |
|---|---|
| Roses (Naomi, 50cm) | EUR 0.90 – EUR 1.40 per stem |
| Spray roses | EUR 0.70 – EUR 1.00 per stem |
| Lisianthus | EUR 0.80 – EUR 1.20 per stem |
| Eucalyptus (cinerea) | EUR 0.50 – EUR 0.80 per stem |
| Hydrangea | EUR 1.80 – EUR 3.50 per stem |
Sundries — cellophane, tissue, ribbon, flower food, and any vessel — typically add EUR 2.00 to EUR 3.50 per wrapped hand-tied bouquet.
Costing Your Labour
For an experienced florist in Ireland, EUR 30,000 to EUR 38,000 is a reasonable salary range. After annual leave (20 days statutory), public holidays (10 days), sick leave, and admin time, most florists have around 1,400 to 1,600 productive making hours per year. That gives a labour rate of roughly EUR 19 to EUR 27 per hour.
If a hand-tied bouquet takes 20 minutes to make, your labour cost is around EUR 6.50 to EUR 9.00.
Irish Overheads
- Rent: EUR 800 – EUR 4,000+ per month depending on location
- Commercial rates: Set by your local authority, typically EUR 2,000 – EUR 5,000 per year
- Employer's PRSI: 11.05% on all earnings from the first euro (no threshold)
- Utilities (including cold room): EUR 250 – EUR 500 per month
- Insurance: EUR 80 – EUR 200 per month
- Fuel surcharges: Irish diesel prices remain among the highest in Europe, adding to both delivery and wholesale collection costs
Add your annual overheads together and divide by the number of arrangements you expect to sell per year. If your overheads total EUR 42,000 and you sell 2,500 arrangements, each arrangement needs to contribute EUR 16.80 towards overheads.
Pricing for Weddings vs Retail
The Irish wedding season runs primarily from April to October, with peak demand in June, July, and August. Wedding work commands a higher multiplier — typically 3.5x to 4x — because it involves consultations, site visits, setup time, and weekend working. A bridal bouquet using EUR 25 of materials might retail at EUR 90 to EUR 100.
Retail counter trade and funeral work use lower multipliers but higher volume. Keeping separate pricing structures for wedding and retail work ensures you are not subsidising one from the other.
A Worked Example: Medium Hand-Tied Bouquet
| Cost Element | Amount |
|---|---|
| Flowers (8 stems mixed) | EUR 10.00 |
| Sundries (wrap, ribbon, food) | EUR 2.50 |
| Waste allowance (12%) | EUR 1.20 |
| Labour (20 mins at EUR 24/hr) | EUR 8.00 |
| Overhead contribution | EUR 14.30 |
| Subtotal | EUR 36.00 |
| Profit margin (15%) | EUR 5.40 |
| Retail price | EUR 41.40 |
Rounding to EUR 42 or EUR 45 gives you a clean price point. Try different scenarios with the Markup Calculator.
Setting Price Points for the Irish Market
Dublin and its commuter belt support higher price points than rural areas. Most successful Irish florists work with set price tiers:
- Small: EUR 35 – EUR 45
- Medium: EUR 50 – EUR 65
- Large: EUR 70 – EUR 90
- Premium: EUR 95 – EUR 130+
Communion and Confirmation season (April to June) is a significant trading period unique to Ireland and can rival Mother's Day for some shops.
Keep Your Prices Current
Wholesale prices shift with the seasons, energy costs change, and the minimum wage rises regularly. Review your pricing at least every six months. Use the Arrangement Calculator regularly to recalculate recipes against current wholesale costs, and pair it with the Break-Even Calculator to check whether your sales volume supports your overheads.
