Understand your Materials + Hire Items Catalog

Materials and hire items are the costs florists most often forget to charge for. Blume keeps them in two catalogues so they go on every quote and every recipe without you thinking about it.

Materials are the non-floral things you buy all the time: ribbon, foam, zip ties, candles, packaging. Hire items are what you rent out from your own stock or sub-hire, like vases, urns, pedestals, arches and stands. The important rule for both is that the price you enter is your charge-out price to the client, not your cost. Blume marks up flowers automatically; it does not mark up materials, hire items or fees, so the number you enter is the number the client sees.

In this video Sarah adds a material with its unit (each, per metre, roll, box or pack), a price, and an optional supplier and description, then does the same for a hire item. Whenever either is added to a recipe or an event, Blume includes it, with hire items shown as their own line on the quote. As with flowers, review these prices when supplier invoices come in.