Online Fragrance Retailers - Price vs Fakes?

Daniel Plainview on 21/03/2017 - 14:09
Last edited 21/03/2017 - 14:16 by 1 other user

Hi Folks,

It's been several years since I grabbed my wife a few fragrances and have sussed out a few I'd like to grab her (Shalimar, Dior Miss Dior, Calvin Klein Euphoria, Chanel Mademoiselle….haha not all of them but a few perhaps).

Anyway cut a long story short the Oz based sellers prices are abysmal……dept stores, discount chemists etc.

So then you have your online retailers…FragranceX, Strawberry.net etc - they're so-so…..

but then there's a few US based etailers whose prices aresignificantly superior - almost to the point where you start wondering is it too good to be true - e.g http://scentmonkey.com/, http://www.perfume-worldwide.com/index.php

Just wondering if anyone's dealt with either of these two? Apparently owned by the same company. CR even has a near 10% comm for the latter. Hard to place orders to Oz though as postage doesn't come up easily as an option.

With fragrance there's a LOT of fakes doing the rounds - and while getting a good price is nice it kind of defeats the purpose if you get a fake product.

Welcome any other recommended retailers where price & product authenticity is felt to be strong.

Thanks in advance, Nick

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 21/03/2017 - 15:02
    +1

    I have purchased heaps of cologne/perfume from many online and traditional retailers. After many years of being suspicious and online companies guaranteeing me their product is the real deal, i'm still never sold on it.

    I have now decided i only buy cologne/perfume from either Myer, David Jones or I wait until i have an international holiday and buy up at duty free…

    I purchased Armani Code Ultimate from a trustworthy online only retailer recently: whilst it DID smell right, it wasnt strong and didn't last anywhere near the bottle I have which i got from Myer and/or duty free airport.

    Beware. IMO pay the extra 20-30% and get the real McCoy.

    Best of luck

  • ssx on 21/03/2017 - 15:10
    +1

    A lot of the cheaper places sell old stock whereas Myer/David Jones sell fresh stock - the older stock tends to have been housed improperly, exposed to heat, or has been sitting around for years, which causes the smell to wear off quickly or smell slightly different.

  • KaTst3R on 21/03/2017 - 16:22

    If is for your wife, probably dont try to go cheap and risk buying a fake/old stock online. A box of perfume with a Myer or David Jones bag would look nicer than a Fedex box from Scentmonkey…

    And if you are buying her a perfume because of a special occasion like a 20th anniversary or something, maybe consider getting her a real luxury perfume like Jo Malone or Penhaligon, rather than a common Dior or CK range which smells like another office lady walking down the street.

    • PJC on 21/03/2017 - 17:34

      Dior is far from cheap, and Jo Malone sold that business years ago and has a new one called Jo Loves. But when a fragrance works for someone, it works, regardless of price. Years ago I worked with a very attractive 29-year-old woman who said she had tried all the top makes and her favourite was Brut 33, which was always in her handbag.

      • KaTst3R on 21/03/2017 - 23:07
        +1

        I didnt say Dior is cheap, I said common as many ladies use that brand. And nothing wrong with Jo Malone selling the business to Estee Lauder. If you ever enter their shop or counter, it is still the same premium quality pricey stuff that is extremely unique. I never indicated OP has to get something premium, but if it is a really special occasion could be worth considering. End of the day, the user has to be comfortable in whatever scent she/he uses.

        • PJC on 21/03/2017 - 23:13
          +1

          True indeed.

  • Daniel Plainview on 21/03/2017 - 18:43

    Thanks for the feedback and advice - a few interesting sites there but generally the prices are pretty inflated.

    Whilst I take the point regarding old stock, improperly stored etc - you'd have to think this isn't a major issue with every online retailer as fragrances are just such a big business (due to the preposterous markups on them with the actual ingredients themselves costing next to nothing). Fakes are far more the big issue and the aspect I'm concerned about.

    Paying perhaps 20-30% more for peace of mind on fresh stock and authentic product via DJ/Myer is one thing but when it's over 100% more that does make you consider the whole risk vs reward trade off as it's often a huge disparity.

    RE: the more niche/designer stuff - thankfully my wife isn't so much aware of such products and well as we're rurally based there's really no way to try etc beforehand in a meaningful manner - apart from the fact that there's so many fragrances around that it's not like you'd realistically smelling like every other gal….especially in a rural city. And whilst a DJ's bag might look nice anything here will come via a box - so thats not a huge concern.

    Thanks again - welcome any feedback on experiences folks have had or places to buy from. :-)

    • Ughhh on 22/03/2017 - 10:43
      +1

      Old stock and improper handling and storage is a big issue for quality control. If you know anything about chemistry and chemicals, you would understand.

  • Daniel Plainview on 22/03/2017 - 08:40
    +1

    I sent an email query to Scented Monkey, asking how to get postal options up for Australia and also regarding the high number of consumer complaints they seem to have online.

    To their credit I got a reply back within a few hours saying thanks but they don't post Intl - which is a tad surprising given they have drop down options for overseas countries but just not the postal option to match. Perhaps a tad tellingly they didn't address the other query at all - to be fair folks that have issues are far more likely to lodge it than those who don't and I suppose once it was clarified I'd not be able to buy (well without using a forwarder anyway) it was something of a moot point.

    Personally I suspect that a lot of these discount online sellers product is from overseas countries where perhaps the distributors adjust the prices to better suit the local population's economics and also older product thats been 'cycled' off the shelves of tier one retailers e.g dept stores and sold to them at a steep discount.

    You'd have to think a bit of the product would also be fake - you'd only have to sell perhaps 5% of your inventory as fake products and that'd massively inflate your actual bottomline vs authentic product. Is very hard to pick with a lot of them these days and recourse etc is near impossible.

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