You thrifty ladies and gents may have an answer for me and I hope that you do. Have any of you ever bought your favorite fragrance via online purchase?
The fragrance I favor is regularly priced at $84. The online price for the same 90 ml bottle is $33.45. That's a significant price difference. But, I'm hesitant to jump in before hearing from you.
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There is nothing wrong with buying a favorite fragrance online as long as you can check out the seller and be absolutely sure you are looking at exactly the same item.
Checking out a seller on eBay is easy because you can read their feedback and see if there are any complaints about their products or their services but it is not that easy to check out sellers on other sites.
I feel that Amazon is pretty safe because you can check their feedback and Amazon is very protective of their good name.
I also like using PayPal to pay as they will also work with you if there is a problem with a purchase.
As long as you can see what you are buying and know that it is the same bottle/container and the same amount then saving money is a good thing.
It is not unusual to find the same fragrances for less money than a department store as the stores have a higher markup and they chalk that difference up to personal service as well as "instant" take home.
Buying fragrances online can be OK if you are VERY CAREFUL.
The risk, to me, is equal if you are buying from Amazon or eBay as neither really vet their sellers--just use the feedback systems. Places like Overstock usually don't use third party sellers...although I haven't brought from there in several years so that may have changed. Any time there is a third party seller you need to be careful.
It is critical to check the seller's feedback looking specifically for him/her selling like items. They may have had a complaint about a book being bent that I may not hold against them if all of the perfume sales are fine...because bending happens with the USPS...but if the feedback said POORLY PACKAGED...no matter what it was, I move on.
I would look for comments from buyers saying that the product was exactly what was described.
If there is even 1 negative about the item you are purchasing, I would move on to the next seller.
The next thing to look at is why is the price so low. There are sellers out there who are selling knock offs and that is why the price is low.
I have never found an easy way to figure this out since sellers are very crafty and hide what they do very carefully...often changing eBay or Amazon IDs the first time someone calls them on the item being a fraud.
The best say to avoid this situation is if the seller has low or next to no--like under 10 feedbacks, this is often another red flag to walk away. Yes, the person could be genuinely NEW to selling, but most times...they had issues and got a new ID.
The best scenario--from my experience--is if the person is just a person selling something they got as a gift or bought and did not want and the ad states this clearly. There is a better chance of it being a real item, than if you are buying from a seller who just sells name brand items cheap.
I have sold items that fit this bill--the perfume that was not my brand, the gifted sweater that was 3 sizes too small, etc. When this happens to me, I am very clear in my selling ads what is what...and some other sellers are also.
The last thing to look at is see all the other things the person sells (ON EBAY there is a button on a seller that reads SEE OTHER ITEMS--click that link and look at everything the seller is selling--I haven't been on Amazon for a while so I am not sure how you can do that on their site--but you used to be able to).
If it is a bunch of designer stuff, cheap, walk away! Most likely there is something hinky going on and the stuff is not real.
The phrase let the buyer beware is critical in online sales...and sometimes if something looks too good to be true...it is...and it is safest just to walk away.
Two of the best places I have found to buy fragrances are 1. Plato Closet (I am FAR from being a teen but they often have fragrances for sale at a fraction of retail--neat jewelry also) and 2. Estate Sales--usually the bottles are unopened or barely used and dirt cheap! Almost always in both cases, the items are REAL....not knockoffs.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide to do!
Be very careful that you can FOR SURE return the item because the internet is loaded with fake perfumes. I fell for it once on eBay but I made sure I could return it. It was indeed fake. It smelled so weird! I did a test via fake product websites and it was a match. Check this out:
Just do make sure it's returnable and you can write to the site itself about the merchant selling fakes. Places like Groupon seem legit, but my friends have received fakes from there too. Amazon, as well. Just do your homework :)
These are exactly the type of comments I was looking for. Thank you ladies. I think I'll wait and see if more comments are forthcoming and then decide if it's worth potential hassle to save on pocket cost but lose in time cost when I could be doing something more fun. We'll see. I've never bought anything online and have nada experience with it. I'm in Canada but coming into the U.S. next month so maybe I'll drop in at the Duty Free Shop at the border. Certainly can't hurt. Thanks again for your input.
I did it once. The fragrance was in the same package I remembered, but did not smell the same. I now buy where I can test it first.
Buffalo here I come !! No online purchase for this gal. Thanks ladies.
Have fun! Be safe!
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