Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Luckyscent: are all of their prices this inflated?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Luckyscent: are all of their prices this inflated?

post #1 of 15
3/14/07 at 3:49pm
Thread Starter 
So I'm thinking of investing in some of Divine's L'Homme de Coeur. I found the 50ml vaporizer on Luckyscent for $115. I then went to Divine's website, where the exact same bottle was 75 Euro. At today's exchange rate ($1.3227/Euro), that is almost exactly $100.

So, that's a pretty considerable markup for Luckyscent to make. I would expect some price increase just because Luckyscent needs to make money somehow, but a 15% markup is just not smart, especially considering that people can easily buy direct from Divine for much less.

Even if we assume that Luckyscent changed their prices to hedge against expected foreign exchange losses from importing with a weak dollar (which is actually reasonable, considering how the $ has been faring lately), $115 still takes it a bit too far. I'd look at the prices of some fragrances from US based houses for comparison, but I don't think Luckyscent caries ANYTHING made in the US.

Is this a fluke that only applies to Divine, or are other fragrances also this expensive on Luckyscent? Does anyone regularly buy there? What are your experiences? One time I did buy samples there...shipment was lightning fast and customer service was very nice. But still, I've never NOT encountered nice customer service when buying scents, so I'm not willing to forgive them for trying to rip me off me just yet.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
post #2 of 15
3/14/07 at 4:03pm
And yet if you look at it a different way it is Divine that is really ripping people off since it is the manufacturer its "markup" almost surely exceeds Luckyscent's.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 15
3/14/07 at 4:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuner_Watson View Post

And yet if you look at it a different way it is Divine that is really ripping people off since it is the manufacturer its "markup" almost surely exceeds Luckyscent's.

Very true...they have the ability to set the base market price wherever they want. But you expect that from a niche house like Divine, and there's really nothing anyone can do about it. For a middleman like Luckyscent to increase prices that much is as bad for them (since it takes like 2 more mourse clicks for us to buy from Divine directly) as it is for us.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 15
3/14/07 at 4:18pm
Have you figured the shipping cost and time from Europe.............?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 15
3/14/07 at 4:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lightninrod View Post

Have you figured the shipping cost and time from Europe.............?

Might I add US custom duties and taxes.........

When a retailer or e-tailer like Luckyscent and Aedes etc etc, put their prices on they don't calculate what the retail price should be, it is determined by a distributor for that country or by the company themselves. The wholesale price for these stores are based on what the retail for that product is.

Again I am only talking about niche products, not the mainstream products, which are abundant in the grey market.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 15
3/14/07 at 6:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maisonstinky View Post

Might I add US custom duties and taxes.........

When a retailer or e-tailer like Luckyscent and Aedes etc etc, put their prices on they don't calculate what the retail price should be, it is determined by a distributor for that country or by the company themselves. The wholesale price for these stores are based on what the retail for that product is.

Again I am only talking about niche products, not the mainstream products, which are abundant in the grey market.


Absolutely! When talking about the difference of $15 it is mostly about what is called the "Landed Cost". When importing there are a pile of costs involved. Yout not only have the basic transportation charge but you pay the freight forwarder on the origin end to prepare your export documents and file your export declaration and do the leg work of arranging all legs of the transport from the factory/warehouse to the shoppe. You'll also have to pay brokerage on the import side to a customs broker who files your import paperwork plus whatever customs charges are assessed.

For a "smaller" importer this can get expensive because they are paying ex/im fees on every single shipment no matter how small it is.....a service fee that nice folks like me charge nice folks like you. My export service & handling fee for an air shipment starts somewhere around $75 (add $25 more if it's dangerous goods) and for ocean shipments I don't talk to a small exporter for less than $175 (plus $25 or so if it's dangerous goods). This is just for me arranging the shipment and doing the export filing & compliance checks - it does not include the freight.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 15
3/14/07 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by maisonstinky View Post

Might I add US custom duties and taxes.........

When a retailer or e-tailer like Luckyscent and Aedes etc etc, put their prices on they don't calculate what the retail price should be, it is determined by a distributor for that country or by the company themselves. The wholesale price for these stores are based on what the retail for that product is.

Again I am only talking about niche products, not the mainstream products, which are abundant in the grey market.

I suppose you guys are right...it just seems like someone in the process would try to make the prices line up just to keep people like me from asking these kinds of questions.

I guess I didn't really think about shipping though. I wonder how much less money it is to ship w/in the US from Luckyscent instead of from Divine? I doubt the difference is $15 though.

Are there tarriffs on fragrances here?
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 15
3/14/07 at 6:49pm
jaelyn, excellent information. I always wondered why the costs were so different. My weird experience was with Andy Tauer's fragrance. I saw that it was lots cheaper on his website and so I placed the order...however, the shipping more than made up for the difference between his site and Luckyscent. It was worth it but I do love Luckyscent! Love you too VJ!!!
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 15
3/14/07 at 7:07pm
I bought l'homme sage and l'homme de coeur direct from Divine's website mostly because of lucky's high price. A single 50 ml atomizer of just one scent from luckyscent was $124 shipping included.

From Divine, I got two 60 ml bottles - that cost $172 including shipping. It took about 10 days to arrive by priority mail from France, but would have been faster if it weren't for two weekends being included in that time period.

I decided to buy right from Divine because it was the better bargain, but their service was so perfect, bottles wrapped stylishly, packaged with obvious care, hand-written note, with samples of all their scents (including more of the two I just bought), the buying experience alone was enough to encourage buying directly from Divine also. (note there are no email confirmations/invoices sent to you from the website though - it's a bit primitive.) Luckyscent has done well for me with prompt, efficient service, but efficiency isn't the same kind of service as polished personal attention.

It was by far my best fragrance buy - couldn't have been better. Both of Divine's men's fragrances are five-stars to me.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 15
3/14/07 at 7:11pm
Luckyscent has to recoup some of the money THEY had to pay for shipping.

I imagine they buy some of these fragrances by the case. The heavier and bulkier the case, the more the shipping cost.

Either way, they are going to make the money back.



S
--------------------------------------
By the way, what is Divine's website URL?


S
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 15
3/14/07 at 7:16pm
LiveJazz, I think if you add the shipping costs the saving is almost nothing for the 50ml rechargable atomizer. But I ordered a 100ml (splash) bottle of L'Homme de Coeur directly from Divine a couple of months ago and per ml that is much cheaper. Plus I got a handwritten note wishing me a Radiant New Year, which it never would have occured to me to have otherwise. And they sent samples of their whole line. The down side obviously is that I don't have the lovely (I assume) metal atomizer and so I drizzle it on myself out of a flakey atomizer/drizzler from Sephora. It might be that 50ml of L'Homme is quite enough. I do love the stuff, though, and have been pleased that I got the big bottle. Plus there was the note.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 15
3/14/07 at 7:23pm
My note was "I hope they (the fragrances) seduce you and merit your confidence . . ." - my first experience with seduction by an inanimate object.

I truly love them though.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 15
3/14/07 at 7:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwntwnjay View Post

My note was "I hope they (the fragrances) seduce you and merit your confidence . . ." - my first experience with seduction by an inanimate object.

Yes! Great memory! You've got to wonder whether you aren't more likely to be seduced by objects that don't merit your confidence, some kind of badgirl perfume with commitment issues and short term memory loss, skanky basenotes that linger reproachfully the whole next day. What Dwntwnjay says about the care and stylishness of the packaging is also accurate. It was really fun to receive.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 15
3/14/07 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaelynn View Post

Absolutely! When talking about the difference of $15 it is mostly about what is called the "Landed Cost". When importing there are a pile of costs involved. Yout not only have the basic transportation charge but you pay the freight forwarder on the origin end to prepare your export documents and file your export declaration and do the leg work of arranging all legs of the transport from the factory/warehouse to the shoppe. You'll also have to pay brokerage on the import side to a customs broker who files your import paperwork plus whatever customs charges are assessed.

For a "smaller" importer this can get expensive because they are paying ex/im fees on every single shipment no matter how small it is.....a service fee that nice folks like me charge nice folks like you. My export service & handling fee for an air shipment starts somewhere around $75 (add $25 more if it's dangerous goods) and for ocean shipments I don't talk to a small exporter for less than $175 (plus $25 or so if it's dangerous goods). This is just for me arranging the shipment and doing the export filing & compliance checks - it does not include the freight.

Thanks for explaining this intricately Jaelynn, as a retailer I know all the costs and knew about brokerage fees etc, etc, because I have imported things myself. I did not include all this information in my post, and I am glad you did.

This gives the other members, that are consumers some knowledge of the costs and the pains we have to go through. So members, please don't jump to conclusions about huge markups etc. Stores and e-tailers do have to make some money too, otherwise why would someone be in business .

Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveJazz;

Are there tarriffs on fragrances here?

There are US custom duties/tariff's for importing goods. The percentage of duties depends on the type of goods and where you are importing from. sometimes these duties are waived off if you are importing from third world countries.

Quote:
Originally Posted by paintrman;

I do love Luckyscent! Love you too VJ!!!

God, I do hope so K.... . Good to hear from you my friend.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 15
3/14/07 at 9:07pm
Yeah, I just bought bottle from Divine, but I would have gone with LuckyScent had I not wanted the 60ml flacon for less. If I would have bought the 50ml from either place, it would have been $115. Divine would have taken longer to ship, so LS would have been the way to go.
- Rich
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: MFD Archive

Features on Basenotes

Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Luckyscent: are all of their prices this inflated?