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Buying fragrances on ebay

post #1 of 6
9/25/07 at 7:37am
Thread Starter 
is this recommended?

and how would you know if you were shipped a counterfeit/fake product?
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post #2 of 6
9/25/07 at 7:50am
I'm a little too new to tell a fake from the real thing, so I avoid ebay right now. However, if you do a search on this forum, you will find a list of good ebay sellers.

Right now, I buy my fragrances from www.bigdiscount.com or www.scentiments.com. Both can usually rival (or beat) ebay sellers prices (from what I've seen anyways), and they're both reputable sellers with good customer service.

Hope this helps!
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post #3 of 6
9/25/07 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
yeah, I should probably just order from one of those stores from now on. The problem is, I ordered a 2.5 ox or armani code for 35$ and a 4.2oz of D&G homme for like 35$ too. At the time it seemed like a good idea(haha how often do you say that ) but now I'm thinking that they might not be legit. However, both of the sellers have good reviews and one is an ebay power seller. both of them also offer 100% money back guarentee. I know i'll be able to determine if the code is real because one of my friends has it, but the D&G might be difficult.
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post #4 of 6
9/25/07 at 8:40am
Don't worry... lower priced frags like that aren't counterfeited as much as things like Green Irish Tweed etc. are because of the economies of scale. If they have a lot of feedback, I'm sure you're fine.
I've seen a lot of people just assume something is fake if they don't end up liking it. If you were getting a bottle of Silver Mountain Water for $35, then I might say, gotcha a fake'un.
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post #5 of 6
9/26/07 at 3:21am
The other thing is to consider getting some samples or decants of fragrances you fancy - then if you like something enough to buy a full bottle on ebay you have your decant to compare it to to make sure it's OK.

Decants (5mls or so of fragrance put into a little bottle or atomiser) used to be sold on ebay but are now banned. This is because there was a risk of Ebay being sued by one of the major perfume companies. For the same reason, decant sales have been banned from Basenotes too.

The reputable decant sellers have set up their own websites and ones that I've seen get good reviews from fellow Baseoters are Perfume Posse and The Perfumed Court. But if you're a Basenotes supporter you can use the BN marketplace to buy bottles from fellow BNers or swap bottles you've bought but don't like for something you do fancy. And quite a few Basenoters also sell decants of their fragrances, but they do it via a website outside Basenotes - look for links on the bottom of posts or marketplace sale lists.

But I buy from Ebay all the time (too bloomin often!) and by being a bit sensible and checking the feedback, as you suggest, it's usually fine. As jrd4t said, it seems to be the very expensive niche fragrances that you hear about people getting ripped off on. I've seen a few threads on fake Creeds.
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post #6 of 6
9/26/07 at 5:37am
  • kbe
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I would suspect that sellers often sell counterfeit items without personal knowledge that they are doing so. Many of the counterfeit items are NIB, sealed and look so much like the original it might take a pro to be able to tell without actually opening and smelling the juice. And then again...
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