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Is Strawberrynet.com a reputable seller?

post #1 of 46
1/31/11 at 11:28am
Thread Starter 
They are based in Hong Kong, notoriously famous for knock-offs. Should that dissuade me or are they reputable?
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post #2 of 46
1/31/11 at 11:37am
Never had a problem with them.

But now they have a high prices compared to others like Fragrancenet or Beautive
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post #3 of 46
1/31/11 at 12:35pm
Entirely legitimate.

And, I have to say, your assessment of HK is breathtaking.
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post #4 of 46
1/31/11 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Rudi View Post

Entirely legitimate.

And, I have to say, your assessment of HK is breathtaking.

True point. My bad. Apologies.
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post #5 of 46
1/31/11 at 1:27pm
I have never had any problems with this retailer.
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post #6 of 46
1/31/11 at 1:46pm
They are completely legit. I purchased l'Instant EDP (Extreme) from them and received it within 1 week brand new in box. No problems at all.
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post #7 of 46
1/31/11 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by neal View Post

They are based in Hong Kong, notoriously famous for knock-offs. Should that dissuade me or are they reputable?

I recently ordered L'Instant de Guerlain EDP from them and received it within a week.

P.S. I don't think Hong Kong is known for knock offs. I've been to Hong Kong 3 years ago and what I saw mostly were skyscrapers, men and women in suits walking in the streets, and high end boutiques. I think you're referring to China.
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post #8 of 46
1/31/11 at 2:48pm
Yes, quite reputable. Their regular prices are nothing to write home about, but their specials are often quite good (or at-least comparable with other good discount online retailers). They seem to offer free shipping if you buy at-least one non-fragrance item, so for my last order they waived the $10 shopping fee because I added an $8 lip-gloss. I won't tell my fiancée that it cost me $-2.
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post #9 of 46
1/31/11 at 3:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardC View Post

They seem to offer free shipping if you buy at-least one non-fragrance item, so for my last order they waived the $10 shopping fee because I added an $8 lip-gloss. I won't tell my fiancée that it cost me $-2.

Correct - I think it's free shipping if you buy a "Skincare, Make Up, or Body Lines" product. I do the same thing - find the cheapest smallest something that is less than the price of shipping, and voila! And over the long term, there is a 'loyalty bonus' of progressively bigger discounts on your bill - I think it's 10% after order number 20. Plus, for multiple orders of the same product, there is some other small discount.
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post #10 of 46
1/31/11 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Rudi View Post

Plus, for multiple orders of the same product, there is some other small discount.

Multiple items in general attract increasing discounts per item (up to a point). They've got lots of tiny discounts that eventually add up to something more-or-less worthwhile, though I think the intended effect is mainly to make it impossible to compare their prices directly against anyone else! The bottom of my latest order looks like this:

Merchandise total: AUD$144.00
Shipping cost: AUD$0.00
3% off for 4 items: -AUD$4.32
1% Loyalty Discount: -AUD$1.44
Extra 10% Off - Fragrance Specials: -AUD$13.60

Total paid: AUD$124.64 (a grand total of 13.4% off)
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post #11 of 46
1/31/11 at 4:11pm
I've ordered from them successfully - a Serge Lutens fume - and although the item got stalled in US post probably at customs, it arrived as promised. 10 days I believe. No problems whatsoever with them, based of course on that one transaction.
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post #12 of 46
1/31/11 at 8:59pm
And in the interests of congruence on my part, I should say this thread belongs in the appropriate forum which is:

http://www.basenotes.net/forums/19-I...hopping-Guides


And without plugging the site unnecessarily, they have an "additional 10% off fragrances" sale which finishes on 2 February.
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post #13 of 46
1/31/11 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Rudi View Post

And in the interests of congruence on my part, I should say this thread belongs in the appropriate forum which is:

http://www.basenotes.net/forums/19-I...hopping-Guides


And without plugging the site unnecessarily, they have an "additional 10% off fragrances" sale which finishes on 2 February.

Which I just took advantage of
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post #14 of 46
1/31/11 at 9:57pm
been fine with me ..
my first purchase was a large Basala & no problem with that
have since bought another 3 or 4 times 7 all good
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post #15 of 46
1/31/11 at 11:27pm
I hope so. I'm awaiting shipment of my first order: Muscs Koublaï Khän and Chergui.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the "street view" for their address:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=No.4,+...fokvXARcd_mpyg

Their building is the same color as their website!
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post #16 of 46
1/31/11 at 11:53pm
I think they can be trusted for fragrance. Recent experience especially is good, from what I've seen.

I've scoured the net and looked very closely at every complaint I could find - not all of which can be completely believed. Not once did I find anything to indicate any kind of problem with fragrance. However, there are a number of complaints about high-end skin-care products being old or otherwise questionable. Most of those complaints are also a few years old, too, which lessens their impact IMO. There are complaints about difficulty when products don't show up or have to be returned, but that is a very common complaint when overseas shipping is involved. Overseas shipping is just risky, IMO.

I have a question for the gang - what about packing? Is it better than fragrancenet.com? Theirs has been a bit dicey. Not sure if they've improved lately, but I've had broken samples, and others have had broken bottles. What kind of packing does strawberrynet use?
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post #17 of 46
2/1/11 at 12:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck Perfumisto View Post

I think they can be trusted for fragrance. Recent experience especially is good, from what I've seen.

I've scoured the net and looked very closely at every complaint I could find - not all of which can be completely believed. Not once did I find anything to indicate any kind of problem with fragrance. However, there are a number of complaints about high-end skin-care products being old or otherwise questionable. Most of those complaints are also a few years old, too, which lessens their impact IMO. There are complaints about difficulty when products don't show up or have to be returned, but that is a very common complaint when overseas shipping is involved. Overseas shipping is just risky, IMO.

I have a question for the gang - what about packing? Is it better than fragrancenet.com? Theirs has been a bit dicey. Not sure if they've improved lately, but I've had broken samples, and others have had broken bottles. What kind of packing does strawberrynet use?

Packing is good Jimbo :-)

Nicely sealed box with protective foam inside to limit movement. I've ordered quite a few times. Class outfit.
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post #18 of 46
2/1/11 at 12:11am
I have bought makeup but never fragrance. But I have found when searching for something they are usually more expensive than I can buy in a local store. Now this is in UK sterling. They are selling Lutens at £90+ where I can buy in House of Fraser or SpaceNK the same fragrance for £60+.
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post #19 of 46
2/1/11 at 12:16am
I've ordered my L'instant PH EDP from them and it came thru just fine -- except for the beginning part where they asked me to send them over a bill to verify credit card info. It was smooth sailing from then on.
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post #20 of 46
2/1/11 at 12:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jathanas View Post

Packing is good Jimbo :-)

Nicely sealed box with protective foam inside to limit movement. I've ordered quite a few times. Class outfit.

Awesome! Foam definitely works for me - and multiple orders even better.

(My theory on the bad cosmetics is that they had a dubious wholesaler somewhere further down the line, but have managed to clean up their supply chain.)
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post #21 of 46
2/2/11 at 5:16am
Never had a problem for 5 years of shopping from them, their campaigns are great!
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post #22 of 46
2/2/11 at 7:00am
Never ordered from them, but some prices seem high.
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post #23 of 46
2/2/11 at 7:05am
They are 100% reliable. But their prices are not attractive, even those on sale. However, you'll get a good customer service, good packing and quick delivery.
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post #24 of 46
2/2/11 at 10:17am
C'mon, their occasional campaign prices are great! Recently bought from Christmas campaign Instant Guerlain just for 30 bucks
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post #25 of 46
2/2/11 at 1:08pm
Haven't had problems with them. Just one time my order arrived in 2 weeks (1 week usually) .Could be possible that they send some orders not form Hong Kong? Every time my package had a stamp from Sweden?
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post #26 of 46
2/2/11 at 2:42pm
I've found them to be reliable. I've purchased two (somewhat hard to find) fragrances from them, then compared each to decants from TPC. My experience has been that they sell the real deal. Prices are high, but I'll pay it if I can't find what I'm looking for elsewhere. Shipping was timely and packaging was fine. I'll buy from them again.
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post #27 of 46
2/2/11 at 2:47pm
I had a problem with them.

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/251...-ml?highlight=

I have send them five e-mails but they never replied
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post #28 of 46
2/2/11 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by limaaa View Post

I had a problem with them.

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/251...-ml?highlight=

I have send them five e-mails but they never replied

Interesting. Thanks for the link. The bottles were clearly either meant for Pure Malt, or to look like they are Pure Malt. And then the juice is just A*Men. Total WTF. And then sb-net tries to slide out with half back or full price back, and then pulls the bottles off the site. Again, it sounds to me like they hooked up with a dubious supplier and corrected once they discovered it. It's a clear risk of their worldwide market-swapping business model.

Is it possible that those were just proof bottles from early in the design process on Pure Malt? And then somebody got greedy and decided to pawn off a crate of them into the wholesale stream? Either that, or they were dumped to a wholesaler as A*Men, but somebody along the way went by the bottle format instead of the actual label or shipping invoice. That makes the most sense to me. Especially since the juice smells like real A*Men. They're just proofs.

Not a fake, just a mistake. Might actually be worth something to a hardcore collector of Mugler, or somebody who digs unusual and rare bottles.
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post #29 of 46
2/2/11 at 11:56pm
Otherwise they are ok. I have ordered 5 or 6 times from them and beside that "Pure malt" mistake they are ok
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post #30 of 46
2/3/11 at 12:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redneck Perfumisto View Post

I have a question for the gang - what about packing? Is it better than fragrancenet.com? Theirs has been a bit dicey. Not sure if they've improved lately, but I've had broken samples, and others have had broken bottles. What kind of packing does strawberrynet use?

I got a 100ml Encre Noire from them on sale for less than the price of the 50ml (40% off, I think?), and it turned up gift wrapped, in a box full of foam chips.

No complaints whatsoever.
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post #31 of 46
2/3/11 at 2:03am
I've purchased a few items with no problems whatsoever. It would be econonically suicidal for a major player to deal in any counterfeit merchandise.

Martin
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post #32 of 46
1/1/13 at 9:59am
I can't believe they just spiked up their prices. I was going to order a backup bottle of L'Instant de Guerlain PH Extreme and noticed that it is now $78, which before was only $63.
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post #33 of 46
1/1/13 at 4:04pm
Price increases are often shocking, but what can you do? For something as elusive as LIDGE, it is difficult to find a big discount. It depends on how badly you want it.

By the way, I have been watching one of their special deals--50ml of the Homme EDP for about $45 (the prices I see are in yen). It seems quite cheap. I bought another one that seemed really cheap-- Michael for Men. It has the serial number scraped off the bottle, although I can't detect any problem with the quality. Other stuff I bought at less of a discount have their numbers intact. So, yes, I would say they have various sources at various levels of legitimacy. If you are looking for a high-quality frag, it can be counterproductive to be too concerned about discounts.
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post #34 of 46
1/2/13 at 4:39am
I think SB Net is especially useful for those outside the US or EU. International shipments of perfume are difficult for security reasons. That is probably why SBN doesn't want to deal with returns. It may be difficult or impossible for the buyer to reship perfumes. For something shipped within the destination country, it can be very quick--that is what lots of Americans are used to. But for international shipments, there are factors, like customs clearance, that can be tricky to predict. Living in Japan, I appreciate SBN because they have lots of stuff that is not available here. As someone noted, you just need to order one non-fragrance item to get free shipping. I don't think any of the other major frag operations offer free shipment internationally. As for communications, I have had my e-mails answered within an hour as a rule. So the conclusion is, if your country has a major mail-order operator, probably SBN will not be as good in terms of price and speedy delivery. For others, it can be a valuable resource.
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post #35 of 46
1/2/13 at 5:31am
Used them many times and always happy. Packing is nicely done and they are fast. Free shipping as well.

- - - Updated - - -

Used them many times and always happy. Packing is nicely done and they are fast. Free shipping as well.
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post #36 of 46
1/2/13 at 6:16am
Don't know yet. I ordered a 100ml of Dior Eau Sauvage Fraicheur Cuir. The item was supposedly sent out on 12-12-12. Haven't received yet. So at least I know their delivery time is not too good. As far as the product, I can't confirm yet.
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post #37 of 46
1/2/13 at 7:45am
HK post goes to hell leading up to xmas. I would expect 6 week backlog.
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post #38 of 46
1/2/13 at 3:35pm
Thanks for that info!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nowlan View Post

HK post goes to hell leading up to xmas. I would expect 6 week backlog.
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post #39 of 46
1/2/13 at 5:28pm
Products are fine, delivery can be a bit of a pain. Make sure you get it delivered to work or somewhere where someone will be in.
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post #40 of 46
1/2/13 at 5:52pm
Im in Australia and my orders from them have always arrived within 4 or 5 workng days. Extremely happy with their service so far.
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post #41 of 46
1/2/13 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsuzumi View Post

I don't think any of the other major frag operations offer free shipment internationally.

First in Fragrance in Germany offers free international tracked shipping with purchases over 450 Euros.
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post #42 of 46
1/16/13 at 6:51am
So, I just checked the status of my order that I placed a little over 2 weeks ago. My tracking number is in this format:

RR296000447FJ

I did some googling and learned that the FJ in the end actually means that it's coming from Fiji. Is this normal?
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post #43 of 46
1/23/13 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardC View Post

Yes, quite reputable. Their regular prices are nothing to write home about, but their specials are often quite good (or at-least comparable with other good discount online retailers). They seem to offer free shipping if you buy at-least one non-fragrance item, so for my last order they waived the $10 shopping fee because I added an $8 lip-gloss. I won't tell my fiancée that it cost me $-2.

Thats why im always waiting for their specials, when they do have them, they are usually quite good. I didnt make many purchases over all tho cannot give a complete thumbs up.
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post #44 of 46
1/23/13 at 8:46pm
Just an update... I received my order exactly 3 weeks after placing it. Not really a big deal. I'm just glad it got here in one piece.
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post #45 of 46
3/24/13 at 8:13am
Are their Creeds original as well?
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post #46 of 46
3/24/13 at 8:40am
Hi,
I'm new to fragrances and this wonderful community. I've a small collection and have bought everything inside India only.
But, the prices here are very high and choices low. So, I'm considering getting fragrances shipped from outside India.

The only thing that has stopped me from doing so is the customs. I don't know if, I order from outside the country, my shipment will reach me.

My question is - how is StrawBerryNet helpful in that regard? Have any of you had your shipments stuck at customs so that they never reached you?
If so, is there a way around it?

Thanks.
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