Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › Rule of thumb for ebay
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Rule of thumb for ebay

post #1 of 14
2/15/13 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
Whoever buys on ebay for fragrances, what are some rules you go by i.e feedback rating (how high), % of positive feedback etc.. is there any certain people you purchase from?

please help

ps im talking about all kinds of fragrances especially creeds..
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
post #2 of 14
2/15/13 at 12:39pm
I do thorough research of seller. I have made very large monetary value purchases of fragrances over $1000 with sellers and to this day have not had a problem with any of the sellers I deal with. Of course, there is always a risk, but if you pay with paypal your purchase is protected if there is an incident.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 14
2/15/13 at 2:27pm
I've bought almost only vintage on ebay, which is a different market from current perfumes. But in either cases, problems happen sooner or later, so a rule of thumb is not to bid anything you cannot comfortably afford to lose.

As for prices, you should follow your specific target market and see at what prices things sell (ie not the asking, buy it now price, but the selling price). And do not enter bidding wars, especially at the last minute. You will end up overpaying. Put down the price you're comfortable with, and leave it at that.

cacio
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 14
2/15/13 at 2:36pm
Watch out for the new postage rules too. Stick to local.

Look at all others and compare the juice colour if buying vintage. See what that person buys. Is their reputation good. I have only been bitten a couple of times in donkeys years of buying. Most people are good people. If in any doubt, don't buy. There will always be another soon. There always is.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
2/15/13 at 3:20pm
99%+ Positive Feedback

Over 500 transactions
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 14
2/15/13 at 3:35pm
feedback and multiple items for sell of the same fragrance. what normal person has six bottle of any creed with a starting price of 99 cents? stay away from a lot of new york sellers, that is the home of fake everything ( watches,lacoste,purses,jewelry) etc...also ask for actual pics, not stock photos..
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 14
2/15/13 at 4:35pm
I only use the used fragrance section because you don't usually find used fakes, but you do find vintage frags, rare frags and good deals on slightly used frags. I still follow the basic rules of feedback and precentages and so forth.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 14
2/17/13 at 6:46am
It depends on what type of seller they are.

If it's someone selling their personal fragrance, I check their feedback to see if there have been any previous frag sales.

If it's someone who sells quite a bit of stock, I check their feedback to see if there have been any sales involving the actual product I'm buying.

If this method turns up good feedback and their overall feedback percentage is high (99.5%+) I will usually give it a chance ONLY if it's a good deal or something hard to find.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
2/17/13 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by noirdrakkar View Post

99%+ Positive Feedback

Over 500 transactions

I really need to disagree with this. I think feedback is, not meaningless, but very tricky when it comes to purchasing fragrances. Plenty of sellers sell fake items, either knowingly or not, and their customers may have no idea whether it's fake or not. Feedback doesn't usually come from a well-informed basenotes member, it comes from the general public, who know very little about scents. It may not even have dawned on that Ebay member that he/she bought a fake when he/she left positive feedback for the seller.

I came dangerously close to buying an Amouage fragrance from a seller. Looked kind of weird in the picture, but the seller had 99.6% feedback with over 1000 transactions. Looking closer, I saw that just one person had complained that the item was fake. And that was good enough for me. See-ya.

My advice would be- never buy from a seller using a stock photo. Because then, how are you going to know? This excludes any "fragrance depot" type of seller, and that's kind of the point. It weeds out the fakers.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 14
2/17/13 at 11:31am
For more recent fragrances, partially used bottles with pictures of the actual bottle. Have found these to be from decent folks just clearing clutter. Got 2 L'artisans, Lancome Cuir and other bottles this way.

For vintage, used is tougher, as the fragrance may have gone off. It's kind of hard to believe all the "look what I found in Granny's attic" descriptions. And if true, do you want something that baked for decades in Granny's attic? I wish ebay had a scratch and sniff option! The only times I was disappointed in ebay fragrances were with vintage ones that smelled like they'd been held over a bunsen burner. I look for descriptions that say it still smells good.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 14
2/18/13 at 2:06pm
Ive decided im done with ebay purchases. I have had good and bad luck but I have yet to receive a fake as far as I know, but I have gotten a YSL la nuit and Michael kors that smell terribly old or even watered down. The way I figure it is, yeah you save 20$ over the department store, but who knows what your getting and when your collection is large enough like mine, its going to take awhile (possibly years) to finish that bottle. little more money spent is money saved in the long run for me
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 14
2/18/13 at 3:01pm
I try to find used fragrances from individuals with pictures of the actual bottles (not stock images). In fact, I just purchased two used bottles from an estate sale buyer today (vintage, Italy version of D&G Pour Homme and a cheap bottle of Polo Sport).
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 14
2/18/13 at 8:05pm
I've been lucky. Purchases so far included a lightly used Fracas and a gold Guerlain bee bottle, both at good prices. I stayed local as well. I stay away from commonly faked labels like Chanel.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 14
2/18/13 at 8:34pm
1. Feedback should be 99.5% +
2. Seller should have actual photos, not stock photos (images that someone could have easily googled). These photos usually show the bottle's information, how full it is, etc. Basically, it should be a picture of the EXACT bottle you're getting.
3. I aim for sellers who do not specialize in "fragrance sales." That is, unless they are part of a larger company (fragrancenet.com has an eBay account where they also sell). Look for everyday people who just want to sell their stuff.
4. Smaller bottles are usually safer to purchase than larger bottles (most sellers will counterfeit 100ml bottles and not 50ml).
5. Your best bet is to READ the feedback instead of just looking at the numbers. If others are mentioning that the seller is selling fake's, avoid.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Just Starting Out

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › Rule of thumb for ebay