EBAY flooded with Bon Bons?

[Possum-Pie]

Anyone else noticed that for the past month EBAY has been flooded with Bond No. 9 Bon Bon samples? I don't mean 2 or 3 sample lots-- but 40 or 50 sample BOXES!! My suspicious mind thinks that Bond must have had a truck stolen or something for people to be selling boxes full of these at less than retail price. I just saw a mix/match box of 50 for $75 buy-it-now. Ordering From Bond, 50 samples would be $125. This means you could get a whole bottle's worth of samples for $75!!. Something fishy...

[hedonist222]

Maybe that ended up with excess stock from a recently shutdown boutique.

[Possum-Pie]

Maybe that ended up with excess stock from a recently shutdown boutique.

I haven't heard that they closed any Bond boutique...I googled it without results...that would make sense though.

[unregistered]

Interesting lawsuit with them right now:

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...stomers-racism

Former employees accuse owner of racism, employer accuses fired employees of thievery. Connection?

"Robledo said when she and Widmann finally complained about the racism in February, Rahme fired them and accused them of stealing $25,000 worth of stock. They deny the accusation.""

[hedonist222]

I haven't heard that they closed any Bond boutique...I googled it without results...that would make sense though.

maybe internationally.

[Possum-Pie]

maybe internationally.

Maybe, but some detective work shows they are mailing them from New Jersey.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

It would be interesting to know if the stolen merch was bon-bon sets. If so, then it would be worth Bond's while to track down the source. If an investigation pointed toward the former employees, I imagine the suit would go away. OTOH, if it points elsewhere, it would provide an opportunity to mend fences. Entirely possible that the leak of the merch was somebody other than the fired employees. That would explain a lot about why this whole thing blew up.

There were a couple of trucks of fragrance hijacked over a year ago that I heard about. Not sure if there was any Bond on them, though I was told some of the other brands.

And Bonbons have to be ridiculously easy to counterfeit, too. Do we even know if they're real?

Ah, the drama of EvilBay.

[PalmBeach]

And Bonbons have to be ridiculously easy to counterfeit, too. Do we even know if they're real?

Incredibly easy. Like you, wonder if they are legit.

[noirdrakkar]

It is much better (economically and overall) to buy 60 samples of Bond no.9 (bn9) fragrances rather than buying 1 full 3.4 oz bottle of a bn9 fragrance!

Bn9 bottles cost $200+ for 100ml/3.4 oz. $150, is the very least, but that's on the grey market.

Bn9 sells 6 samples for $15. Each of those samples are 1.7 ml.

You can pay $150 for 60 1.7ml samples or you can pay $150+ for a grey market bottle in some cases.

60 x 1.7 = 102 ml if you spend $150 on 10 sample packages. So, compared to virtually every bottle in the house, you get MORE juice for LESS money.

So for example, I could end up getting:
17ml of New Haarlem, 17ml of Wall Street, 17ml of Chez Bond, 17ml of Bleecker Street,
8.5ml of Cooper Square, 8.5ml of Riverside Drive, and 6 other 1.7ml samples. 102ml of juice total.

You could get 17ml of 6 different fragrances or you can

Okay, the only real con I see about this idea is that you only like 1 or 2 offerings from the Bond house. But if you like multiple offerings from this house, it's well worth it. Oh, and if you like owning full-sized bottles rather than samples (but wouldn't the idea of an ash tray full of bon bons next to your collection look pleasing too?)

Other than that, let's look at all of the positives:

1. You don't have to drop $150+ all at once. You can pay at your own pace. You could even go half way and get 51ml for $75. It costs $130 for a 50ml bottle at Bn9.

2. You get a greater variety. Instead of getting one fragrance, you get at least 6+ different fragrances: more variety for a seasoned collector.

3. If you are a serious collector, chances are that you'll never (or at least for a really really long time) finish a full bottle, but you will make great use out of samples.

4. You can buy samples of really expensive fragrances such as NY Oud and Signature, and instead of $3/2ml (compared to a $2/1ml single-bottle price) you could potentially pay $1/1ml.

5. Atomizers are more transportable, easier to trade, can pass through airports for vacations, and make it easier to reapply.

Do I have a good theory here? Or was this already addressed and deflated?

[Awakening950]

Half the joy of the fragrance obsession is owning a bottle that sits in the rest of my collection. I really don't want my collection to consist of a bunch of little vials and atomizers. That's just me though.'

[noirdrakkar]

Half the joy of the fragrance obsession is owning a bottle that sits in the rest of my collection. I really don't want my collection to consist of a bunch of little vials and atomizers. That's just me though.'

But the one good thing about Bonds are that the bon bons are aesthetically pleasing. I would rather have an ashtray of 50+ vials wrapped in different colors than a cheesy star-shaped bottle with NYC on it.

Also, having small atomizers means traveling with the fragrance as well as re-applying is much easier.

[fit&frag'd]

I've thought about this too, actually. Does Bond allow you to do that, though (buy that many sample packs)? Only problem I have is I've only really found 3 of their frags I'd personally consider FB worthy at retail (or grey market). I like several, but only 2 enough to purchase.

[noirdrakkar]

I've thought about this too, actually. Does Bond allow you to do that, though (buy that many sample packs)? Only problem I have is I've only really found 3 of their frags I'd personally consider FB worthy at retail (or grey market). I like several, but only 2 enough to purchase.

Well not all at once. But you can order 1 sample-pack per week. What are they going to do? Say no and refuse your money?

Also, if you only find 3 of their frags buy-worthy, you can get 17ml of 3 of them, covering half your 102ml. Then, the ones you just-like (but wouldn't buy a full bottle), you can get less juice of.

[Awakening950]

Aren't you forgetting shipping costs?

[noirdrakkar]

No. I didn't pay any shipping. It's included.

[Nersh]

Well not all at once. But you can order 1 sample-pack per week. What are they going to do? Say no and refuse your money?

Also, if you only find 3 of their frags buy-worthy, you can get 17ml of 3 of them, covering half your 102ml. Then, the ones you just-like (but wouldn't buy a full bottle), you can get less juice of.

[tracerbullet]

Problem with Bond is what fit said...Bond lacks across the board quality.

[noirdrakkar]

Problem with Bond is what fit said...Bond lacks across the board quality.

Yeah, this proposition is only good if you really like more than 2 of their fragrances, as I said.

The common criticism of Bond is that they have a lot of interesting fragrances, but most aren't bottle-worthy? Well this 60-sample solution fixes the problem,.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Do you mean to tell us that those star-shaped samples aren't samples? Oh, my. I prefer to leave a bowl of them out for guests on the yacht. They seem so much smaller than my Guerlains. Are you sure they're not samples?

Or by samples, do you mean those horrid little vials? Are you suggesting that we un.... wrap....

Oh, my. I feel ill.

[noirdrakkar]

Do you mean to tell us that those star-shaped samples aren't samples? Oh, my. I prefer to leave a bowl of them out for guests on the yacht. They seem so much smaller than my Guerlains. Are you sure they're not samples?

Or by samples, do you mean those horrid little vials? Are you suggesting that we un.... wrap....

Oh, my. I feel ill.

you are too funny.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

you are too funny.

Thanks! I couldn't resist!

[PalmBeach]

LOL! Sometimes I think you have too much time on you hands.

[Nersh]

LOL! Sometimes I think you have too much time on you hands.

We are talking about NoirDrakker here correct ? lol

[JiveHippo]

I don't think Bond would allow you to do that, and it seems awfully impractical anyways.

[noirdrakkar]

I don't think Bond would allow you to do that, and it seems awfully impractical anyways.

Bond only allows you to buy one set of samples at a time, but they don't have a limit per customer.

Moreover, based on all of the positive points I listed, how on god's green earth is it impractical?

[Shiny Beast]

To circumnavigate any sort of "you can't do that" type BS, you can tell them you're a personal shopper and you've got a client list to shop for. Let them say no to that.

[noirdrakkar]

thanks, great idea shiny

[JiveHippo]

You honestly can't see how it would be more practical to just buy a full bottle of the scent you like? What if you want to wear Chez Bond 10 days in a row? Unless you're getting a new sample in the mail everyday continually replenishing your supply you can't. Those samples are meant to help you discover a scent that you like enough to purchase a full bottle. Once they notice that you've making a new sample order everyday of exactly the same samples they're going to put the kibosh on it. Furthermore I don't want to waste my time decanting sample vials every morning, and going through the checkout process everyday. But you try it out, let us know how it goes.

[Redneck Perfumisto]

Samples can get stolen. Bottle can get stolen.
Samples can be crushed. Bottle can be crushed.
Samples won't break in an earthquake if they fall to the floor, but bottle will.

Point goes to samples!

[noirdrakkar]

You honestly can't see how it would be more practical to just buy a full bottle of the scent you like? What if you want to wear Chez Bond 10 days in a row? Unless you're getting a new sample in the mail everyday continually replenishing your supply you can't. Those samples are meant to help you discover a scent that you like enough to purchase a full bottle. Once they notice that you've making a new sample order everyday of exactly the same samples they're going to put the kibosh on it. Furthermore I don't want to waste my time decanting sample vials every morning, and going through the checkout process everyday. But you try it out, let us know how it goes.

Still, 100ml of juice is 100ml of juice. Chances are I won't want to wear the same fragrance 10 times in a row, considering all of the fragrances I have. A 100ml bottle would easily last me at least 6 years. So, 17 ml, wouldn't last me a month. And let's say I do use up all of it in a short period of time, my Bleecker/Riverside/Haarlem samples would still easily justify the purchase.

No matter what way you look at it , better value for the money.