Because I love scouring eBay looking for perfume that I probably should not buy, I present some current “Tempting eBay finds”, in no particular order, for those ‘fumies with cash burning a hole in their pocket:
The eBayer I bought my Alahine from is back with an 100mL bottle for $75, still a steal! (she’s also got the rest of the Teo Cabanel line, all at a great price)
Amouage Lyric, 100mL for $219.99 While I have not made a purchase from this seller, my mom bought her bottle of Montale Aoud Red Flowers from him, and had a positive experience.
Caron Yatagan, that heavenly lavender, (4.2oz) for only $30.95 (I have NOT bought from this seller)
Jacomo Silences EDP, 100mL (tester) for $16.75, shipped!
(I haven’t bought from this seller, but plan to…)
I have bought many fragrances on eBay, and have had a positive experience each time. I’m lucky, since I know that there are people out there selling knock-offs, diluted fragrances, or other nasty surprises for the unsuspecting perfumista.
Some of my eBay scores:
Agent Provacateur
Alahine
Aoud Queen Roses*
Aveda Chakra #7
Calamity J*
Chanel Eau Premiere
Chanel no 19 EDP
Chanel no 5 EDT (vintage)
Demeter Gingerale
Demeter Sugar Cane
Donna Karan Gold EDP
Eau des Merveilles*
L’Heure Bleue EDT, vintage
PG Bois Blonde
Serge Lutens Sa Majeste la Rose
Shalimar EDC (1967, pristine, unopened package!)
Shalimar parfum (1967, pristine, unopened package!)
Stella
Yohji Homme
Youth Dew Amber Nude (body oil)
YSL Cinema (samples)
Have you bought fragrances on eBay? Have your experiences been positive, or negative?
* Some fragrances that I forgot I bought on eBay and have added after the original post was published… Oops!
beauty on the outside 
wow, what a mother lode!
I recently bought two versions of Replique, and I’m waiting on some Eau des Merveilles. So far, all have been good (and inexpensive) transactions!
Inexpensive is the best part! Now that you mention it, I also got some Eau des Merveilles on eBay, but just a travel spray… LOL!
Have you tried that one yet? It’s getting to be the season when I really like to wear it. Warm evenings and EdM go hand-in-hand! 🙂
Oh, the perils of eBay! I have been known to go looking for vintage Fidji…and drool – just not at the price tag!
One thing strikes me, however. That steal of Silences…You know this is one of my Really Big Immortals, and therefore – a word of warning. Unless it’s listed as Parfum de Toilette – which is the term used on the original formulations for what equates, more or less, to EdP – you’re dealing with the reformulation, just to let you know. The version I have is the one in a gray box with the label ‘parfum de toilette’, whereas the reformulation is listed as Eau de Parfum and comes in a black box. (Thank Helg of PerfumeShrine for this info!) I have no idea what the reformulation is like. Do any Silences fans want to tell me?
I don’t know if I’d have the nerve to buy anything on eBay, unless I were looking for something I had searched for everywhere else without success. I’d trust a fellow ‘fumie over a lot of eBay sellers any day – I’ve heard so many horror stories!
But every so often, I go look to see what’s there…find that unopened bottle of vintage (and it must be vintage!!!) Fidji…and sigh, a doom-laden, leaden, sorrowful kind of sigh…
So should any of you ever come across a bottle of vintage Fidji (you’re looking for the amber-colored juice) in fairly good condition for a steal at a garage/estate sale/thrift store…email me ASAP. Please? 😉
And then there is Silences Purple, which seems to be something else altogether.
My Silences is just a small decant from TPC. Concentration unknown – TPC does not say on its site which it is. Unusual, as TPC is usually pretty scrupulous about this, I thought. Anyway, I do love it. Thanks for the info. Good luck with that Fidji.
That is interesting that TPC didn’t specify—as you say, they usually are so careful about that!
I wonder, T., can you comment on how great the difference is between pre-reformulation and the current version? Maybe they aren’t very great??
I love the wealth of combined knowledge accessible through you lovelies!
Tarleisio, thank you so much for commenting on the labeling! I had been wondering, because I’ve seen both—and at reasonable prices for each! I had no idea which one I should go for, but now I feel confident and will reward myself with a bottle of Silences (reward for what? Shush you!). LOL, I haven’t even smelled it yet, but since it’s got the thumbs up from both you and Anne-Marie, I feel no trepidation.
Besides, if I hate it, I know where I can send it to get love!! 🙂
And I will keep my eyes peeled for Fidji, but the last few times I did see it, it was going for an arm and an eyeball… Ha! Maybe one of my lucky estate sale ventures will bring luck…
Really useful post! I’ve had mostly good experiences on eBay but I rarely spend more than about $50 including shipping. A couple of times I have splurged more, on Chanel No 5 parfum, vintage and new. It was okay, but with those two I probably was taking a risk, as Chanel No 5 is apparently one of the most counterfeited fragrances.
Apart from paying attention to the seller’s feedback score, I also look for good quality photos of the actual product, not a stock photo. It’s important that you can check for yourself the concentration (EDT etc) on the label and/or box. Sellers are sometimes unaware of the differences and describe them inaccurately. You also need to check the capacity or size of the bottle, so you know what you are getting. If a seller can’t be bothered supplying a good clear photo, I can’t be bothered dealing with them.
An exception to my rule about photos might be a seller like strawberry.net, which uses stock photos. However, it specialises in fragrances and cosmetics and has a good reputation (I think). I have not bought from strawberry.net but they are offering a good deal on Diorella … so I just might.
Unwanted gifts can be great if the seller has not done their research to see what the fragrance is really worth. I even got a vintage bottle of Chamade EDT that way – it had been a gift to the seller way back in 1993 and she was finally getting rid of it.
My main issue with eBay is the cost of international shipping. Some sellers charge $25 or (way) more. Hardly a bargain if all I want is one item.
Annemariec, I totally second checking the concentration on the box/bottle in the photo. I’ve seen people get that wrong in the description a few times.
So true! I look for the same things, and I’m glad that you mentioned it— an actual photo of the item being sold is SO important!
And, as you point out, examining the photo to check the actual concentration/volume of the bottle is key as well. I ended up with a back-up bottle of Shalimar parfum (parfum!) for only $70 because the dummy (sorry dummy, but it’s true) who had it but did not want it sold it as EDP. And yes, I can confirm that the contents were perfect (I have a department store purchased parfum to compare it to)
Maybe I should revise this post a little later with all the do’s and don’ts of successful buying on eBay… I can re-title it “Winning!”
haha 🙂
I haven’t bought from Starwberry, but I have bought from a few others like them, and with positive results. Feedback, as you also mention, is key.
Funnily enough a bottle of Iris Poudre arrived today from an Ebay seller which I am putting by for my sister’s birthday later this year (very tempted to take a tiny sprintz though!).
I too have had good experiences on Ebay so far but I sometimes think I should call it day as my luck is sure to run out. I do it to save money but I still find it a little stressful waiting for the stuff to arrive and check it’s OK.
I don’t spend much if it’s an unsniffed purchase but luckily I have liked them all. With expensive scents I kid myself that people aren’t going to bother making knock-offs of niche or high-end perfumes as much as the popular mainstream ones but don’t know how true that is. I’ve yet to make a vintage purchase in case because I’m scared to pay a lot of money and find out it’s turned.
So far I’ve bought the following full bottles on Ebay (that I can recall) –
Unsniffed:
Cuir de Lancome
Terracotta Voile de Ete
Ca Sent Beau
Sniffed:
31 Rue Cambon
Une Rose
Ta’if travel sprays
Shalimar EDP
Mitsouko EDP
2 x Mitsouko parfum
4 x pre-reformulation Diorella
Chergui (which I promptly resold after wearing once)
Many congrats Dee on your vintage Shalimar buys, they sound amazing!
Wow, you got your Ta’if on eBay? And 31RC? Well done!
That is a fine list you’ve got going— maybe we need a support group encouraging us to stop while we’re ahead, LOL!
(we’ll start that group as soon as I purchase my Silences)
I have purchased many things on Ebay over the years. Almost every transaction has been a positive one. I have never been ‘stiffed’ by an Ebay seller. I have purchased a few perfumes on Ebay, but not any large expenditures. I would agree with the advise to be very careful to check the concentration being sold. I will say that I have purchased a couple of perfume items which had ‘turned’. These were very minor purchases (dollar-wise) and I chose not to complain, as there had been no representation in that regard.
Alice, what a bummer about the turned fragrances! That is a major risk, especially where vintage juice is concerned. Sometimes, however, only the top-notes go, and if you’re willing to await them burning off you may still have a wearable perfume… I hope that your purchases weren’t a total loss! 😦
It sounds like you didn’t lose any large sums of money, which is a good thing! Stay away from those vintage bottles of Fidji!
😉
Agreed about the top notes, I’ve had that experience often. BUT the large bottle of vintage Miss Dior I bought recently on eBay turned out to be completely off. Utterly vile. I waited, hoping the true fragrance would emerge, and right towards the very end I got a hint of the real thing. But really, it is a lost cause. I did not pay much for it, and I like the bottle, so I’m not complaining. Disappointed tho’.
Oh no!!! That is just awful! I’m glad to hear that it didn’t bankrupt you, but it is unfortunate, even if it was only a few dollars. None of us has money to throw away! 😦
At least you are left with a lovely bottle! 🙂
I have had that happen, buying vintage stuff… I mean, with the number of vintage bottles I’ve bought, I’m bound to run across a ruined one now and then. My rule of thumb is not to bid more than I could bear to lose, knowing that it’s certainly possible for the fragrance to be completely bad.
OTOH, I have had far more successes than failures. The HUGE 4.8 oz bottle of Silences PdT for $26 (um, backup – I also have a 2oz one)… the 1 oz bottle, slightly used, missing its label, of L’Heure Bleue parfum for $42, the pristine 1950s 1 oz bottle of No. 5 parfum, in all its packaging, 99% full, utterly stunning, $36… the straw-colored Je Reviens in a Lalique disc bottle, $18… I won’t go on, but ebay is such a fun place to play.
Wow Mals, you have had some serious good luck! I’m more than a little bit jealous of that Silences score!
Vintage bottles are a little bit scary, because the hope of a perfectly preserved juice (a thing of awe and wonder) can sometimes be the rose-colored glasses to the reality that many perfume owners simply don’t understand little nuances: like keeping the juice out of light and heat! It makes me terribly sad when I hear of someone getting a spoiled (or split) bottle, because it reminds me how fragile luck is—I hope that I don’t learn this lesson on a bottle of vintage Fidji parfum… LOL!
I bought a lot on eBay over the years and I have never had a bad experience. The latest purchase (before the embargo) was Eau de Merveilles in the limited constellation bottle for about half the retail price.
I love browsing eBay, everything can be found there, sooner or later, I love that.
Eau des Merveilles! That’s three of us that have bought it on eBay! A bad sign for Hermes, maybe, but a good sign for us!
It’s interesting to me how easily available so many fragrances are at such discounted rates, even shortly after their release. How are all these discounters getting the ‘fumes, I wonder?
I too love browsing, and my “watching” list is always got pages and pages of perfumes collected in it… It’s spoiled me, in a way, that now when I shop at a retail store for perfume, my first thought is, “I can probably get this for a lot less on eBay”. It helps me to apply restraint when shopping!
🙂