From the industry’s experts, discover the top 10 cheapest ways to buy real fragrances from around the world!
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How To Buy Perfume Cheap
The Ultimate Perfume Buying Guide was created to share the best possible tips on how to buy perfumes cheaply. It’s vitally important to find fragrances in the cheapest possible ways in order to turn a higher profit, but it is a difficult process to navigate. Based on extensive research and interviews with international purchase agents, this guide shares 10 insider secrets and strategies to use today.
International purchase agents are professionals who assist international customers in purchasing U.S. online products by avoiding international fees, expensive shipping costs, and language barriers. They are the leading experts in the industry in terms of buying cheaply. And their advice is invaluable. To help explain their points, this guide displays screenshots from real perfume transactions.
Let’s get started saving!
PERFUME BUYING TIP 10: Use Credit Card Cashback (save up to 5%)
This interesting saving tip is a no-brainer for any business owner. When possible, always pay using credit cards that offer cashback. These special credit cards are genius because they deliver up to 5% cash back on every purchase, putting money directly back in your pocket. It’s automatic savings!
Are you hesitant to use credit cards? Avoiding credit cards sounds like a good idea, but you lose out on many benefits (like cashback, extended warranties, travel points, and more.) Debit cards deduct purchases from your accounts directly so they offer less protection plus little or no cash back.
Many banks offer cash-back credit cards, but the two recommended options are:
- Citi Double Cash: This credit card offers up to 2% cash back – 1% on spending plus 1% on paying.
- Chase Freedom Rotation Benefit: This credit card system works in rotations throughout the year giving you 5% off certain merchants at certain times. But, you get 1% cash back on all purchases all the time!
PERFUME BUYING TIP 9: Always Check Rebate Sites (save 10%+)
Rebate sites are another smart way to save significant money on fragrances. If you place orders through a rebate site, you can save 10% or more!
What is a rebate site? A rebate site, or cashback site, is a type of reward-based website that pays its members a percentage of the money earned via purchases. They partner with the world’s most reputable brands (like Macy’s, eBay, Groupon, Hotels.com, plus infinite more) and offer deals for everyday purchases.
Most of the time, you can earn extra when buying from fragrance discounters such as FragranceNet. You can almost always get nice cashback from online department stores.
If you don’t check rebate websites for your fragrance purchases, you’re leaving money on the table. Three rebate websites worth bookmarking and checking regularly for deals are:
- Mr. Rebates – Provides signup bonus and usually allows cashback on top of coupon code (double-dipping!)
- Rakuten – $10 signup bonus for new members
- TopCashBack – $10 Signup Bonus
PERFUME BUYING TIP 8: Use Gift Cards (save up to 20%)
Gift cards are a brilliant way to save the highest percentage listed in The Ultimate Perfume Buying Guide so far. By making purchases through gift cards, rather than paying directly, you can save up to 20%. They are the gift that keeps on giving!
Raise.com is a gift card website that, similar to rebate sites, partners with leading brands to sell discounted gift cards. For example, as you can see in the screenshot below, you can purchase a $100 Bloomingdale gift card for only $93.44, saving an instant 6.6%. Keep tabs on Raise for exclusive deals and take advantage of these discounted gift cards to save at your favorite stores.
These discounted gift cards could also work at physical stores. (Check individual listings for verification.) Our real case also showed how this trick can save lots of money buying perfumes!
Raise provides $10 off for first-timers. If you see a good deal, go sign up and it won’t hurt.
However, there is one important thing to remember when using gift cards for purchases. You cannot spend too high a dollar amount of gift cards in a single transaction or in too short a period of time.
In some cases, a single transaction using gift cards for a higher amount (for example $500) can trigger fraud alerts that require manual reviews and sometimes even order cancelations. In addition, any purchase from a newly registered customer might get flagged if they use gift cards. Despite these few precautions, paying with gift cards is a smart strategy to save money on perfume purchases.
PERFUME BUYING TIP 7: Avoid Fakes
The fragrance industry is riddled with fake products, but thankfully you can avoid these shady dealers and ensure that you purchase only quality, real perfumes. How? Only buy from legitimate sources.
International purchase agents and our experts recommend staying away from eBay or third-party seller sites if you are not an experienced shopper. There is always a risk when buying from third-party sellers because you, and eBay, have no real control over their legitimacy.
The best way to avoid fake fragrances is to stay away from all third-party merchants. Or at least check their ratings before placing an order.
PERFUME BUYING TIP 6: Buy Perfume Decants
Bigger isn’t always better. Another expert way to save money on fragrances is to buy decants. What’s a perfume decant? A perfume decant is simply a smaller size bottle or vial of perfume that you pour the fragrance into.
Decants are not from the official manufacturer but can often be purchased from legitimate stores.
Typically when fragrance shopping, the salesperson encourages you to buy a bigger bottle because of the “value” it offers. While you do indeed get more perfume for less money, there’s a downside to sizing up. The unit price may be lower but a large bottle takes a long time to spritz through, you might not benefit from the full potential of your purchase.
Buying decants or smaller bottles of perfume doesn’t mean you need to shop more often either. In fact, 100ml of fragrance can last for years! Plus, it opens up the possibility of trying new scents as our preferences change over time. Sites like Scentbox or Scentbird are an affordable way to sample new fragrances in decants or smaller sizes.
TIP 5: Buy Perfume Testers (Save up to 50%)
One of the most cost-effective ways to score your favorite perfume is to buy a perfume tester. What exactly is a perfume tester? When you talk through a department store and spritz your favorite perfume, you are likely using a fragrance tester. Perfume testers encourage shoppers to try each scent.
Fragrance testers are original, legitimate, and brand new. But they’re cheaper because they were designated as a “perfume tester” rather than a bottle for retail.
They usually come in plain boxes and lack caps, but because of the lower costs in packaging, perfume testers are almost always cheaper than full-priced retail fragrances.
And the good news is, you get the exact same juice from a perfume tester bottle.
As long as you don’t mind missing out on the decorative box, buying a perfume tester is an economical way to get an expensive perfume for up to half off.
PERFUME BUYING TIP 4: Search for Coupon Codes (Save up to 37%)
What better way to save than with a coupon? You should always search for promo codes and coupons before purchasing any perfume in-store or online. Expert advice: Even though many promos have deadlines and countdown timers encourage impulse shopping, sales often reset after they expire. Save the two following sites and reference them regularly!
FragranceNet – 37% off is the new original price
FragranceNet is ALWAYS 37% off despite the constant website countdown and other advertised promo codes. Sometimes it will display codes ranging from 30-35% off, but you’ll see there is always a 37% code to take advantage of.
FragranceX – An easy way to enjoy 15% off
Similar to FragranceNet above, FragranceX is another legitimate source for buying discounted perfumes. You can find 15% off discount codes for FragranceX on websites like RetailMeNot.
PERFUME BUYING TIP 3: Buy from Perfume Discounters (Save up to 60%)
Retail costs drop when you cut out the middleman of a purchase. Buying directly from a perfume distributor can keep significant cash in your pocket – up to 60%! But without a retail business, how can you purchase from a distributor? Easy, keep reading.
Manufacturers might not want you to know, but they produce too much – all the time. When retail channels can’t digest enough of a certain brand or fragrance, manufacturers get rid of the inventory in bulk by selling the surplus product to distributors. Sometimes, these details happen overseas where the listed MSRP prices are even lower, bringing even cheaper goods into the US market.
There are legitimate sources to buy these “gray market” perfumes direct from these manufacturers. That explains why the two sites listed in Tip #4 were so cheap!
FragranceNet and Fragrance X are trustworthy gray market sellers. Here’s some supporting evidence why:
- Both sites work with famous fragrance reviewers and YouTubers. These influencers have huge communities that trust their sources.
- Therefore, if a single fake is reported by one of these influencers, or key opinion leaders (KOLs,) their whole business is at risk!
- FragranceX and FragranceNet would never risk a small, quick profit for their connections with these KOLs and their positive reputation.
- Plus, these two sites are backed by reviewers who have spent fortunes (hundreds of thousands of dollars!) on these websites without a single fake for 20+ years.
Want more proof? Take it from these experts’ videos:
- Gentscent: ARE FRAGRANCE DISCOUNTERS LEGIT?
- Smelling Great: Online Fragrance Discounters Legit? (02:44)
- Jeremy Fragrance: Watch this Youtube star’s visit to FragranceX
BUYING TIP 2: Wholesale Perfumes (Save up to 40%)
Buying from a wholesale distributor is another method worth considering to save money while fragrance shopping. By wholesale distributors, we’re referring to stores that are available publically like Costco.
To see how much you’ll save with this idea, let’s compare Costco prices to that of the perfume’s actual website. Below, you’ll see Costco’s price sheet of a popular fragrance Creed. These are significantly cheaper than the prices listed on the Creed official boutique website.
Costco can offer much cheaper prices because it’s selling them at wholesale-like prices whereas the boutique website is selling them at full retail cost.
While Costco is the obvious winner in this scenario, wholesale distributors aren’t always a sure bet. Stores like Costco rotate and renew listings, so they don’t always supply the same stock and offer the same products. Plus, you have to factor in the cost of a Costco membership to benefit from discounts like this. An annual fee to a wholesale store can cost a few hundred dollars.
Note: you should also always follow and respect the membership rules of these stores. Costco notoriously offers a generous return policy, but we do not encourage you to “borrow” expensive fragrances!
BUYING TIP 1: Buy Tax-Free (Save up to 9%)
Next time you’re traveling, keep an eye on your destination’s tax situation. Try to go shopping when visiting Oregon or passing through Montana. Deleware can always save you serious cash while shopping. Why? Those states don’t have sales taxes! That saves you up to 9% instantly.
If you’re jet-setting abroad, be sure to stop by your convenient duty-free shop. These extensively stocked duty-free stores let you also avoid sales taxes when you’re traveling internationally. Plus, it’s a fun way to pass the time while waiting for your flight.
You might be owing Use Tax. Consult qualified tax advisers for tax-related issues.
BONUS TIP: for International Readers or Travelers
No plane ticket? No problem. Thankfully, there are ways to benefit from these tax exclusions even if you are not traveling to these places.
If you’re in the United States, consider using a company like Opas. These Oregon and Deleware forwarder services help you save on both sales taxes and shipping costs.
There are even forwarder services that ship packages overseas. These can include tariff avoidance – like this Asian forwarder. They even claim to cover all tariffs incurred during shipping, depending on the number of miles.
PERFUME BUYING TIPS: How to Buy Perfume Cheap
double-dipping quadruple-dipping
Not only can each of these savings tips help individually, but stacking them can save you even more money – like 25% off Sak’s Fifth Avenue!
Let’s walk through this real buyer case to explain how using multiple strategies work together. Below, you’ll see the breakdown of costs and then after, screenshots of the real receipts to prove its success.
Perfume: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Wardrobe 8-Piece Discovery Collection For Her from Sak’s Fifth Avenue.
Original Retail Price: $306.24 (including taxes and shipping)
Price Paid: $232.44 (using our savings tips)
Total Savings: $73.80 – that’s 25% off!
How did we do it? Here’s a breakdown of the savings tips we used:
- Paid with a gift card: – $265.24 (worth $275.00)
- Credit Card Cashback: + $5.30 (2% cashback)
- Mr. Rebate Cashback: + $27.50 (10% cashback)
- ShopRunner: 2-Day Free Shipping
- Delaware Forwarding Address: 0% Sales Tax
Here are the receipts to take a deeper dive into how it worked.
Shoprunner: https://www.shoprunner.com/
Perfume Buying Guide Summary
These ten tips are bound to save money on your next perfume purchase, and hopefully help you save on even more products in the future!
But we’re curious – can you beat us?!
WE ACCEPT CHALLENGES.
Leave a comment below if you have what it takes to save more on a perfume purchase. Plus, share your advice if you have any tips we left out!