Buying perfume/aftershave for Christmas? Slash the cost!

MSE_Martin

It's said more perfume is sold on 24 December than throughout the whole of August. Yet if you're going to end up buying perfume, do it now much cheaper!

Generally the web is cheapest

There are a number of special discount websites that can slash down the cost.

The big two ones are Fragrancedirect* and Halfpriceperfumes*. Yet others worth checking include Sospecial, Beautybay*, Extrascents and Strawberrynet (US site that delivers to the UK but you may need to pay duty). If you've used other good discount sites, do include them in the discussion below.

Further suggestions from MoneySavers include Direct Cosmetics, Inscent, Cheap Smells, Duty Free Perfume. For unboxed testers Fragrancedirect* and the US based Perfume Emporium (again you'll have to pay duty) are especially worth a look.

While Shopbots (special websites that find the cheapest online price for an item - see the Internet Shopping article) are usually good at tracking down online savings, they can underperform in the perfume arena. Yet it's worth a minute or two, if you're stuck, trying Kelkoo*, Price Runner* and Shopping.com*

What about delivery?

Most of these retailers offer free delivery, but do make sure you allow for the time it'll take (depending on the website it ranges between 3-10 days from ordering).

How to get it even cheaper!

Some internet retailers, especially Fragrancedirect* may sell testers and imported perfume/aftershave from other markets (grey imports) at an even cheaper price. While at first this may not seem like a good idea for a prezzie, here's a naughty tip.

Buy any unboxed perfumes then simply go and buy a nice looking gift box and pack it in that and tie a ribbon round; the extra cost saved on buying the perfume should more than cover it. Plus it looks as if you've made an extra special effort rather than extra cheap effort.

Of course not all cheap online perfume is what it says on the box (if there is a box) so it's always worth a healthy degree of skepticism of little known retailers though I'm often told my own John Rocha aftershave bought this way still smells good.

Yet there are cheap shops too

While they tend not to be quite as cheap as the online retailers. The key to buying perfume/aftershave on the high street is to avoid department stores and be careful in Boots.

Remember perfume is a commodity good provided it's legitimate; Dior is Dior whether it's bought in Harrods or Asda. Particularly cheap for smellies are Asda and the Savers shops, but the other supermarkets aren't bad either.

A few examples of the savings

• Hugo Boss 'Baldessarini' 75ml aftershave lotion: Boots £31, Fragrance Direct £14.99
• Gucci 'Envy' 50ml eau e toilette spray: Boots £40, Pharmacy 2 U £19.40
• Christian Dior 'J'adore' 50ml eau de parfum: Boots £44, So Special £29.99

Martin

PS. If you want to get technical on the differences between perfume and eau de toilette (and lots more nerdy smelly knowledge) try this

* Using these links helps the site stay ad-free and free to use, as they’re ‘affiliated links’ which invisibly take you via commercial price comparison services like Moneysupermarket or Find, which then pay this site per click. You shouldn’t notice any difference, the links don’t impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by the revenue. If it isn’t possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it is still recommended and still included. For the sake of transparency go to fragrancedirect.co.uk, halfpriceperfumes.co.uk, beautybay.com, kelkoo.co.uk, pricerunner.co.uk or shopping.com for an unaffiliated link. Click on the following link for more details on how this site’s financed.

hollydays

Does anyone know which retailers sell the unboxed stuff at a cheaper price?

shopndrop

Fragrance Direct do unboxed testers if that is what you mean. Have used them a few times and delivery is excellent.

durham05

Miss Sixty Is £7.99? In Wilkinsons, Normally Around The £20 Mark, Britney Spears Curious, Is £8.95 In Superdrug For 1 Week Only, Or £9.99 In Savers, Also Usually £20. At The Mo, Boots Also Has Some Fragrance Offers On At Up To 1/2 Price.

bullyrag

I bought some perfume for £39.99 from Strawberry and had to pay £10.83 duty. So it worked out cheaper to buy in shops. HOWEVER Strawberry refunded the duty when I queried it with them. So alls well that ends well as long as you have the time to visit the Post Office to pay the duty, get a receipt and then contact Strawberry and mail them the receipt.

silkman_2

https://www.perfumeemporium.com
Enter fs2000 in Claim Code box for free shipping works everytime,

silkman_2

Everyone should try Perfume Emporium for testers,boxed or gift sets,
make sure you use fs2000 in the claim code box for free shipping.

lindab15

Hi,

Read this thread with interest as trying to get Chanel No 5 (perfume not EdT) at a reasonable (i.e. don't need to remortgage first !) price as a gift.

Tried some of the links above and most either don't list Chanel at all or currently out of stock. Would prefer not to do US imports because of the timescale and pfaffing about with tax etc (enough hassle at Christmas already !!).

Anyone else experienced this problem or got any ideas on what to try next ?

kandinsky

Always found this site to be the cheapest. Its British, so no faffing about with customs, and free P+P too.

http://www.dutyfreeperfume.co.uk/dfp/store/index.jsp

ti1980

£8.95 for Britney Spears Curious in Superdrug, how big is it?
When is the offer over? I know it is only for one week but did that start from Monday?

justevi

hollydays wrote:

Does anyone know which retailers sell the unboxed stuff at a cheaper price?

I like http://www.directcosmetics.com/ They have testers cheap and I have had loads of good bargains from them over the years.