Buying perfume online

May 3, 2006 5:53 AM

Mom wants a bottle of Bal A Versailles perfume for Mother's Day. Can't find it in any of the local upscale stores, and it was suggested to purchase it online.

Trouble is, it seems EVERYONE seems to sells perfume online, and I have no clue who is reputable and who is not. Any one have any experience buying rare/expensive perfumes via the 'net? Who should I trust? Who should I avoid? Any help appreciated. Thanks!

posted by WolfDaddy to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

Perfumania has it, and I've ordered successfully from there.
posted by pinky at 6:26 AM on May 3, 2006

I’ve used strawberrynet.com for similar purchase, and have found them reliable so far: they stock Bal a Versailles, but may not be your best bet, as they are based in Hong Kong…
posted by misteraitch at 6:31 AM on May 3, 2006

Take a look at The Vermont Country store on-line. They had it for $58.00. Very reputable.
posted by socrateaser at 7:32 AM on May 3, 2006

There's always Amazon. While a lot of those hits are sold by third parties (look at the "Ships in 1-2 days, sold by..." line), at least some are sold directly by Amazon. Overstock has it too.

If you want to go with a perfume merchant specifically, there's always BizRate or MSN Shopping ratings. (I've heard good things about FragranceNet but I haven't bought anything from them.)
posted by mendel at 7:37 AM on May 3, 2006

Thanks everyone. Not being one who wears cologne, and not knowing ANYthing about what the ladies wear, your responses were very helpful. I went with socrateaser's suggestion because on the phone they were quite helpful for someone clueless like me. Thanks again! My mom will be happy AND fragrant come Mother's Day (which falls on her birthday this year) :-)
posted by WolfDaddy at 9:31 AM on May 3, 2006

If your mom likes it (and will continue to keep wanting more of it) you may want to step into a T.J. Maxx every once in a while.

(my sister wears BAV and once I found a motherlode of it at TJ's, cheap)
posted by pinky at 10:16 AM on May 3, 2006