Buysblind
New member
- Jan 21, 2011
- 16,847
- 48
I think this post is called for because lately, it seems that Fragrancenet--an online discounter that has always been somewhat erratic and unpredictable--has appeared even more haphazard and difficult to figure out in terms of their prices, procedures, and shipping habits.
But there are a lot of seasoned Basenoters who have some useful tricks and hacks when using the site, which make ordering from it a much more enjoyable and reliable experience. Because face it--although they have the customer service approach of a Staples employee working a double shift, and although your order might arrive tomorrow or next February--they have really, really good prices. And they have a very good selection as well.
For the purpose of being user friendly, this guide will be broken into sections. The first section regards their discounts.
Fragrancenet's Discounts: Did They Just Offer Me 15% Off For Screwing Up My Order?
Fragrancenet's discounts can be very confusing. When you land on their website, you usually see an ad for 30% OFF. All you have to do is click on the ad, enter your email, and you're good to go. It works every time. 30% off is a nice discount...but it's not the best one you can get.
Fragrancenet also often has 35% OFF discounts. You can find these easily by quickly googling, "Fragrancenet 35% Off Coupon." For example, right now the code: CHRT7 can give you 35% OFF. These are available constantly, and I don't think there's ever been a time where I wasn't able to easily find a 35% OFF coupon when I wanted one. So the 30% off ad you see on their website is a moot point. You can always do better.
But the best discount you can get at Fragrancenet is for 37% OFF. And the good news is that you can ALWAYS get this with a very simple trick. To get 37% OFF at Fragrancenet, open your google browser and click on the "SHOPPING" tag. Enter the name of any common fragrance with the word "fragrancenet" after it. For example, "Versace Pour Homme Fragrancenet." Your search will yield a result and if you click on it, most of the time, it will provide you with a link to that bottle and fragrancenet. If it doesn't, just try entering another relatively well known fragrance in the google shopping search bar with the word "fragrancenet" attached to it, and soon enough you'll get a result that will bring you to that bottle on the Fragrancenet website. Now at the top of the page there will be an ad for 37% OFF. Click on it, enter your email, and you're good to go. It's not like you have to buy the bottle that you searched for or anything, the discount will be applied to anything. This trick always works, and the good thing about it is that you don't need any kind of code for it.
But in case you were wondering, you can also get 37% OFF simply by entering the code: GPYA37. I believe this code is permanent, as it hasn't failed me yet. And really, it's a lot simpler than the method described above. But just in case you forget the code and can't find it, or they end up changing it, you can always use the method described above and get 37% OFF.
So never accept anything less than 37% OFF. You can have this discount every time.
By the way, sometimes Fragrancenet will screw your order up. Then they'll send you an email offering you 15% OFF as a way of apologizing for their goof. But it's really a punishment in disguise. Don't take it! Considering it CAN'T be combined with the 37% OFF you can basically get everytime, Fragrancenet is basically trying to trick you into paying significantly MORE for screwing up your order. That 15% OFF deal is for the birds!
Fragrancenet The WEBSITE VS. Fragrancenet The EBAY STORE: Where Should You Go?
Besides having its own website, Fragrancenet also has an eBay store. They basically have the same items there that you can find on their website. But which place is better to buy from? Is there a difference between the two?
Well, right now I'm looking at a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana The One EDP. There's a bottle on Fragrancenet, the website, and a bottle available in their eBay store. With the 37% OFF coupon applied to their website, a 3.3oz. bottle new costs $49.72. In their eBay store, it costs $67.14. Versace Oud Noir? $52.28 on the website, $70.54 on eBay. That's a significant difference. And it seems to be the case for most fragrances. So unless you happen to have a special eBay coupon (like when they run very brief '$15 off your order' sales and things like that), the website is clearly the better option as far as prices are concerned. You can't use the normal coupon codes or discount codes when you checkout of eBay either. They only work on the website. My advice: When buying a bottle, choose the website over eBay. Though it may pay to check both places first just to be sure, the website is usually much cheaper.
*When would it pay to use eBay? The only time it could pay to use eBay is if you're buying a pretty cheap item. The reason why is that Fragrancnet's eBay Store always offers FREE SHIPPING regardless of the price. But their website requires that you spend $59 or more before Free Shipping is included. So if you're buying something cheap, eBay could be a better option. For example, on eBay, a bottle of Cuba Gold Aftershave costs $6.79 with Free Shipping. The website sells it for $5.03. But if you buy it from the website, they'll also charge you $6.95 for shipping (that's the cheapest option). So now you're bottle of Cuba Gold Aftershave really costs you $12 on the website, versus $6.79 on eBay.
So consider the cost of what you're buying. If it's a cheap item, buying it from the eBay store may be a better option when it's all said and done, considering the website charges $6.95 shipping for any order less than $59.
Fragrancenet's eBay Carries Items the Website May Not and Vice Versa: That's right, you may be able to find things in Fragrancenet's eBay store that are not available at their online website. So if you're looking for something specific, it pays to search both places before giving up. If Fragrancenet.com doesn't have it, check their eBay store, as it may be in stock there. I don't know why this is. It makes no sense to me, but hey...illogical quirks like this are part of what make Fragrancenet Fragrancenet.
*One last thing to say here: You may be thinking, "Well what if I use the website and choose their Free Shipping coupon rather than the 37% Off, if I'm buying something really cheap." Well, the problem there is that you will now pay more for the item than it is priced on eBay. Fragrancenet's eBay store always offers free shipping, and there's almost always another discount attached to it as well. On the website, you either choose 37% OFF, or Free Shipping. Once you choose free shipping, the discount disappears. (Of course, on the website, free shipping always occurs if you spend more than $59.)
Fragrancenet The WEBSITE Vs. Fragrancenet via GOOGLE EXPRESS : Why everything else that I've written is now IRRELEVANT! :rolleyesold:
Fairly recently, Fragrancenet has become available through Google Express. To access it, just open your google browser's search bar and type, "google express fragrancenet." Your search will yield a result that says, "Shop Fragrancenet.com with Google Express." Click on that. You are now within Google Express's Fragrancenet Store, or Fragrancenet's Google Express store--I'm not sure which--but it doesn't matter--you've finally come to the best place you can possibly be for shopping with Fragrancenet. HOORAY! :tekst-toppie:
"Why is this the best place I can possibly be?" you ask. "Here's why," I say: FIRST OF ALL, Google Express ALWAYS gives you the 37% OFF discount. You don't have to do any of the stuff I explained way at the top as far as using codes or going to the "google shopping" tab. 37% OFF should be right there, waiting for you, like Jesus Jones. SECOND OF ALL (and this is BIG!), Google Express always offers FREE SHIPPING! Remember before how I said if you're buying something really cheap you're better off choosing their eBay store because it gives you free shipping than their website which will charge you $6.95? Well Google Express gives you the best of both worlds, like Van Halen (or Hannah Montana, if you're a millennial). Not Only will it apply 37% OFF to your measly little order of Cuba Gold Aftershave, bringing it to a low low price of Five Dollars and Three Cents, but it won't even charge you shipping for that biznatch! How about that? 37% off + Free Shipping = SWEET. And THIRD OF ALL......that takes me to the last heading and section of this guide. Read on to see the third benefit of Google Express.
What's the FASTEST Way to GET MY ORDER When Buying From Fragrancenet?
When you order from the Fragrancenet website and choose their most basic shipping option, your order may take anywhere from 3 days to 3 decades. Seriously, they can take a loooooooooooooong time to get your stuff to you. Let's put it this way: I've had eBay orders I placed with two small women in Calcutta arrive quicker than orders I've placed with Fragrancenet...whose warehouse happens to be like, 20 minutes away from where I live. I'm not using hyperbole either--this is true. Fragrancenet is right around the corner from me, and it's sometimes taken 3 weeks for my orders to arrive, and I know the women in Calcutta are small because they have to put pictures of their faces on the packages that they ship out of India as part of some customs policy. Two little women on the other side of the globe beat out a gigantic fragrance superpower which trades on the NYSE and rents a warehouse in the same county that I live in. How is that possible? I don't know. But I do know that when you order off the Fragrancnet Website they follow some strange procedure that involves Fedex, a bizarre shipping route with inconvenient transport hubs, and a lot of cursing and pacing if you're the buyer.
But GOOGLE EXPRESS gets you your package super-fast! I have no idea why, and I don't care to know (never look a gift horse in the mouth!), but the THIRD BENEFIT of Google Express is that when you order through them you will get your package very quickly. If you live close to Fragrancenet, you'll probably get it in two days. If you live far away, 3 to 5. That's great. It sure beats three weeks! Every time I've chosen google Express I get my package immediately. Every time I use the website it takes foreeeeeeeeever.
One More BENEFIT of Google Express (for first time users): It Pays to Go Crazy In Your First Month
*When it's your first time using Google Express they give you a really cool deal, and that's something like 20% OFF up to $20 on any order you place within that first month...and that's ON TOP of the already 37% OFF that you get automatically. So for example, a $100 order goes to a $63 order (37%off) and then a $50.40 order (20% more) if you were to place this order in your first month. And it'll arrive super fast. You can't beat that!
This, folks, is why Google Express is the way to go every time. While I'm sure many of you knew that, or were starting to realize it, hopefully some of you newer shoppers will be able to use this information to your benefit. And it's good to know the other options just in case Fragrancenet ever stops working with Google Express. But I doubt that for a while at least.
One Final Note on CUSTOMER SERVICE: Don't you dare pick up that phone.
*Every time I've had an issue with an order that I've placed with Fragrancnet (which honestly, isn't that many...they're pretty good), I've always had much more success emailing them than calling them. I don't know if the people handling their emails are paid better, fed more often, or just more educated and better at handling service issues, but I always get a fairly prompt and polite response when I contact them electronically, and sometimes their response is even helpful. Whenever I've called them to discuss a problem I always hang up believing that I probably just took a couple more years off my life and should have emailed them instead. It's not rare for a phone call to be met with rude disdain or utter and complete apathy. Receptionists seem pretty much unconcerned with the caller's issue, and when they've had enough, they put you on hold. Forever. Being put on hold is the kiss of death, and unless you have an evening to spare, you're better off hanging up. Anyway, just email Fragrancenet if you have a problem. It seems to get things solved faster and without taking a toll on your lifespan.
*P.S. I may be exaggerating the extent of their poor phone service just a little, but it's certainly not great. And emailing is definitely a much better route.
Anyway, that concludes, "Conquering Fragrancenet: Your Guide to Navigating the Biggest Discounter You Love to Hate."
If any experienced Fragrancenet veterans have any other useful tips to add, feel free.
Good luck in your shopping endeavors! :coolold:
But there are a lot of seasoned Basenoters who have some useful tricks and hacks when using the site, which make ordering from it a much more enjoyable and reliable experience. Because face it--although they have the customer service approach of a Staples employee working a double shift, and although your order might arrive tomorrow or next February--they have really, really good prices. And they have a very good selection as well.
For the purpose of being user friendly, this guide will be broken into sections. The first section regards their discounts.
Fragrancenet's Discounts: Did They Just Offer Me 15% Off For Screwing Up My Order?
Fragrancenet's discounts can be very confusing. When you land on their website, you usually see an ad for 30% OFF. All you have to do is click on the ad, enter your email, and you're good to go. It works every time. 30% off is a nice discount...but it's not the best one you can get.
Fragrancenet also often has 35% OFF discounts. You can find these easily by quickly googling, "Fragrancenet 35% Off Coupon." For example, right now the code: CHRT7 can give you 35% OFF. These are available constantly, and I don't think there's ever been a time where I wasn't able to easily find a 35% OFF coupon when I wanted one. So the 30% off ad you see on their website is a moot point. You can always do better.
But the best discount you can get at Fragrancenet is for 37% OFF. And the good news is that you can ALWAYS get this with a very simple trick. To get 37% OFF at Fragrancenet, open your google browser and click on the "SHOPPING" tag. Enter the name of any common fragrance with the word "fragrancenet" after it. For example, "Versace Pour Homme Fragrancenet." Your search will yield a result and if you click on it, most of the time, it will provide you with a link to that bottle and fragrancenet. If it doesn't, just try entering another relatively well known fragrance in the google shopping search bar with the word "fragrancenet" attached to it, and soon enough you'll get a result that will bring you to that bottle on the Fragrancenet website. Now at the top of the page there will be an ad for 37% OFF. Click on it, enter your email, and you're good to go. It's not like you have to buy the bottle that you searched for or anything, the discount will be applied to anything. This trick always works, and the good thing about it is that you don't need any kind of code for it.
But in case you were wondering, you can also get 37% OFF simply by entering the code: GPYA37. I believe this code is permanent, as it hasn't failed me yet. And really, it's a lot simpler than the method described above. But just in case you forget the code and can't find it, or they end up changing it, you can always use the method described above and get 37% OFF.
So never accept anything less than 37% OFF. You can have this discount every time.
By the way, sometimes Fragrancenet will screw your order up. Then they'll send you an email offering you 15% OFF as a way of apologizing for their goof. But it's really a punishment in disguise. Don't take it! Considering it CAN'T be combined with the 37% OFF you can basically get everytime, Fragrancenet is basically trying to trick you into paying significantly MORE for screwing up your order. That 15% OFF deal is for the birds!
Fragrancenet The WEBSITE VS. Fragrancenet The EBAY STORE: Where Should You Go?
Besides having its own website, Fragrancenet also has an eBay store. They basically have the same items there that you can find on their website. But which place is better to buy from? Is there a difference between the two?
Well, right now I'm looking at a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana The One EDP. There's a bottle on Fragrancenet, the website, and a bottle available in their eBay store. With the 37% OFF coupon applied to their website, a 3.3oz. bottle new costs $49.72. In their eBay store, it costs $67.14. Versace Oud Noir? $52.28 on the website, $70.54 on eBay. That's a significant difference. And it seems to be the case for most fragrances. So unless you happen to have a special eBay coupon (like when they run very brief '$15 off your order' sales and things like that), the website is clearly the better option as far as prices are concerned. You can't use the normal coupon codes or discount codes when you checkout of eBay either. They only work on the website. My advice: When buying a bottle, choose the website over eBay. Though it may pay to check both places first just to be sure, the website is usually much cheaper.
*When would it pay to use eBay? The only time it could pay to use eBay is if you're buying a pretty cheap item. The reason why is that Fragrancnet's eBay Store always offers FREE SHIPPING regardless of the price. But their website requires that you spend $59 or more before Free Shipping is included. So if you're buying something cheap, eBay could be a better option. For example, on eBay, a bottle of Cuba Gold Aftershave costs $6.79 with Free Shipping. The website sells it for $5.03. But if you buy it from the website, they'll also charge you $6.95 for shipping (that's the cheapest option). So now you're bottle of Cuba Gold Aftershave really costs you $12 on the website, versus $6.79 on eBay.
So consider the cost of what you're buying. If it's a cheap item, buying it from the eBay store may be a better option when it's all said and done, considering the website charges $6.95 shipping for any order less than $59.
Fragrancenet's eBay Carries Items the Website May Not and Vice Versa: That's right, you may be able to find things in Fragrancenet's eBay store that are not available at their online website. So if you're looking for something specific, it pays to search both places before giving up. If Fragrancenet.com doesn't have it, check their eBay store, as it may be in stock there. I don't know why this is. It makes no sense to me, but hey...illogical quirks like this are part of what make Fragrancenet Fragrancenet.
*One last thing to say here: You may be thinking, "Well what if I use the website and choose their Free Shipping coupon rather than the 37% Off, if I'm buying something really cheap." Well, the problem there is that you will now pay more for the item than it is priced on eBay. Fragrancenet's eBay store always offers free shipping, and there's almost always another discount attached to it as well. On the website, you either choose 37% OFF, or Free Shipping. Once you choose free shipping, the discount disappears. (Of course, on the website, free shipping always occurs if you spend more than $59.)
Fragrancenet The WEBSITE Vs. Fragrancenet via GOOGLE EXPRESS : Why everything else that I've written is now IRRELEVANT! :rolleyesold:
Fairly recently, Fragrancenet has become available through Google Express. To access it, just open your google browser's search bar and type, "google express fragrancenet." Your search will yield a result that says, "Shop Fragrancenet.com with Google Express." Click on that. You are now within Google Express's Fragrancenet Store, or Fragrancenet's Google Express store--I'm not sure which--but it doesn't matter--you've finally come to the best place you can possibly be for shopping with Fragrancenet. HOORAY! :tekst-toppie:
"Why is this the best place I can possibly be?" you ask. "Here's why," I say: FIRST OF ALL, Google Express ALWAYS gives you the 37% OFF discount. You don't have to do any of the stuff I explained way at the top as far as using codes or going to the "google shopping" tab. 37% OFF should be right there, waiting for you, like Jesus Jones. SECOND OF ALL (and this is BIG!), Google Express always offers FREE SHIPPING! Remember before how I said if you're buying something really cheap you're better off choosing their eBay store because it gives you free shipping than their website which will charge you $6.95? Well Google Express gives you the best of both worlds, like Van Halen (or Hannah Montana, if you're a millennial). Not Only will it apply 37% OFF to your measly little order of Cuba Gold Aftershave, bringing it to a low low price of Five Dollars and Three Cents, but it won't even charge you shipping for that biznatch! How about that? 37% off + Free Shipping = SWEET. And THIRD OF ALL......that takes me to the last heading and section of this guide. Read on to see the third benefit of Google Express.
What's the FASTEST Way to GET MY ORDER When Buying From Fragrancenet?
When you order from the Fragrancenet website and choose their most basic shipping option, your order may take anywhere from 3 days to 3 decades. Seriously, they can take a loooooooooooooong time to get your stuff to you. Let's put it this way: I've had eBay orders I placed with two small women in Calcutta arrive quicker than orders I've placed with Fragrancenet...whose warehouse happens to be like, 20 minutes away from where I live. I'm not using hyperbole either--this is true. Fragrancenet is right around the corner from me, and it's sometimes taken 3 weeks for my orders to arrive, and I know the women in Calcutta are small because they have to put pictures of their faces on the packages that they ship out of India as part of some customs policy. Two little women on the other side of the globe beat out a gigantic fragrance superpower which trades on the NYSE and rents a warehouse in the same county that I live in. How is that possible? I don't know. But I do know that when you order off the Fragrancnet Website they follow some strange procedure that involves Fedex, a bizarre shipping route with inconvenient transport hubs, and a lot of cursing and pacing if you're the buyer.
But GOOGLE EXPRESS gets you your package super-fast! I have no idea why, and I don't care to know (never look a gift horse in the mouth!), but the THIRD BENEFIT of Google Express is that when you order through them you will get your package very quickly. If you live close to Fragrancenet, you'll probably get it in two days. If you live far away, 3 to 5. That's great. It sure beats three weeks! Every time I've chosen google Express I get my package immediately. Every time I use the website it takes foreeeeeeeeever.
One More BENEFIT of Google Express (for first time users): It Pays to Go Crazy In Your First Month
*When it's your first time using Google Express they give you a really cool deal, and that's something like 20% OFF up to $20 on any order you place within that first month...and that's ON TOP of the already 37% OFF that you get automatically. So for example, a $100 order goes to a $63 order (37%off) and then a $50.40 order (20% more) if you were to place this order in your first month. And it'll arrive super fast. You can't beat that!
This, folks, is why Google Express is the way to go every time. While I'm sure many of you knew that, or were starting to realize it, hopefully some of you newer shoppers will be able to use this information to your benefit. And it's good to know the other options just in case Fragrancenet ever stops working with Google Express. But I doubt that for a while at least.
One Final Note on CUSTOMER SERVICE: Don't you dare pick up that phone.
*Every time I've had an issue with an order that I've placed with Fragrancnet (which honestly, isn't that many...they're pretty good), I've always had much more success emailing them than calling them. I don't know if the people handling their emails are paid better, fed more often, or just more educated and better at handling service issues, but I always get a fairly prompt and polite response when I contact them electronically, and sometimes their response is even helpful. Whenever I've called them to discuss a problem I always hang up believing that I probably just took a couple more years off my life and should have emailed them instead. It's not rare for a phone call to be met with rude disdain or utter and complete apathy. Receptionists seem pretty much unconcerned with the caller's issue, and when they've had enough, they put you on hold. Forever. Being put on hold is the kiss of death, and unless you have an evening to spare, you're better off hanging up. Anyway, just email Fragrancenet if you have a problem. It seems to get things solved faster and without taking a toll on your lifespan.
*P.S. I may be exaggerating the extent of their poor phone service just a little, but it's certainly not great. And emailing is definitely a much better route.
Anyway, that concludes, "Conquering Fragrancenet: Your Guide to Navigating the Biggest Discounter You Love to Hate."
If any experienced Fragrancenet veterans have any other useful tips to add, feel free.
Good luck in your shopping endeavors! :coolold:
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