The sweet smell of a bargain

Check out this article from the Chicago Tribune:


The sweet smell of a bargain
By Nina Metz Special to the Tribune
December 7, 2008
The economy stinks. You, on the other hand, want to smell lovely. But maybe you're not comfortable plunking down upward of $100 on your favorite scent these days—for you or your gift list. Time to hunt down some deals and low-cost alternatives. "What's popular right now are the classic fragrances, and there are two reasons," fragrance expert Jan Moran said. "One is because typically they're better priced—they've been out for a while, and they have not seen the price increases that you see in new fragrances." Apparently it takes a lot of dough to launch a new fragrance, and that cost is passed on to you, the consumer, so the old stand-bys are going to be more competitively priced. "And two, in uncertain times—such as the economic times we're in—people often go back to the tried and true."OK, but let's say you're wedded to that pricey bottle. "People really bond to the fragrance that they've been wearing for years," said Moran, "and throughout good times and bad times, people will buy that fragrance because it makes them feel good. It's part of their persona, it's part of who they are."
Moran suggests roller balls or cream sachets (fragrance solids). "They're less expensive, and a little bit goes a long, long way. It's a very economical way of applying fragrance. It's a roll-on, so you put it just where you want it—whereas with a spray, you spray it all over, and there's a lot of waste involved in that." And then there's the Internet, where you'll find Web retailers that offer significantly lower prices on brand name perfumes. How do they do it? I rang up Howard Wyner, a Mt. Prospect native and founder and CEO of Scentiments (scentiments.com), which is based in South Florida."We're selling name brand stuff at deep discounts, so there's always going to be a little skepticism," he acknowledged. "There's always that talk about fragrances—that it can't be real at that price." Actually, it can be.According to Wyner, here's how it works. Perfume manufacturers sell their products in two ways. Retailers (such as department stores) often pay half the manufacturer's suggested retail price. If your favorite bottle runs you $70, the store probably got it for $35. Usually the manufacturer provides free samples and buys advertising that touts the store. But perfume makers also sell to duty-free stores in airports, as well as distributors (many based overseas) that then sell to discounters such as Scentiments. Sometimes these distributors actually become the manufacturers; Wyner cited French Fragrances Inc., which acquired Elizabeth Arden a few years ago. Because products from fragrance suppliers do not come with extra goodies—the free samples, the ads—companies like Scentiments buy at better prices than department stores, and can therefore pass that savings on to you. Plus, Web retailers have fewer real estate costs.Here's another thing to consider. Sometimes manufacturers sell their testers to fragrance vendors. "They may have overruns or they want to reduce their inventory of testers," Wyner said. "So we're able to buy them at 20 or 30 percent less than regular goods." At Scentiments, testers are labeled as such and come in plain cardboard boxes (as opposed to the packaging you're used to), but they are brand new—meaning, unopened and unused.Be a smart shopper, says Mark Jeffery, technology management professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, who offers some tips.
• Is the Web site linked to a reputable third-party price comparison site, such as Amazon or Shopzilla? Scentiments, for example, is a BizRate award winner. That means a significant number of shoppers have had a positive experience with the company.
• Use a service such as PayPal, which offers a layer of consumer protection.
• Is it easy to contact the company? Make sure you can get a response by e-mail or phone within 24 hours. • Jeffery also advises that you start with a small, inexpensive purchase to "see how it goes."
• Also, as you shop, take in account the shipping charges. Some Web sites offer free shipping.
• And a tip from Wyner of Scentiments: Most perfumes are sized using the metric system (milliliters) that are then translated into ounces. Don't be rattled if you see a brand selling at 3.3 ounces on one Web site, and 3.4 oz on another. It's all 100 ml; it's just a matter of how the number was rounded when converted to ounces.

Scentiments.com voted Hot 100 website for 2009!

Here is the article as feature in Internet Retailer Magazine.

Social scentsPeople wear perfume and cologne to send a message. It’s a social act that says other peoples’ opinions matter. Scentiments.com, which features deeply discounted prices, makes buying fragrances a social experience, as well.
Product pages offer visitors many ways to seek others’ opinions about a product, or to express their own. A Share This link allows a visitor to e-mail a friend, post a comment to a page on Facebook or other social networks, or to comment on more than three dozen social web sites, from familiar ones like Digg and StumbleUpon to the Chinese-language Funp.
“It’s similar to word of mouth,” says Howard Wyner, CEO of Scentiments.com. Consumers are always bragging about getting a great deal, he says. “That’s the tipping point, not just buying the product, but buying it at the best price out there.”
In a recent 30-day period, Wyner says, 1,400 visitors used the sharing tool, from ShareThis Inc. Most e-mailed friends, while others posted to Facebook, Google Bookmarks, MySpace and other social networks. It all helps build qualified traffic, Wyner says.
The site also added customer reviews in September 2007, and now has about 50,000 reviews posted. That helps make the site a more useful resource for customers, Wyner adds. Consumers also can e-mail the retailer’s Fragrance Guru and get advice from employees who can sample products stored in the company’s on-site warehouse.
When an item is out of stock, consumers can click an Alert Me option and provide their e-mail address. Fragrances are often unavailable, as a suddenly hot product can disappear quickly. Scentiments sends out an e-mail when the item is available again. “We get huge conversions when those e-mail go out, 35-45%,” Wyner says.
Recognizing that consumers may be skeptical of the site’s low prices, Wyner prominently displays the company’s high ranking from BizRate, which summarizes consumer ratings of companies, and provides answers to questions about its low prices and quality of goods.
“Scentiments makes great use of visitor assurances and carries an extensive selection,” says Ethan Giffin, founder of e-commerce consulting firm Groove Commerce

Scentiments Delivering Deals for the Holidays

Scentiments is offering a gift to all our loyal customers...FREE SHIPPING! It's been the most requested offer, so in the spirit of the holidays...YOU GOT IT.
Also, we have teamed up with the RevoltuionCard to offer another great deal. Save 20 dollars off any purchase of 50 dollars or more on your 1st purchase with your Scentiments card (subject to credit approval) you can see the offer here.

Not getting a tax rebate? Here is a little something back.

Feeling a bit taxed this week? Well here at Scentiments.com we want to offer you 5% off your order until April 20th. Use code SCENTAX at checkout.

Take A Tour Down Perfume Lane – New Scentiments.com Site Map

Lost in cyberspace? It happens often. Here at Scentiments.com we want to make sure you find your way around. Are you looking for fragrance products? Or, maybe the latest men’s skin care? Or how about some valuable information to help you become a wiser shopper? Well, struggle no more!

Introducing our brand new site map page. This is a page designed to help you find your way around as you get to know Scentiments.com. As you may already know, we offer the best prices online, guaranteed! Now, you may not be familiar with all of our information pages – containing tons of helpful information and interesting tips about perfume and cologne. From the history of perfume to the top 10 best selling fragrances, we have it here. Is there a topic we have not covered? No, problem. Just let us know, and we’re on it!

As a bonus, the site map page provides links to all of the places of interest, such as our Myspace page – dontstink, our Perfume University Blog – aka P.U. and our facebook page – all loaded with lots of important information about fragrances.

Check out the new and improved information pages in Scentiments.com!

Scentiments.com is committed to provide the lowest prices in perfume and cologne. Well, did you know that we are also committed to provide valuable information about fragrances? Yes, find out all about perfume – history, scent strengths, skin care for men and so much more…

Let’s guide you through our educational and informational pages. On our scentiments.com home page you will see four underlined links on the bottom of the left side panel and one more on the bottom menu bar. These links take you to a different section. Each section is designed to inform and educate, and maybe entertain a little.

The first link on the left panel is skin care products. This is the perfect place to learn about skin care tips, products and information that will help you with your skin caring needs for both men and women. We all want young looking flawless skin. Well, we’ll help you on your efforts.

The second link on the left side panel is name brand, designer fragrances. This section is all about designers and their fragrances. Celebrity perfumes and colognes are also included. Read all about designer fragrances and get inspired to go shopping afterwards. You won’t find a better perfume and cologne selection and lowest prices anywhere else!

The third link on the left side panel is unique gift ideas. This section is designed to give you information about creative ways you can give the gift of perfume and cologne. Whether is a birthday gift or a romantic one, go check it out. Any ideas that are not covered yet? Let us know. By the way, we are currently working on bride and groom’s gifts ideas and mother’s/father’s day!

The fourth link on the left side panel is best deals on online fragrance. Here you find all kinds of information about top selling perfumes and colognes, fragrances by price range (for example: fragrances under $10.00) and trendy scents. You’ll find great information and super deals.

The last section is on the bottom menu bar. Perfume Education Center provides important information about perfume etiquette, ingredients, strengths, testers, fakes and more. Our purpose is to educate you so you’ll become a savvy consumer. We believe that the more you learn, the more you’ll realize that scentiments.com is your destination for all of your perfume and cologne needs. Oh, and check us out often as we continuously add new information.

One more thing…
Check out our two pages:
My space at www.myspace.com/dontstink
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scentimentscom/11242926326 .
Here a little tip – become a fan or a friend and receive special deals from scentiments.com!

A new blog for Scentiments

As everyone knows we have our corporate blog to keep you in the know regarding happenings with the website, specials and insider deals. Scentiments.com has developed a new blog from our old friend the Fragrance Guru. The Fragrance Guru is "the nose that knows". This blog is about fragrances...both perfume and cologne. You will find daily tips, tricks, news and reviews about fragrances. Need help finding a scent? This new resource will help you discover new fragrances as well. Enjoy!

New ways to pay at Scentiments.com

We are very excited to team up with the fastest and easiest ways to pay online. As of today we are proud to offer Paypal and Google checkout as other forms of payment. Both are extremely secure and easy to use. When you are ready to check out just look for either logo and choose they way to pay!

End of Season Clearance going on now!

Check out our clearance department and save an additional 5% off our already marked down items. Use the coupon code "clearout07" to receive the discount.

Save more on perfume and cologne!