fragrance rip off or not

[Ralph Mowery]

I was looking to get some Chanel no5 perfume for my wife for Christmas. I noticed that some sellers have it for around $ 30 and some for around $ 130 for the same size. I know it costs about $ 130 in the stores and direct from Chanel.

Do you think the $ 30 is the real product ? They are in the factory box and advertised as new. One other thing is that I have heard that if it is very old, the fragrence is not the same. Maybe this is some very old stuff that should be thrown out ?

I know China sends in many things that are fake, or so out of specfications they are almost worthless.

[Hawk]

Considering Chanel 5 is the most iconic perfume on the market and a 30 oz bottle will cost about $4200, my guess is it's not authentic.

[trader_4]

Some sellers where? If it's Ebay or similar, I would suspect that the cheap stuff is counterfeit. In fact, change that. Since it's $30 vs $130 I would be pretty sure it's counterfeit, unless it's coming from a very reputable source, eg Macys. Making a box that looks identical or very close isn't hard, unless it has some certificate or similar that you can check against a database online. And if it's counterfeit, then you have several possibilities with any product. IDK which could apply to Channel:

1 - Companies make stuff, in China typically, the factory illegally produces more than they are supposed to and that gets sold 2 - Companies with no connection to the real manufacturer knock it off illegally, but it's still quality stuff, the same or very close to the original 3 - #2, but it's crap

How lucky do you feel and how good is the wife's nose?

[gfretwell]

It is probably a knock off but if it smells essentially the same and the smell of the genuine product changes over time, so what?

[invalid unparseable]

Do not trust on-line very low cost sellers. You might either get an inferior product or even get ripped off.

[Ralph Mowery]

That was on ebay. I did find out that about a year and a half is the lifetime of the product. After that it gets weaker, so suppose it could either be very old or a fake. Most likely a fake at $ 100 a bottle difference.

Either way I think I will either go to a local brand name store or just order it direct as they have free 2 day shipping. Just depends if I go anywhere in the next day or two.

[trader_4]

That's the #1 source for fake stuff. Another test is where is the seller? China? You can try to look at the feedback and see what others say. But that's not always easy. Many of those sellers sell thousands of different things, from hammers to your perfume. They could get good feedback for hammers, bad for perfume, but there is no way to separate them. You have to look at each feedback and hope to find one that mentions the product they actually bought, or you can click through to see what it was, but all that is impractical.

Ebay also instituted what Amazon has, feedback on the actual product, not the seller. But that's mostly BS too, doesn't work for your case. You'll be looking at reviews of Channel 5, the product, not what that one seller is shipping.

And then this gets to the moral question as to whether you should buy something that is almost certainly some kind of counterfeit product.

I did find out that about a year and a half is the

[gfretwell]

My bet is 99.99 of the people on the planet couldn't tell which was real and which was fake. I also bet at least 60-70% would like the smell of the fake better if you told them it was the real one. The reality is perfume gets a big part of the final aroma from the person wearing it. Your oils and sweat change the chemistry.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Many years ago I did business with a company that make knock off perfumes. Their stuff was sold through legitimate retailers in the days before eBay existed. "If you like Chanel No. 5 you'll love our Paradise #5". They had the real stuff and their stuff and I could not tell the difference.

In your case, it may be the real deal as it only costs a few bucks to make, the markups are H U G E. The biggest single expense in that market is advertising. Are you willing to gamble $30?

In my case, I'm fortunate my wife never used and did not like fragrances so I never wasted money.

[Cindy Hamilton]

I stopped wearing perfume/cologne more than 30 years ago and have been using mostly unscented products for about 20 years. My sense of smell is extremely sharp.

Cindy Hamilton

[Ralph Mowery]

Most things are all in the name brand hype anyway. As you say almost no one would be able to tell the difference in many things. From a litle research I have done in the last day, some of the knock off perfumes may even be the real product, just cut down more. The effect is that instead of lasting all day, the scent may only last 2 hours.

I have seen some perfume that is clearly marked as to be a scent like the more expensive ones. To me they smell fine. I just wonder if it is like some that you need about a teaspoon full on you to get the same effect as a few drops of the name brand ?

I am not a wine drinker, but I bet that 99% of the people could not tell a high dollar one from the one in a grocery store. I was at some friends house and some of their other friends came in carrying a bottle of wine that was about $ 100. That was 40 years ago, so adjust the price up for today. They offered me some and I told them that I was not much for wine, but I would like just a small ammount. To me that stuff was horriable. Sure not like the Jack Danials I drink. They thought it was great stuff.

[invalid unparseable]

It would be practically impossible to duplicate Chanel No 5 as it is a complex mixture of natural product extracts. Might smell fine to you but will not smell exactly like the genuine article.

[Hawk]

The fragrance changes slightly on each person who wears it based on their own PH level. One would have to have a very acute smell to distinguish what's real or not, IMO.

[Ed Pawlowski]

If one man can make it another can too. Not the average guy but a professional could fool 95%+ of the population. Every ingredient you'd want are available in the labs at International Flavors and Fragrances in New Jersey.

[nmowery32345]

Darling, I would have been very happy with the perfume, even if it later turned out to be counterfit, because I would have known you bought it because you loved me, and I know you've been hornswaggled several times before. In fact every time you thought you had a deal you were so very wrong.

But now that I read you planned to intentionally buy some bargain-basement junk, pay 1/4 what you should, to trick me into thinking you cared enough to send the very best... well it shows that my father was right about you after all.

I've been reading this stupid list for more than 10 years, trying to understand you and now I finally do. When you get home today I won't be there. I'll be at my mother's. I've blocked you on my phone but she might not have.

Sincerely, and don't forget, again, to walk the dog.

Your loving wife, Nancy

[micky]

Wouldn't be surprised.

I'm sure I can't.

Very little wine tastes like Jack Daniels, except maybe Cabernet Danielles. But they only sell that in Kentucky.

[rbowman]

Are you sure it didn't say Charnel No. 5?

[invalid unparseable]

That is true. I'm a retired chemist and could do such things. It would be very close but their source of fragrances would probably be somewhat different and these things vary too so it would never be exactly the same.