Have you ever got burned on ebay for fragrances. Im worried it would be fake or watered down
Not yet thankfully... Although I did buy my dukes a sealed Opium for mothers day that had about 1/3 of the juice evaporated, which is always a risk when buying a vintage fragrance... So that was an L...
Though I wouldnt l buy popular vintage/discontinued fragrances like Creed or Tom Ford as they are so heavily faked that I'd never be 100% happy... Which is annoying as Id kill for some of their classics...
Splash bottles could potentially be watered down, so that is a risk but the only splashes Ive bought are the Hermes Caleches for my mother, personally I only look to buy sprays (other than the miniatures)...
Theres quite a few markers/indicators to look out for though, so you can do some process of elimination when looking at a fragrance to insure all the markers align...
For instance along with batch codes on the box and bottle, look to see who the distributor was the time of the fragrance your looking at (YSL for example has gone from Charles of The Ritz, Parfums Corp, Sanofi, Gucci PPR and now L'Oreal)...
Then theres indicators such as:
Pre 1980 fragrances had the alcohol content displayed with Ā° symbol rather than % (e.g Ā°80 vs 80%)...
The 'e' estimated sign next to the liquid volume would also indicate it being post 1975 and the appearance of EMB code post 1978 too...
The lack/lack of green recycling dot is handy too, as that came in effect in 1992...
Then theres other other little things such as engravings on the underside of caps etc, bottle manufacturers and checking the seal/ring under the atomisers etc
These things help, though ultimately its still a risk but theres also risk with buying current fragrances from the grey market too...
This is a good source for different brands:
Master the art of vintage Chanel perfumes. From batch code secrets to original vs. reformulated scents, get the facts every collector needs to know.
www.raidersofthelostscent.blog
