PerfumesForABuck.com Initial Experience

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 PerfumesForABuck.com Initial Experience Jul. 1st, 2012 at 7:59 PM Sunday, July 1, 2012 I've decided to make 2 separate blog entries about the subscription I just started with PerfumesForABuck.com. This first entry is about my general experience and concerns about the company and the second entry is more in-depth about the 10 perfume samples I have received. I signed up for PerfumesForABuck.com on Thursday, June 21, 2012. So far, I am liking this subscription, but I did just get my first samples on Saturday, June 30th, before I came to Work, so it's early yet. It's basically $13.99 a month for 5 perfume samples. They look like 1ml or 1cc samples. The sample of Green Tea by Bulgari is in a sprayer bottle and it says "Sign Up for a Premium Membership and get these larger 2ml spray atomizers." It looks like there's 2 cc's in that bottle, so my guess is the smaller ones are 1cc or 1ml. The spray bottle may say it's 2ml, but it's only 3/4 full, so it looks like 1.5ml. If that's an example of what they're sending, a sample that's 1/4 empty, it's not an honest business practice. All but 1 of the 1ml samples has a huge air bubble as well. The PerfumesForABuck.com monthly subscription is $12.99 a month + $1.00 for 5 perfume samples of your choice. The website says they have hundreds of genuine designer fragrances to choose from, and the company seems to be legit, as far as I can tell. PerfumesForABuck.com is owned by the Blueberry Corporation in Angoura Hills, California. I'm not sure why they don't just say the subscription is $13.99 a month. A lot of people are not so fond of the number 13, though, so maybe that's it. But that is just speculation on my part. I think it's because they want to be able to fool people into signing up by saying they only charge $1.00 for 5 samples of perfume. $12.99 is the monthly membership fee. The other $1.00 will apparently be charged when you've picked your 5 samples and they ship. Before I go any farther, I want to say to everyone who is considering subscribing to PerfumesForABuck.com that you must read the FAQ's and the Terms of Service carefully before you sign up. Make sure you know what you are getting into. It's not like Birchbox where the FAQ's are clearly spelled out and Customer Service will answer any questions you might have about the FAQ's or the Terms and Conditions or any other questions you might have. PerfumesForABuck.com has some repetitive legal disclaimers. Pay attention to the explanation of the charges. I know Birchbox has all the legal stuff spelled out, too, but Birchbox's legal stuff seems much more straightforward to me. I signed up on Thursday, June 21, and picked 5 perfume samples. The site's FAQ says if you would like to pick 5 additional samples they will go into your queue and be shipped after your payment processes on the monthly anniversary of your billing date, when you will be billed again and your next set of samples will ship after that. Well, on Saturday, June 23rd, I was charged the $12.99 sign up fee and the $1.00. The thing is, I had put 5 additional samples into my cart, expecting them to stay there until my anniversary billing date of July 23rd. I received all 10 samples on Saturday, June 30th. I have not been billed the $12.99 for July yet, as far as I can tell. At least, it's not showing up in my bank's computer and Great Western Bank has always been great at showing any charges and pending charges from my debit card the second they happen. I've been billed $12.99 for June and $1.00 for my first 5 Be Delicious samples, and $1.00 for the set of 5 Bulgari samples which arrived in the same box. Now I'm wondering if I won't be able to choose 5 samples in July or is PerfumesForABuck.com going to bill some crazy extra charge to my debit card or what. I really meant for the 5 Bulgari samples to stay in my cart until the end of July. I totally expected that they would. It's the weekend, so I am waiting until Monday morning to call PerfumesForABuck.com customer service. Well, I guess Monday afternoon, since they are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time and I'm in the Midwest, which means their hours are 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time. They do have relatively fast shipping. My account says my samples were mailed last Sunday and they arrived on Saturday. Who ships on Sunday? The package has a USPS First Class Mail label on it. The U. S. Postal Service does not pick up or accept drop-offs for packages on Sundays. Mail travels on Sundays, but it is not a business day for the USPS. The shipping label itself is dated 06/25/2012 in the upper right-hand corner under the stamps.com logo. So it really shipped on Monday, June 25th. That's pretty good, considering it got here 5 days later. It's about what I would expect for mail from California to Iowa. I've gotten packages from China in less than a week, and when my Birchbox shipping e-mail arrives on the 9th of the month and says my package shipped on the 6th, it's been the 14th when my box arrived 3 months in a row. But Birchbox uses UPS Mail Innovations and they transfer to the actual USPS once my Birchbox arrives in Kansas City. I like that PerfumesForABuck.com has faster shipping. Tammy ThePeridotCricket Current Location:Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA Current Mood: cranky cranky