The Perfumed Court, the perfume sample/decant store that opened in 2007, has now split in two. The original Perfumed Court is still open, but two of the proprietors, Patty White (of Perfume Posse) and Lisa Lawler, have left to open the new Surrender to Chance store:
The unique name came about on a recent trip to Morocco, where they realized their vision of the world of perfume was expanding beyond the scope of their previous venture. They believe perfume is fun and want people to surrender the way they think about perfume, to take a chance and try something completely different .
The new site will provide decants of niche/mainstream//indie/discontinued fragrances as well as educational sample packs by notes, historical significance, award winners, perfumers, and perfume houses.
The new site will also focus on enhanced customer service, realtime inventory controls to track stock, streamlined shipping, and easier site navigation for the beginner as well as the experienced perfumista.
(via press release)
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A trip to Morocco? I’m in the wrong line of work.
Ditto.
Ha!
You know I should get into that as well.
I never bought much from the Court (luckyscent was my addiction) but I really like the new ideas that they’re going to feature, especially the idea of “educational sample packs.”
Not to knock Surrender to Chance, I think the Court already had those. Perhaps there will be more at Surrender.
Lifetime called – their TV movie title back!
ooh nuts. ruined by quick fingers. You fill in the blanks!
(I knew exactly what you meant. It *is* a bit romance-novel, isn’t it?!)
I wish we had something alike PerfumedCourt or Surrender to Chance here, in Poland. That would be a great way to get some decants instead of full bottles…
I add my vote for a European decant and sample store!
Though I have to say that not being able to buy samples in my early perfumista stages helped me save lots of money, really lots of money!, and force me to wait and sample “cold-minded”. Yeah, right, I’m the James Bond of sample testing…
I have a feeling there would be a quick lawsuit if someone tried to do this in the EU.
I’m seeing more and more people now doing high end decants/samples on Ebay UK again.
I was just going to say that.
I was agreeing with Robin there.
Not decants but I believe first-in-fragrance is based in Germany and offers samples of what they sell (like Luckyscent)
They do generous pretty generous samples, unless I’m being dim and volume is the same but looks bigger from the sprays they give.
I think First in Fragrance are wonderful, they are very generous with their free samples (excellent way to sell products let’s be honest) which give you at least 3-4 generous applications. To get free postage you have to order around 450 euros worth( a once year deal for me unfortunately). I used to be a loyal customer of The Perfumed Court, but found that in the last year or so their prices were very spendy and the shipping to Australia was also getting dearer, so it would have to be a 20% sale to tempt me. At least Surrender is more reasonable in that regard. Postage is always a factor for us in Australia, Luckyscent is very generous too, but they have to be because postage to Australia is $34 for 1 bottle and anything over 2 bottles $50 (used to be $40). Admittedly though for a similar total amount of money spent that I usually spend at Perf Court, I end up with at least 2 full bottles at Luckyscent. It would be great to have the equivalent here in Australia, now theres a thought….
They do but they are expensive.They used to be six samples for about 18 Euro and they would always give you like two extra samples for free.That is how I met Fifi.But, now they are more expensive and no freebies.They need to bring that sample program back.
Looks like these two women have come up with a more reasonable pricing structure. I remember seeing several decants on The Perfumed Court which cost more than a regular full bottle would have. Im trying to avoid doing any actual work today, so perusing this website will be a great alternative.
Really? I did a little comparison (can’t remember of what) and they were a little more expensive for most but I think the larger decant was a little less. Still too $$ for me – the mark-up is incredible.
I’m expecting my first order Monday! They had a nice promotional sale, and I love the cheaper shipping.
I wish both companies the best, and fully expect to buy from both of them.
Seems to me the rarer stuff came from Diane, so maybe she is going to concentrate more on that sort of thing?
Old news. I hope the new site has a larger list of destinations.
No info on how to pay — what credit cards, or if paypal is an option. Perhaps someone who used TPC could advise?
At this point I am not sure if we can pay with credit cards to Surrender to Chance (at least I could not last week, when I placed my first order). However, we can send a check or money order (instructions on the confirmation page), or pay through PayPal.
Thanks Milena. I’d actually prefer to pay by check!
I placed my first order with them on the 9th. They notified me that they shipped part of the order yesterday and the rest today. I paid by cc. Hmm. Maybe I paid with cc via PayPal on the site (I don’t have a PayPal account and don’t want to get one).
I was a customer of TPC, but thought I’d try this new venture, especially with their opening offers and lower prices. It looks like the orders are being expedited faster, too. I’ll report back once my order arrives. BTW, I have no complaints about my dealings with TPC.
As others have said, I used TPC. I’m in a small city in Australia and there was NO WAY I could have sampled what I have sampled without TPC. Luckyscent is not an option because its shipping to Aus. is very high. So TPC was my friend.
But – feeling rather disloyal – I did dive straight into S2C to take advantage of the opening discount. S2C seems on the whole to be cheaper. And S2C charge less for postage to Australia. It may only add up to a few dollars but it all helps.
I still expect to purchase from TPC. It is promising some special offers in the near future. I can see myself leaping from one to the other, depending on what they are offering.
I’ve been a devoted but infrequent TPC customer. I could never have explored perfume without this resource, so all three of the founders have my undying gratitude and appreciation, and I wish them well. I’m feeling a teeny bit crabby, because I have difficulty finding time to shop one site, and now I’ll need to check two. Nonetheless, I’m sure StC will come up with some fun and informative approaches – it’s sure to be worth watching.
Somebody needs to build an app that searches all the likely sample/decant sources. Just saying.
It’s worth saying: I bet there is an app builder who has an app that searches the web for the words, “need app that”
I mentioned in the last open thread that I was missing a shipment from TPC–I wanted to give anyone curious the update that I have now heard from the ladies at S2C. No sign of my missing package, but she’s offered to resend it to me, free of charge. Seems like excellent customer service, to me! I don’t think the missing package was anyone’s fault (except maybe the postal service), so it feels pretty generous!