Coming up next Saturday will be our second swapmeet. You can find all the rules and see how it works by taking a look at the first swapmeet, which we held last September, and you could also take a look at the feedback poll we did a month later.
Don’t know what swapping is, or you know but you’ve never tried it? See here.
A number of people also suggested that we have a "gift box for newbies" sort of program, whereby those of us with too many samples can send them off to someone who has few or none. Stay tuned, we're going to try it out next month. If anyone has suggestions about how we might best organize this, do comment!
I gave away quite a bit of stuff in the last PP Swapmania. I had two lists posted, one of things to swap, and one of things to give away. I think doing it separately as you have in mind is a good idea. I found that it was really hard to convince people that I was willing to give things away absolutely free, nothing required in return. Several people insisted on sending me something. It may have been in part because it was mixed in with all the swaps, where people wanted something in exchange. I would suggest making it absolutely clear that the gift boxes are just that–gifts, freebies, no obligation. Perhaps is someone wants to reimburse for shipping costs, that would be nice, as it can add up, but otherwise nothing is expected.
Each donor could list things available, perhaps grouping samples into collections (note, house, or whatever), if there are a lot of them, and providing contact instructions. I would suggest also allowing bottles as well as samples. I had quite a few bottles that were too good to just throw away (I never throw perfume away unless it is spoiled), but not really valuable enough to worry about, and I really needed to reduce the size of my collection. Then, as things get taken, the donor could add a reply stating what is gone. After most of the things were gone, I felt it was good to add a follow-up comment summarizing what was left.
I can’t wait! Will start preparing my list of things for a swap.
Great idea!
I’m thinking it may be good to define newbie as I would rather give to a “true” newbie under the newbie program than someone who really ought to be swapping. Suggestions: Newbie = owns fewer than 10 FBs or fell into the rabbit hole from January 2012 onwards; of course, this label would be self-declared.
I think the Monday Mail participants could be another category to benefit from this community. For example, I have a good number of the perfumes recommended to Verity and it would give me great pleasure to send her a “Monday Mail Recommendations Pack”; she can still contact me with a wish list…just sayin’ 🙂
If you want me to facilitate that, just say & I’ll shoot her an email.
That would be great, Robin! My gravatar has my contact info and I’ll work with her via email…only condition I can only ship within the U.S.
Oops…almost forgot, but did email her today.
Yeah I think a guideline could be helpful also from the newbie POV; I am imagining there may be people who hold back out of concern that any perfume background at all means they are not new enough to qualify. A guideline like that might help more people feel like it’s ok to volunteer themselves! (I mean, actually I qualify under both those measures, and I still wouldn’t feel like I should put myself up, because I have pretty wide access to samples and in-store testers.)
great. i have quite a few bottles i’d like to swap, UK only. basenotes is finished these days and fragrantica is same ol’ same ol. it’s time for a new, exciting forum like this one. cheers.
I’d just like to say that I participated in the first Swapmeet here as well as in the two most recent Swapmanias on PP, and my experience with swapping has been wonderful. I have gotten rid of a great many unloved bottles, and gotten some very nice things in return. The worst thing I have had happen is to trade one perfume I didn’t like for another (unsniffed) perfume that I didn’t like, and in those cases I was able to swap them away the next time. If anyone is on the fence about swapping, please give it a try.
Thanks everyone! Will have to keep thinking about how we could do a gift program.
Hi All,
I have some samples and would love to participate!
I also have some larger bottles, and would be open to doing decants, but I don’t know how. For example, I have about 30 mL of 24 Faubourg, but it is in a bottle with a spray cap. How do I get the spray part off (without spilling the juice everywhere) so that I can put it into a smaller container?
Any advice is appreciated. If I can’t get it together to do decants for this time, then next time, for sure.
You probably can’t get the sprayer off, at least not without totally ruining either it or the bottle. A few brands, such as Annick Goutal, have sprayers that simply unscrew, but most of them are permanently attached. If it is removable, it should unscrew pretty easily. Otherwise, you will have to learn how to spray from the large bottle into the decant vial. You can use a funnel, but I have learned how to do it without a funnel. I hold the decant vial as close as possiblt to the opening on the sprayer. Keep in mind that the juice will squirt out when the sprayer is at the bottom of a stroke, so align the decant vial accordingly. All this is easier than it sounds; I have done it successfully many times without a major mishap, although I usually do end up wearing a little bit of whatever I am decanting. If you are nervous about it, you might want to try practicing first with something cheap that won’t break your heart if you spill some of it.
Excellent instructions! More here, if needed:
https://freebox.it.com/2007/03/29/perfumista-tip-how-to-decant-perfume/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi all! Would like to participate this time around; not sure what I can offer, not even sure if I would qualify as a ‘sample-giveaway-newbie’ since I have been posting for a while now and even won a giveaway contest, but i will check back when the ‘official’ rules go up.
I think I would love to participate in this. I’m a newbie and a giver if that makes sense. I’ve never swapped before and don’t have that much fragrance to contribute. I’m a painter and in exchange for a perfume care package can make you a watercolor impression of a scent.
Would love to participate. Have some great stuff, several bottles, looking for Parfumerie Generalie and Vero Perfumes and a few other brands.
Histories tuberose too!
Hi Robin: I have a number of almost full bottles that I would like to give away for free at the swap. These are nice things, some of which have been recommendations on recent Monday Mails. Would this be ok? It would enable me to fit my remaining bottles neatly into the space set aside for my remaining bottles, which would be a first! Thank you!
Absolutely!
Yay! Thank you!