Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers, including the awkward ones.

Everything people ask us before they order. Where the answer is not in our favour, we have said so rather than leaving you to find out at checkout.

Price and authenticity

Your prices are far below retail. Are these real?

Yes. We are a wholesale fragrance business that has supplied national retail buyers since 1998, and this is our first time selling direct. We buy sealed, in-date overstock in volume from distributors we have worked with for decades, and we ship from our own warehouse rather than a store. No mall lease, no counter staff, no buying office taking a margin. That is the whole of the discount. There is a longer explanation on how we know it is real.

How do I know a bottle is authentic?

Authenticity is controlled by sourcing, not by inspection. Counterfeit product has no route into a sealed factory case from a distributor we have a decades-long relationship with. On receipt, cases are inspected for seal integrity, cellophane, coding and packaging condition, and anything that fails does not go on the shelf. Every bottle ships with its original manufacturer batch code, untouched, and you are welcome to check it when it arrives.

Do you individually verify the batch code on every bottle?

No, and we would be sceptical of anyone claiming to at our volume. Decoding and logging every code across a two thousand item catalogue would be theatre. The distributor relationship is what establishes authenticity. We would rather tell you that plainly than make a promise we could not keep.

Can you tell me the batch code before I buy?

Usually not. Stock moves quickly enough that we cannot promise the specific bottle we looked at will still be the one picked for your order twenty minutes later. If you have a particular reason to need it, call us and we will tell you what we can.

Is this grey market product?

No. We buy genuine, sealed, in-date stock from named distributors we have long-standing relationships with, not from brokers or marketplace pallets of unknown origin. Reselling authentic goods that were lawfully purchased is entirely legal and is the basis of every outlet and off-price retailer in the country.

Will you match a lower price?

Yes. If you find the identical product, size and concentration cheaper at a US retail website, send us the link before you order or within 14 days after, and we will match it or refund the difference. Excludes auction listings, third-party marketplace sellers, membership-only pricing, bundle offers and anything we cannot verify. Email or call us and we will sort it out without a form.

Shipping

When will my order ship?

Orders are processed within one to two business days and ship from our warehouse in California. You will receive tracking by email as soon as it leaves us. Delivery estimates appear at checkout based on your address.

How much is shipping?

Shipping is calculated from your location and the contents of your order, and is always shown in full before you pay. Orders over $250 ship free.

Do you ship internationally?

Not yet. We currently ship within the United States only. International shipping is on our list, and fragrance carries transport restrictions that make it more involved than most categories, so we would rather do it properly than badly.

Why is there no overnight option?

Fragrance is alcohol-based and classified as a hazardous material for transport, which limits the shipping methods available to every retailer in this category, not just us. If you need something by a particular date, call us before ordering and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.

My order arrived damaged or leaking.

Contact us with photographs of the parcel and the bottle and we will replace it or refund it. We carry that cost, not you. Do not throw the packaging away until we have spoken, because the carrier claim sometimes needs it.

Can I change or cancel my order?

If it has not shipped, yes. Call us rather than emailing, because orders move quickly and the phone is faster. Once it is with the carrier we cannot recall it, and it becomes a return.

Returns

What is your return policy?

Thirty days from delivery, for a full refund of the product price. The bottle must be unopened and in its original packaging, including the outer plastic wrap. Return shipping is paid by you, and original shipping is not refunded.

Can I return a bottle I have opened or sprayed?

No, and this is the answer we like least. An opened bottle cannot be resold and cannot be recovered. Our margins are thin enough that an open-box return policy is one we could not honour for long, and a policy we cannot afford is one we would eventually break. This is the standard across the discount fragrance category. We would rather state it here than have you discover it after ordering.

Then how do I avoid buying something I hate?

Call or email us first. We have smelled the catalogue and we will talk you through a scent honestly, including telling you not to buy it. Read the base notes rather than the marketing copy, since those govern how it will smell an hour in. And where a fragrance exists in more than one concentration, check which one you actually want before committing, because they are frequently different compositions rather than the same scent at different strengths.

Do you sell samples or decants?

Not yet, and we know it is the obvious answer to the question above. It is on our roadmap. Until then, the cheapest low-risk way to try something is a tester or a smaller size.

What if the bottle is not what you said it was?

Full refund including shipping in both directions, and you do not need to return it before we process it. Send us photographs of the box, the seal and the batch code and we will trace the lot back through our receiving records to the distributor it came from, then tell you what we find even if the answer is inconvenient for us.

Bottles and packaging

What exactly is a tester?

Stock the manufacturer produced for retail counters rather than for the shelf. Identical fragrance, same line, same formula, same bottle. What differs is the box: plain white or brown instead of the printed retail carton, often marked as a tester, sometimes without a decorative cap. If you were going to throw the box away anyway, a tester is the smarter purchase. If it is a gift, buy the retail bottle. We never list a tester as a retail bottle.

The box says not for resale. Is that a problem?

No. That wording binds the retail counter the unit was originally sent to. It has no bearing on the fragrance itself and does not affect your right to buy it or ours to sell it.

Will the packaging match the photo?

Usually, but not always. Overstock is by definition stock that has been sitting, and brands revise their artwork over time, so a bottle produced in a different year may look slightly different from the current press image. The fragrance is unaffected. If exact current packaging matters, email us before ordering and we will tell you what is actually on the shelf.

What do EDT, EDP and Parfum mean?

They describe how much perfume oil is dissolved in the alcohol, which affects longevity, projection and price. Roughly: EDT is 5 to 15 percent, EDP is 15 to 20, and extrait or parfum is 20 to 40. None of these terms are legally defined, so treat them as a signal rather than a specification. There is a full breakdown on the concentrations page.

Something sold out. Will it come back?

Often not, or not at the same price. We buy specific lots rather than open-ended supply, so when a lot is gone we are dependent on another one appearing. Email us and we will tell you honestly whether it is likely.

How should I store my fragrance?

Somewhere cool, dark and stable. Heat and light degrade fragrance faster than anything else, which is why a bottle kept on a sunny windowsill or in a steamy bathroom turns within a year or two. A drawer or a closed cupboard away from a radiator is ideal. Keep it in the box if you have space.

Payment and security

What payment methods do you accept?

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and Diners Club, plus PayPal, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Amazon Pay. If you would feel better using a method with its own buyer protection on a first order, PayPal and Shop Pay both provide it and we would rather you used one than hesitated.

Is my payment information safe?

Checkout runs on Shopify, which is PCI compliant and processes payment details directly. We never see or store your full card number.

Who am I actually buying from?

Fragrance Boulevard is operated by Karia Trading Co LLC, the wholesale fragrance business founded in 1998. Our founder, Sam Karia, is named on the site and answers the phone himself more often than he probably should. If something goes wrong you are dealing with a company with a long trading history, not an anonymous storefront.

Still stuck

Ask us. A person will answer.

Our phone is answered by a human, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Pacific. Email gets a reply the same day in almost every case. If you want a recommendation rather than support, ask for that too. We have been smelling this catalogue for a very long time and we will tell you when the cheaper bottle is the better one.

No surprises at checkout.

Two thousand authentic designer and niche fragrances, priced the way we have priced them since 1998.

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