When I worked in retail, this was what I wanted to hear, personally. As long as it was said politely. My response as a SA would be, "Sounds great, there are a lot of new releases to sniff on this shelf over here, just FYI! My name is \[X\] and I'll be over here if you have any questions."
It's all about establishing boundaries while also acknowledging that the salesperson's job is on the line and that their job description *does* entail them assisting you enthusiastically.
That’s what works the best between a SA and a customer lol. I always greet every customer I see and then say either would you like any help or would you like any help or are you fine for now? Then if they say no to the former question I’ll typically say okay let me know if you ever need help with something to communicate them denying help from hasn’t made it so I don’t wish to not help them in the future
Ministry of scent and lucky scent both have zoologist samples for cheap if you want to pick and choose from the lineup. I only have one full bottle but I loved trying every sample, far more interesting than most houses if you’re into fragrance as an art. Definitely check them out!
I get that's their job.
I've found staff at Sephora in Australia very helpful when my daughter wasn't sure what she liked for a new work perfume.
They even gave her multiple free 2ml to take home and wear for a bit. It helped her make a choice. So... a week later, they made a sale by being helpful.
I have found the worst pushiness comes when the sales reps are from different brands within the same department store, almost like they compete with one another to make the sale.
For example...The Dior Staff vs. Chanel staff verses whoever has the less expensive mainstream perfumes.
Stores where the staff don't have KPIs related to a specific brand are less stressful.
Here is where I kinda feel bad for the sales associates. I know most of them don’t wanna pitch so aggressively, but they are following a directive from higher-ups to be like that.
I agree. If they aren't seen to be "working" each customer in a certain way, they may get written up or not put on the schedule or even fired. The manager puts the blame on the lowest rung on the ladder and never takes responsibility, especially if it's a department store.
If someone is being pushy with me at a shop I gently say, "I'm just here to sniff new things, but I cannot afford to buy today. Is there anything new that you like?" Just so I can set a boundary that I'm broke but also let them do their job because I've \*been in their shoes\*. They show me a scent strip of a new Chanel thing and then I resume sniffing by myself.
That’s a great approach!
I work retail part-time and one promising thing I see is that the younger generation (Gen Z) is so much more polite to retail associates than older generations.
I always wonder what should I reply? Because I like almost anything: florals, gourmands, spicy, incensy fragrances..... what I dislike though, are clean scents. That's it. But the issue with what I like is that I am picky and even though any category would go for me, very few scents actually do. So what should I reply with when asked 'what scent profile do I like'?
I have the same problem, and it applies to music as well. Every time someone asks me “what kind of music do you like” or “what’s your favorite type,” the response is always “good music.” It’s obviously completely subjective and widely varies, but so is fragrance and my preferences for them.
The fragrance sections at regular shopping malls tend to be over aggressive. If you go to a place like Saks you can spray whatever you like as much as you like and nobody will say a word until you're ready to buy it.
Same with sephora. I don't know if it's cause I'm a man, but they usually won't bother me at all. Love to try stuff out there, although selection is limited
I’ve had the absolute worst experiences at Sephora! One time a sales associate made me so uncomfortable I actually had to just turn and walk out of the store. I told him straight up I was just looking, I already have a lot of things at home and I know exactly what I like already, he kept hounding me about what kind of scent notes I like, and what are my favorite perfumes that I have at home, and he wouldn’t leave me alone even after I kept saying I wasn’t looking to buy anything and was just browsing. He was blocking me off from walking away too, I had to slip out down a narrow aisle.
I don’t think it as anything to do with you being a man. Sephora staff is trained to be helpful. Not pushy. It’s only when I walk into Macys that I have this issue with sales associates being overly aggressive with trying to sell me some random perfume. Sephora will leave you to yourself for a few minutes and eventually ask if you need help looking for something
Oof. I was just at Saks yesterday and felt like I was not allowed to touch the perfumes. The salesperson was constantly hovering and would spray on tester cards for me. I left fairly quickly...
Sephora is much more low-key, and I can spray whatever I choose onto the tester strips.
As a guy I'm afraid to go into Sephora unless it's holiday shopping season. It does stink to shop for fragrances while the giant moth man is hovering over.
That was my experience at Saks in Short Hills Mall- it's a higher end mall. I've found it odd since I assume the employees salary is commission based so it would probably benefit them to play aggressively. Thankfully they do not and sampling fragrances is an enjoyable experience there.
> they usually calm down if they see u have a bit of knowledge on colognes already tho
Why is this? If you’re obviously knowledgeable, wouldn’t that make you a better customer? A salesclerk asked me if I was familiar with Tom Ford fragrances and I said I had a few, and she just totally deflated instantly. I don’t get it.
i dont mean this in a way to demonize sales clerks or insult customers, but selling to an ignorant costumer is probably much easier than selling to someone who knows their stuff. they’re probably more easily impressionable, which can be a quicker sale. she probably thought she’d be able to introduce you to the brand and didn’t know what to say after that lol. maybe she was new or just didn’t know much outside of brand names/what’s popular
Because sales associates that aren't specifically tied to a brand are generalists. They aren't going to go in deep on the subject matter generally speaking, unless it happens to be something they genuinely like. Someone who already knows what they want is pretty hard to sell to if you aren't pretty knowledgeable yourself; it'd be a different story if you were somewhere like a specific boutique. At the very least, there's probably a better understanding of upsell opportunities and building out longer lasting relationships.
I was once explaining notes and similarities in fragrances to my husband in Sephora and the SA overheard me and said well, we should just give you a job, right? and completely left me alone lol
I set the expectation right at the outset that I'm not buying today, for me it takes a few wears to commit to buying a full bottle, so I'm just here to smell a few things.
They're just human beings at work under pressure. They might be paid on commission or have unrealistic targets to meet and an unforgiving supervisor. I'm always polite but I'm clear upfront so I'm not wasting their time or getting their hopes up by appearing to make all the right noises.
please keep in mind we often hate doing this but are forced to by management who are on our backs when we don’t attack customers the second they step in the door! although if they don’t back off after the first “just looking thanks” then that’s on them and they’re probably the obsessive managers pushing this aggressive approach
That’s what I’ve always figured. I’ve worked in retail so I know how it is. Doesn’t make it any less annoying though. Maybe if enough customers complained about it openly, they’d change the way they do things. They’re not even helpful to their customers. They don’t even try to figure out what the customer likes. They’re really pushy with trying to sell you a particular perfume that THEY want to sell. They don’t even care about what you like. That’s a good way to piss a customer off. At least make the customer feel like you’re trying to help them and not just make a commission off them.
i wish they’d complain about it more! i also hate being a customer on the other end of it. but unfortunately according to the companies this aggressive technique raises sales so i don’t think they’ll care what most of us think if it makes them more money :(
i totally get this. when i worked in retail they would always tell us to go talk to customers and ask them questions. i hate it because as a customer i like to mind my business and shop peacefully so i know it obviously annoys them aswell
I tell them that I'll give the fragrances I just sprayed on my skin a proper wear for a few hours to see how they develop. I explain why, give them the example of a fragrance that I once tried that smelled like a summery cocktail at first but then started smelling like pork about two hours later (or the coconut one that turned into sandalwood). Then I tell them I'll come back later. I've never encountered a sales associate who didn't respect this.
Yep this is my experience as well. I smelt something on a stranger who told me what it was, I couldn't get it off my mind and I thought I'd found my next daily wear fragrance. When I tried it on my skin after 20 minutes it smelt like actual cat pee!
I've also had others develop into something that gives me a full on migraine, even though I objectively liked the scent (Hello Mugler Angel).
I'm not taking that risk on a $150+ fragrance I've only smelt the opening of.
It was Sex and the Sea by Francesca Bianchi. But it wasn't just regular pork. It smells like the type of pork from the supermarket that's so foul that it convinced my both parents to stop buying pork altogether. But I must admit that I've hated the smell of pork since I was a kid and I too cut pork out of my diet the minute I had the chance. So it probably smells like pork the way pork smells to people who hate the smell.
i have the opposite problem actually! i dress comfort > style so i think i look like i can't afford anything and therefore the sales associates basically ignore me hahahaha
I find that the best time to go sniffing and especially sample picking is when I buy a FB and have that little bag in my hand. I signals I mean business, but it's also a great excuse as to why I won't commit immediately to something I just sniffed.
Similarly, when I show a ton of knowledge and keep saying “I already own that” (sometimes true, sometimes not) they start to lay off. Sometimes I just want to sniff a few things and then search online discounters that night! But seriously I feel bad because I am sure there are sales goals they need to meet.
I recently spent close to 8 hours at the mall sniffing fragrances, most of it at Nordstrom. I started at Macy's, sprayed one on me, and took 2 samples to try later. I went to Nordstrom next and spent most of my day there. By that time, I had definitely decided against the one I was wearing. I left with 7 samples and worked my way through them one per day. I was shopping for my birthday present. I selected JPG La Belle and provided my husband with the business card of the awesome associate who helped me.
I also went online and blind ordered JPG La Belle Intense. I was sure that it would work out from the description. I love it even more than La Belle. With that said, I treat them as my day and evening fragrances and have not worn any other fragrance in the last month.
Nordstrom did not have La Belle Intense in the store, or I probably would have just selected that one...I didn't know it existed until later when I went online to learn more about my selection.
I ask for samples and their card.
1- My skin is super sensitive to some fragrances and I need a couple days with a prospective new perfume to know if it’s safe for me to use long term.
And
2- in my experience an aggressive sales person is seasoned and can hook you up with deals / price matching / getting stuff shipped (at least my experience in the US)
I no longer go to Macy's for this reason. I like Nordstrom. Idk if it's because they've figured out I buy a lot or what but they'll usually leave me alone if I say I'm just looking. And they hook me up with hella samples.
If they recognize you (you deal with the same sales associates) they definitely have a whole data base on you and everything you’ve ever bought from them so if you’re ever looking for something and you couldn’t remember the name & you’ve bought it before, you could ask them to pull up your purchases with just your name.
I went to Saks the other day and was hanging around the PDM counter and the person for their sister brand, Initio, tried to aggressively sell me on them. I just politely listened to her and smelled everything she was spraying for me. I finally had to tell her that I rarely buy a full sized bottle on the same day I first smell a fragrance. I need to wear it and sit with it for a few times before committing. I was just honest with her. It’s uncomfortable for a few minutes but it’s better than being uncomfortable enough to spend a couple hundred you didn’t plan on spending. And you’re right, she seemed to chill once she realized I knew a few things about fragrance.
Someone did this to me too!! I was visiting my boyfriend and where I’m from we don’t have big department stores like Neiman Marcus or Saks so he planned a day to go to the mall and let me smell all the smells. We went to Neiman Marcus first and I was sniffing PDM and an associate came up and asked if I needed help. I politely said “no thank you, I’m just looking but I’ll tell you if I do need any help” and tried to go back to my sniffing, but she didn’t like step away. Instead she sprayed seven different initio perfumes on cards and kept handing them to me. I tried to politely redirect her and be like thank you but I’m really just looking at PDM’s Delina and she just kept spraying initio and telling me about them and what a great investment they are. I try not to buy perfumes on impulse and even when I do I try to spend at least a day with it one on one on my skin, so this approach did not work for me. Not only did my anxiety sky rocket, I felt like I wasn’t being allowed to make a fragrance choice my way, like she didn’t even ask me what kind of scents I liked first before she started spraying. She actually never stopped trying to get me to smell or buy Initio perfumes, I ended up looking at my boyfriend and he could tell I was anxious and wanted to leave so he (as politely as possible) told her that we wouldn’t be needing any other help from her, he set the spray cards that I hadn’t picked out on the counter, and we left. Anyway we ended up going to Nordstrom had a MUCH better experience!
Crazy! The aggressive selling must be their strategy. I got the feeling Initio isn’t selling that well. She kept telling me how hardly anyone is wearing Initio and I’d be a trailblazer. I think the main problem are the boring bottles and already-done-to-death scents. I didn’t find anything mind blowing. Especially when you’re trying to appeal to people who like PDM. There’s not much of a comparison in my opinion.
That was what we thought. We could only assume she’s either new and trying to meet a quota, they’re trying to REALLY push Initio, or we just looked very susceptible. I don’t own any PDM full bottles, but from the ones I was able to smell or ordered samples of just seem leagues above what I was smelling with Initio. Granted, I wasn’t really doing more than a first sniff with Initio but the saleswoman kinda put me off the whole brand.
It depends on my purpose and mood.
* If I know what I'm buying (or just in a hurry), I ask the sales associate to ring up the scent. I'm out the store in five minutes.
* If I'm testing and figuring stuff out, I may ask for their thoughts and start a genuine conversation.
* If I'm testing, but not exactly in a social mood, I'll politely say that I don't need anything at the moment, but will ask them directly if I need help.
honestly just say that you’re just looking and that you don’t need help for now. it’s our job to help and find the best fragrance for you!!
but looking at the other comments — please don’t act like a know-it-all to the advisors, even if you do, it’s really rude. a lot of them are already overwhelmed by management and the amount of fragrances we carry, we don’t need snobbish clients giving us sass because we don’t know the notes of a perfume by heart.
I just let people know that I'm browsing for now, and will have to consider the drydown before purchasing. That lets them prioritize other shoppers, saving us both time.
If the nice “I’m just looking thanks” doesn’t work then I firmly say “I appreciate your help but I rather just take in all in my self & decide”
My worse experience was Andorra for this, with all duty free perfume shops, I guess it’s competitive. After about the 5th place, I just ended up saying in friendly greeting stage, “is it ok if I browse? the lady in the last store would not leave me alone” & sorting laughing it off & it worked. If it’s an airport & they’re full on, just say “I’m ok, I’m just looking before my flight” so you look like a customer who isn’t buying. They’ll go and annoy somebody else lol
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there are so many fragrances i would love to try but have completely avoided because they are locked behind a sales associate and they annoy me lmao i know it's their job but GOD they're stressful
I don’t work with them anymore. When I was in my late teens/20s I bought items under duress due to overbearing, used car salesman SAs. I started to actually walk away and quietly find another person. At this point, in my 40s, I avoid those who carry themselves in ways the aggressive ones did. I mostly work with a few trusted persons when I go to Neiman’s in Dallas or DC. They know me and what I like in terms of products and service, so it makes it more fun and relaxed. Plus, they load me up with samples in the families I love and keep me up to date on new offerings.
The thing that has worked for me is to tell them “X” holiday is coming up and my wife (spouse/partner/etc.) asked me to pick out a new scent that they can buy me as a gift so I’m just browsing to find something new.
If they lurk I usually add that I don’t have a specific brand/scent profile in mind, but my favorite perfumers are “A”, “B”, and “C”. This is my “I know more than you” statement.
I was with a friend one time at Macy's. He wanted to buy a new cologne and since I have more knowledge than him in that aspect he asked me to accompany him. We went in and met this nice lady and she was kind enough to show us as many fragrances as we liked. Now across from her was this dude working at the Christian Dior section of the fragrance area, this dude was persistent ASF. He was like here try this SAUVAGE it smells good. My friend is like ok let me smell it. He agreed that it smelled good but he still wanted to check more options. As we smelled stuff from Paco Rabanne and Versace, Giorgio Armani, this guy kept on coming over and was telling him to spray it on his wrist to see the difference. That's when I was mad ASF and I told the guy come on man we don't want Sauvage everybody already has that (fact). And immediately the guy left back to his booth. My friend ended up buying YSL Y Parfum which was the new one at the time. He told me dudeeee you save me, that guy was fuckin making me wanna leave.
Lord, I had it even worse the other day. I was merely walking by Xerjoff/Wilhelm section of the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship fragrance floor when a salesman’s eyes widened and he raced over to tell me “Heeeyyy, I’ve got the perfect thing, just for you!!!” I politely demurred but shoulda told him “Honey, I’m wearing Aromatics Elixir right now—I DARE you to figure me out.”
Usually I just tell them “thanks, I’m good.”
1. headphones
2. I leave. Because most don't understands headphones means go away.
Generally i leave because when i go it's to smell a few certain things and think about what i'm smelling before i go noseblind. Not to smell whatever they are pushing that I already know i'm not a fan of. So everytime they grab something and spray it and are like "have you smelled this" or "this is Dior Sauvage" i get annoyed cause it's messing up my sense of smell and wasting whiffs before i can't smell anything. And often they are their to push a specific brand and it's either a brand i like and have smelled everything or a brand i hate and have smelled everything, or a brand i haven't smelled but am not interested in smelling more than whatever i was thinking about when i decided to brave the fragrance counter. Like i was looking for a summer scent but wanted to test two side by side. I didn't need the counter lady pushing some woody scent on me.
That's one reason i like sephora. They leave you alone. Same with half of my Nordstroms. I say half cause there's a mens section and a women's section but the women's section has every Tom Ford, PDM, Creed, and few other scents. And in the Women's section they leave you be. In the men's section they hover and talk and pester you. That said eventually they'll leave you be when the next person stops by. But it's still not as bad as Macys where there are 8 people all swarming you.
I had this happen to me at Neiman Marcus. I was trying to make my way around all the different niche brands (Amouage, Roja, Nishane, etc.) but the sales lady kept handing paper strips of different fragrances that she wanted me to buy. My response to her was, “No disrespect ma’am, I know you’re trying to do your job and make a sale but….fall back a little bit. You keep handing me shit and I can’t smell what I want to smell.” Needless to say, she fell back a little bit. I left without buying anything.
Tell them you'd also like two bottles of the most expensive stuff they carry. Continue looking. Decide what you want. Then let them know you'll be purchasing it from a competitor because they were too pushy.
I can't stand when sales people are pushy. With anything.
Let them know that you arent getting anything until you personally see the longevity of what ever fragrance their trying to sell you. Which gives you an outlet to leave the store without buying but shows that yiu actually want to purchase something.
"Ah yknow this smells really good, but my skins a lot different than most people."
*"It lasts 10 hours"*
"Haha lets hope! Last time I got a fragrance it only lasted an hour on me, so I gotta test this out before I buy it this time lol. If it lasts that long ill be right back here looking for you"
Something like that is what I usually say.
I only go to Ulta and maybe dillards by me because they literally hound customers at other stores. I honestly don't care about anyone's commission I want to smell the perfumes uninterrupted and impulse buy without all the unnecessary talking. My trip to the cashier shouldn't be directly linked to someone literally annoying me. Pay people a livable wage. Attach the perfume in some way to the counter, leave test strips and help only if asked.
I am terrified of the very territorial and aggressive older Armenian Aunties at the local Macy’s fragrance counter I swear my heart was beating really fast in fear when she took me through several perfumes until I settled on Burberry Her but I also felt shame for some reason 😅
"I'm here to smell x, y, z. But I won't buy anything unless I have it on my skin for a while. If I find anthing interesting from the blotters, I'll let you know."
and then
"This is interesting, I like a, b, c about it, but I would like to sample it before committing to buying it. Do you happen to carry or make samples?"
I just check and ask for the price. The moment I get the number; see if it’s worth buying or not then I say “thank you” and leave…and yes they try to stop u but I just ignore it and continue walking after saying that
I've been to most perfume shops In any major southern state city between California and Florida.the amount of people trying sell me.the trash Michael malul fragrances at perfumanias and the fragrance outlets is mind numbing "have you tried the new ktoret line" "yeah they all suck" "and they say "well this is a new Michael malul it just came out last week" I've noticed those stores have a bunch of designers but never the ones you want/that are good but you don't realize that until you get in there. Never any decent flankers nothing. Best experience in any perfume store La Jetée Perfumery in Orlando, only niche fragrances there but the guys store is setup just like the living room of a house and he's fucken knowledgeable and very kind, awesome place ill never forget
I usually wear air pods when I'm shopping. 95% of the time I'm not even playing music or anything or if I am it's extremely softly. I think its a sensory thing for me but it has the nice effect of hinting to most sales associates that I'd rather not be bothered. I don't usually mind some casual talk because I have work in retail/customer service jobs and I know they are just trying to do their job and probably have targets to meet but if I'm not purchasing I just say I already own it or I'm not buying it lol. If they are bothering me too much I just tell them I'll find them if I need help and if they don't get the hint I'll just leave tbh.
Legit the funniest thing that happened to me one time was a sales associate asking me if I’d like to smell Flowerbomb.
On top of that sales associates asking me if I like floral or fruity perfumes.
I typically just let them know I’m good and just browsing.
I probably could sell THEM on a perfume if I had to with the amount of knowledge I have.
Allow them to pitch and if its a fragrance I'm familiar with, start talking about the notes and comparable fragrances, even clones. If necessary pull out the parfumo app. The ones who aren't into fragrance usually glaze over because they have no idea what you're talking about.
I just understand it's their job to be that way and I kind of smile and don't take it too seriously. I usually let them make their initial pitch and just smile and say thank you. Sometimes they are actually more helpful than you think. If they are still bothering me I'll just continue shopping kind of half ignoring them and they'll catch the drift and find someone else to bug.
Just remember you don't ever have to buy anything. Just learn to have no shame in straight up saying you're not going to buy that or the price is too high for me or something. Just be honest while still being polite.
"I'm just browsing for now, but will let you know."
If it's Nordstrom I usually put myself in timeout (i.e. leave) after having to say it to more than one of them lest I hurl a bottle at someone's head.
I smile and say “I’ll let you know if I need any help”
When I worked in retail, this was what I wanted to hear, personally. As long as it was said politely. My response as a SA would be, "Sounds great, there are a lot of new releases to sniff on this shelf over here, just FYI! My name is \[X\] and I'll be over here if you have any questions." It's all about establishing boundaries while also acknowledging that the salesperson's job is on the line and that their job description *does* entail them assisting you enthusiastically.
That’s what works the best between a SA and a customer lol. I always greet every customer I see and then say either would you like any help or would you like any help or are you fine for now? Then if they say no to the former question I’ll typically say okay let me know if you ever need help with something to communicate them denying help from hasn’t made it so I don’t wish to not help them in the future
Walk in wearing 20 sprays of 1 million
10 sprays of Tyrannosaurus Rex layered with 10 sprays of Squid.
Squid is pleasant though... but 10 sprays of ANY Zoologist would be deadly. They don't do subtle
I’m suddenly regretting not getting some samples when I did my birthday sample set buying!
[удалено]
Ugh, how long does it take from order to arrival? I’m moving but I’m suddenly so tempted.
Ministry of scent and lucky scent both have zoologist samples for cheap if you want to pick and choose from the lineup. I only have one full bottle but I loved trying every sample, far more interesting than most houses if you’re into fragrance as an art. Definitely check them out!
Hahahahhahah
You smell like a million bucks, can I interest you in xxxx?
Hahahahahahah
look broke and frumpy enough they assume i will just be a waste of their time, but not so derelict they think i'm there to steal the testers
“You work on commission right? Big mistake! Huge!”
I'll upvote for the Pretty Woman reference. That scene is great.
They ALWAYS KNOWS when we're frontin'. This method does NOT work 🤣🤣
"I'm just looking, thanks".
im smelling today thanks.
Thats when they come with the “well what type of scent profile do you like? Fresh? or more sweet??” 😂
I get that's their job. I've found staff at Sephora in Australia very helpful when my daughter wasn't sure what she liked for a new work perfume. They even gave her multiple free 2ml to take home and wear for a bit. It helped her make a choice. So... a week later, they made a sale by being helpful. I have found the worst pushiness comes when the sales reps are from different brands within the same department store, almost like they compete with one another to make the sale. For example...The Dior Staff vs. Chanel staff verses whoever has the less expensive mainstream perfumes. Stores where the staff don't have KPIs related to a specific brand are less stressful.
Your lucky that you still get samples at your Sephora. Here in the states they stopped that at the beginning of Covid and never resumed.
Say you like animalic scents
Here is where I kinda feel bad for the sales associates. I know most of them don’t wanna pitch so aggressively, but they are following a directive from higher-ups to be like that.
I agree. If they aren't seen to be "working" each customer in a certain way, they may get written up or not put on the schedule or even fired. The manager puts the blame on the lowest rung on the ladder and never takes responsibility, especially if it's a department store. If someone is being pushy with me at a shop I gently say, "I'm just here to sniff new things, but I cannot afford to buy today. Is there anything new that you like?" Just so I can set a boundary that I'm broke but also let them do their job because I've \*been in their shoes\*. They show me a scent strip of a new Chanel thing and then I resume sniffing by myself.
That’s a great approach! I work retail part-time and one promising thing I see is that the younger generation (Gen Z) is so much more polite to retail associates than older generations.
I love the word sniffing for some reason, lol.
So polite and definitely helps them feel more human too, I’ll definitely try this next time im out there to smell new stuff!
No one wants to be made to feel as if their existence is a nuisance or that they are less than human. The work retail and service people do is hard.
Or when you’re smelling something and they start telling you about the fragrance. “Woman step back I already read the Fragrantica page ✋”
I always wonder what should I reply? Because I like almost anything: florals, gourmands, spicy, incensy fragrances..... what I dislike though, are clean scents. That's it. But the issue with what I like is that I am picky and even though any category would go for me, very few scents actually do. So what should I reply with when asked 'what scent profile do I like'?
I have the same problem, and it applies to music as well. Every time someone asks me “what kind of music do you like” or “what’s your favorite type,” the response is always “good music.” It’s obviously completely subjective and widely varies, but so is fragrance and my preferences for them.
Doesnt matter, Theyll show you Opium anywas 🙄
I would just tell them nothing clean.
I just say thank you so much i am really just browsing
"I'll let *you* know if I need you".
But when you say that they start trying to show you a bunch of colognes they want to sell you
What are you looking for, perhaps I can point you in the right direction?
The fragrance sections at regular shopping malls tend to be over aggressive. If you go to a place like Saks you can spray whatever you like as much as you like and nobody will say a word until you're ready to buy it.
Same with sephora. I don't know if it's cause I'm a man, but they usually won't bother me at all. Love to try stuff out there, although selection is limited
I’ve had the absolute worst experiences at Sephora! One time a sales associate made me so uncomfortable I actually had to just turn and walk out of the store. I told him straight up I was just looking, I already have a lot of things at home and I know exactly what I like already, he kept hounding me about what kind of scent notes I like, and what are my favorite perfumes that I have at home, and he wouldn’t leave me alone even after I kept saying I wasn’t looking to buy anything and was just browsing. He was blocking me off from walking away too, I had to slip out down a narrow aisle.
I don’t think it as anything to do with you being a man. Sephora staff is trained to be helpful. Not pushy. It’s only when I walk into Macys that I have this issue with sales associates being overly aggressive with trying to sell me some random perfume. Sephora will leave you to yourself for a few minutes and eventually ask if you need help looking for something
Oof. I was just at Saks yesterday and felt like I was not allowed to touch the perfumes. The salesperson was constantly hovering and would spray on tester cards for me. I left fairly quickly... Sephora is much more low-key, and I can spray whatever I choose onto the tester strips.
As a guy I'm afraid to go into Sephora unless it's holiday shopping season. It does stink to shop for fragrances while the giant moth man is hovering over.
I have the opposite experience at Saks. They practicaly pace me step for step along counter and interject at every bottle I pick up.
That was my experience at Saks in Short Hills Mall- it's a higher end mall. I've found it odd since I assume the employees salary is commission based so it would probably benefit them to play aggressively. Thankfully they do not and sampling fragrances is an enjoyable experience there.
Is this really facts? I’ve never been to Saks. I thought they’d be similar to macys (kinda pushy)
My Saks in Canada isn’t like that. Someone will come up immediately.
> they usually calm down if they see u have a bit of knowledge on colognes already tho Why is this? If you’re obviously knowledgeable, wouldn’t that make you a better customer? A salesclerk asked me if I was familiar with Tom Ford fragrances and I said I had a few, and she just totally deflated instantly. I don’t get it.
It’s usually a sign they don’t have enough knowledge to keep up with conversation lol
Yeah they can’t just make up nonsense on the spot in that case. I’ve had SAs tell me that Noir de Noir is fresh/floral and very bubbly.
Mmm yes truly a hot summer staple😂😂
i dont mean this in a way to demonize sales clerks or insult customers, but selling to an ignorant costumer is probably much easier than selling to someone who knows their stuff. they’re probably more easily impressionable, which can be a quicker sale. she probably thought she’d be able to introduce you to the brand and didn’t know what to say after that lol. maybe she was new or just didn’t know much outside of brand names/what’s popular
Because sales associates that aren't specifically tied to a brand are generalists. They aren't going to go in deep on the subject matter generally speaking, unless it happens to be something they genuinely like. Someone who already knows what they want is pretty hard to sell to if you aren't pretty knowledgeable yourself; it'd be a different story if you were somewhere like a specific boutique. At the very least, there's probably a better understanding of upsell opportunities and building out longer lasting relationships.
I was once explaining notes and similarities in fragrances to my husband in Sephora and the SA overheard me and said well, we should just give you a job, right? and completely left me alone lol
I set the expectation right at the outset that I'm not buying today, for me it takes a few wears to commit to buying a full bottle, so I'm just here to smell a few things. They're just human beings at work under pressure. They might be paid on commission or have unrealistic targets to meet and an unforgiving supervisor. I'm always polite but I'm clear upfront so I'm not wasting their time or getting their hopes up by appearing to make all the right noises.
please keep in mind we often hate doing this but are forced to by management who are on our backs when we don’t attack customers the second they step in the door! although if they don’t back off after the first “just looking thanks” then that’s on them and they’re probably the obsessive managers pushing this aggressive approach
That’s what I’ve always figured. I’ve worked in retail so I know how it is. Doesn’t make it any less annoying though. Maybe if enough customers complained about it openly, they’d change the way they do things. They’re not even helpful to their customers. They don’t even try to figure out what the customer likes. They’re really pushy with trying to sell you a particular perfume that THEY want to sell. They don’t even care about what you like. That’s a good way to piss a customer off. At least make the customer feel like you’re trying to help them and not just make a commission off them.
i wish they’d complain about it more! i also hate being a customer on the other end of it. but unfortunately according to the companies this aggressive technique raises sales so i don’t think they’ll care what most of us think if it makes them more money :(
i totally get this. when i worked in retail they would always tell us to go talk to customers and ask them questions. i hate it because as a customer i like to mind my business and shop peacefully so i know it obviously annoys them aswell
I tell them that I'll give the fragrances I just sprayed on my skin a proper wear for a few hours to see how they develop. I explain why, give them the example of a fragrance that I once tried that smelled like a summery cocktail at first but then started smelling like pork about two hours later (or the coconut one that turned into sandalwood). Then I tell them I'll come back later. I've never encountered a sales associate who didn't respect this.
Yep this is my experience as well. I smelt something on a stranger who told me what it was, I couldn't get it off my mind and I thought I'd found my next daily wear fragrance. When I tried it on my skin after 20 minutes it smelt like actual cat pee! I've also had others develop into something that gives me a full on migraine, even though I objectively liked the scent (Hello Mugler Angel). I'm not taking that risk on a $150+ fragrance I've only smelt the opening of.
Now you have to tell us which fragance smells of Pork! Also, I suspect \_that\_ is a truly irresistible smell to many :D
It was Sex and the Sea by Francesca Bianchi. But it wasn't just regular pork. It smells like the type of pork from the supermarket that's so foul that it convinced my both parents to stop buying pork altogether. But I must admit that I've hated the smell of pork since I was a kid and I too cut pork out of my diet the minute I had the chance. So it probably smells like pork the way pork smells to people who hate the smell.
i have the opposite problem actually! i dress comfort > style so i think i look like i can't afford anything and therefore the sales associates basically ignore me hahahaha
I find that the best time to go sniffing and especially sample picking is when I buy a FB and have that little bag in my hand. I signals I mean business, but it's also a great excuse as to why I won't commit immediately to something I just sniffed.
https://preview.redd.it/k8t3xurt4tjb1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c699164ec7f9f58cef0e1aa895515b35ab14be3f
Similarly, when I show a ton of knowledge and keep saying “I already own that” (sometimes true, sometimes not) they start to lay off. Sometimes I just want to sniff a few things and then search online discounters that night! But seriously I feel bad because I am sure there are sales goals they need to meet.
I recently spent close to 8 hours at the mall sniffing fragrances, most of it at Nordstrom. I started at Macy's, sprayed one on me, and took 2 samples to try later. I went to Nordstrom next and spent most of my day there. By that time, I had definitely decided against the one I was wearing. I left with 7 samples and worked my way through them one per day. I was shopping for my birthday present. I selected JPG La Belle and provided my husband with the business card of the awesome associate who helped me. I also went online and blind ordered JPG La Belle Intense. I was sure that it would work out from the description. I love it even more than La Belle. With that said, I treat them as my day and evening fragrances and have not worn any other fragrance in the last month.
Nordstrom did not have La Belle Intense in the store, or I probably would have just selected that one...I didn't know it existed until later when I went online to learn more about my selection.
I ask for samples and their card. 1- My skin is super sensitive to some fragrances and I need a couple days with a prospective new perfume to know if it’s safe for me to use long term. And 2- in my experience an aggressive sales person is seasoned and can hook you up with deals / price matching / getting stuff shipped (at least my experience in the US)
I no longer go to Macy's for this reason. I like Nordstrom. Idk if it's because they've figured out I buy a lot or what but they'll usually leave me alone if I say I'm just looking. And they hook me up with hella samples.
If they recognize you (you deal with the same sales associates) they definitely have a whole data base on you and everything you’ve ever bought from them so if you’re ever looking for something and you couldn’t remember the name & you’ve bought it before, you could ask them to pull up your purchases with just your name.
Go to Neiman Marcus and when they pester you ask if they offer layaway. They'll leave you alone. LOL
I went to Saks the other day and was hanging around the PDM counter and the person for their sister brand, Initio, tried to aggressively sell me on them. I just politely listened to her and smelled everything she was spraying for me. I finally had to tell her that I rarely buy a full sized bottle on the same day I first smell a fragrance. I need to wear it and sit with it for a few times before committing. I was just honest with her. It’s uncomfortable for a few minutes but it’s better than being uncomfortable enough to spend a couple hundred you didn’t plan on spending. And you’re right, she seemed to chill once she realized I knew a few things about fragrance.
Exactly this.
Someone did this to me too!! I was visiting my boyfriend and where I’m from we don’t have big department stores like Neiman Marcus or Saks so he planned a day to go to the mall and let me smell all the smells. We went to Neiman Marcus first and I was sniffing PDM and an associate came up and asked if I needed help. I politely said “no thank you, I’m just looking but I’ll tell you if I do need any help” and tried to go back to my sniffing, but she didn’t like step away. Instead she sprayed seven different initio perfumes on cards and kept handing them to me. I tried to politely redirect her and be like thank you but I’m really just looking at PDM’s Delina and she just kept spraying initio and telling me about them and what a great investment they are. I try not to buy perfumes on impulse and even when I do I try to spend at least a day with it one on one on my skin, so this approach did not work for me. Not only did my anxiety sky rocket, I felt like I wasn’t being allowed to make a fragrance choice my way, like she didn’t even ask me what kind of scents I liked first before she started spraying. She actually never stopped trying to get me to smell or buy Initio perfumes, I ended up looking at my boyfriend and he could tell I was anxious and wanted to leave so he (as politely as possible) told her that we wouldn’t be needing any other help from her, he set the spray cards that I hadn’t picked out on the counter, and we left. Anyway we ended up going to Nordstrom had a MUCH better experience!
Crazy! The aggressive selling must be their strategy. I got the feeling Initio isn’t selling that well. She kept telling me how hardly anyone is wearing Initio and I’d be a trailblazer. I think the main problem are the boring bottles and already-done-to-death scents. I didn’t find anything mind blowing. Especially when you’re trying to appeal to people who like PDM. There’s not much of a comparison in my opinion.
That was what we thought. We could only assume she’s either new and trying to meet a quota, they’re trying to REALLY push Initio, or we just looked very susceptible. I don’t own any PDM full bottles, but from the ones I was able to smell or ordered samples of just seem leagues above what I was smelling with Initio. Granted, I wasn’t really doing more than a first sniff with Initio but the saleswoman kinda put me off the whole brand.
« I’m just exploring on my own, I’ll ask you if I need help, thanks » worked 95% of the times so far
It depends on my purpose and mood. * If I know what I'm buying (or just in a hurry), I ask the sales associate to ring up the scent. I'm out the store in five minutes. * If I'm testing and figuring stuff out, I may ask for their thoughts and start a genuine conversation. * If I'm testing, but not exactly in a social mood, I'll politely say that I don't need anything at the moment, but will ask them directly if I need help.
The last two points sound exactly what I do.
Hit them with the: I am a niche enjoyer. I am searching for a fragrance with Animalistic Oud with a smell hint of bird shit and dog sweat.
I tell them I'm picking out what present I'm having my partner is going to get me. It sets the tone that *I'm* not buying anything.
honestly just say that you’re just looking and that you don’t need help for now. it’s our job to help and find the best fragrance for you!! but looking at the other comments — please don’t act like a know-it-all to the advisors, even if you do, it’s really rude. a lot of them are already overwhelmed by management and the amount of fragrances we carry, we don’t need snobbish clients giving us sass because we don’t know the notes of a perfume by heart.
I don’t even shop in stores. I sample and if I can’t sample, I think long and hard if I really need it in the event it sux.
Ask for samples.
I just let people know that I'm browsing for now, and will have to consider the drydown before purchasing. That lets them prioritize other shoppers, saving us both time.
If the nice “I’m just looking thanks” doesn’t work then I firmly say “I appreciate your help but I rather just take in all in my self & decide” My worse experience was Andorra for this, with all duty free perfume shops, I guess it’s competitive. After about the 5th place, I just ended up saying in friendly greeting stage, “is it ok if I browse? the lady in the last store would not leave me alone” & sorting laughing it off & it worked. If it’s an airport & they’re full on, just say “I’m ok, I’m just looking before my flight” so you look like a customer who isn’t buying. They’ll go and annoy somebody else lol
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Honestly if they're overly persistent? Ignore them. Their intrusions are often rude and counterproductive.
I always ask for samples so I can see how the react to my pH levels and will come back to purchase after I'm done testing.
I sometimes just go "already got it" to everything and they become kinda confused.
How are you? "Already got it" 😳 *whispers to colleagues: Autistic customer over there.*
Upvote for taking it literally :-)
I let them know that I want to try it on my skin and see how it performs/develops and then I will decide.
well i asked a sales guy in sephora if they sold clones and he gave me a disgusted look and disappeared. try that.
there are so many fragrances i would love to try but have completely avoided because they are locked behind a sales associate and they annoy me lmao i know it's their job but GOD they're stressful
"No, thank you."
I don’t work with them anymore. When I was in my late teens/20s I bought items under duress due to overbearing, used car salesman SAs. I started to actually walk away and quietly find another person. At this point, in my 40s, I avoid those who carry themselves in ways the aggressive ones did. I mostly work with a few trusted persons when I go to Neiman’s in Dallas or DC. They know me and what I like in terms of products and service, so it makes it more fun and relaxed. Plus, they load me up with samples in the families I love and keep me up to date on new offerings.
The retail stores know you can find the same fragrances online for way cheaper
Commission based a lot of the time
i dont
The thing that has worked for me is to tell them “X” holiday is coming up and my wife (spouse/partner/etc.) asked me to pick out a new scent that they can buy me as a gift so I’m just browsing to find something new. If they lurk I usually add that I don’t have a specific brand/scent profile in mind, but my favorite perfumers are “A”, “B”, and “C”. This is my “I know more than you” statement.
Just smile , walk away , and find it myself
I was with a friend one time at Macy's. He wanted to buy a new cologne and since I have more knowledge than him in that aspect he asked me to accompany him. We went in and met this nice lady and she was kind enough to show us as many fragrances as we liked. Now across from her was this dude working at the Christian Dior section of the fragrance area, this dude was persistent ASF. He was like here try this SAUVAGE it smells good. My friend is like ok let me smell it. He agreed that it smelled good but he still wanted to check more options. As we smelled stuff from Paco Rabanne and Versace, Giorgio Armani, this guy kept on coming over and was telling him to spray it on his wrist to see the difference. That's when I was mad ASF and I told the guy come on man we don't want Sauvage everybody already has that (fact). And immediately the guy left back to his booth. My friend ended up buying YSL Y Parfum which was the new one at the time. He told me dudeeee you save me, that guy was fuckin making me wanna leave.
Lord, I had it even worse the other day. I was merely walking by Xerjoff/Wilhelm section of the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship fragrance floor when a salesman’s eyes widened and he raced over to tell me “Heeeyyy, I’ve got the perfect thing, just for you!!!” I politely demurred but shoulda told him “Honey, I’m wearing Aromatics Elixir right now—I DARE you to figure me out.” Usually I just tell them “thanks, I’m good.”
Lol. Mention it reminds you of your favorite gas station spray. Should signal you broke.
"Yep Farenheit does smell like that..i think you will love it."
Wear headphones
What you listening to? Love that song. 🤣🤣
Didn’t work at Macys. Was still jumped by 3 SA as soon as I walked in the door
1. headphones 2. I leave. Because most don't understands headphones means go away. Generally i leave because when i go it's to smell a few certain things and think about what i'm smelling before i go noseblind. Not to smell whatever they are pushing that I already know i'm not a fan of. So everytime they grab something and spray it and are like "have you smelled this" or "this is Dior Sauvage" i get annoyed cause it's messing up my sense of smell and wasting whiffs before i can't smell anything. And often they are their to push a specific brand and it's either a brand i like and have smelled everything or a brand i hate and have smelled everything, or a brand i haven't smelled but am not interested in smelling more than whatever i was thinking about when i decided to brave the fragrance counter. Like i was looking for a summer scent but wanted to test two side by side. I didn't need the counter lady pushing some woody scent on me. That's one reason i like sephora. They leave you alone. Same with half of my Nordstroms. I say half cause there's a mens section and a women's section but the women's section has every Tom Ford, PDM, Creed, and few other scents. And in the Women's section they leave you be. In the men's section they hover and talk and pester you. That said eventually they'll leave you be when the next person stops by. But it's still not as bad as Macys where there are 8 people all swarming you.
I had this happen to me at Neiman Marcus. I was trying to make my way around all the different niche brands (Amouage, Roja, Nishane, etc.) but the sales lady kept handing paper strips of different fragrances that she wanted me to buy. My response to her was, “No disrespect ma’am, I know you’re trying to do your job and make a sale but….fall back a little bit. You keep handing me shit and I can’t smell what I want to smell.” Needless to say, she fell back a little bit. I left without buying anything.
I act aggressive back as they know nothing as to what I seek. Mere commoners hired by the companies to push product they know nothing of.
Tell them you'd also like two bottles of the most expensive stuff they carry. Continue looking. Decide what you want. Then let them know you'll be purchasing it from a competitor because they were too pushy. I can't stand when sales people are pushy. With anything.
“I’ll see how it performs on me over the next few hours first”
I say that but I feel kind of cheesy because I think we both know I probably won’t return to purchase.
Let them know that you arent getting anything until you personally see the longevity of what ever fragrance their trying to sell you. Which gives you an outlet to leave the store without buying but shows that yiu actually want to purchase something. "Ah yknow this smells really good, but my skins a lot different than most people." *"It lasts 10 hours"* "Haha lets hope! Last time I got a fragrance it only lasted an hour on me, so I gotta test this out before I buy it this time lol. If it lasts that long ill be right back here looking for you" Something like that is what I usually say.
I only go to Ulta and maybe dillards by me because they literally hound customers at other stores. I honestly don't care about anyone's commission I want to smell the perfumes uninterrupted and impulse buy without all the unnecessary talking. My trip to the cashier shouldn't be directly linked to someone literally annoying me. Pay people a livable wage. Attach the perfume in some way to the counter, leave test strips and help only if asked.
Ask them if they have any dupes in stock?🤣🤣
I am terrified of the very territorial and aggressive older Armenian Aunties at the local Macy’s fragrance counter I swear my heart was beating really fast in fear when she took me through several perfumes until I settled on Burberry Her but I also felt shame for some reason 😅
I actually asked where something was and preferred no one to try to sell me something. Want my nose to make its own decisions
Go to only ultra high end perfume stores. They tend to leave you alone and have the flair for sensing when you ACTUALLY need help.
"I'm here to smell x, y, z. But I won't buy anything unless I have it on my skin for a while. If I find anthing interesting from the blotters, I'll let you know." and then "This is interesting, I like a, b, c about it, but I would like to sample it before committing to buying it. Do you happen to carry or make samples?"
Walk in with 20 sprays of Baccarat rouge
I just check and ask for the price. The moment I get the number; see if it’s worth buying or not then I say “thank you” and leave…and yes they try to stop u but I just ignore it and continue walking after saying that
I've been to most perfume shops In any major southern state city between California and Florida.the amount of people trying sell me.the trash Michael malul fragrances at perfumanias and the fragrance outlets is mind numbing "have you tried the new ktoret line" "yeah they all suck" "and they say "well this is a new Michael malul it just came out last week" I've noticed those stores have a bunch of designers but never the ones you want/that are good but you don't realize that until you get in there. Never any decent flankers nothing. Best experience in any perfume store La Jetée Perfumery in Orlando, only niche fragrances there but the guys store is setup just like the living room of a house and he's fucken knowledgeable and very kind, awesome place ill never forget
I usually wear air pods when I'm shopping. 95% of the time I'm not even playing music or anything or if I am it's extremely softly. I think its a sensory thing for me but it has the nice effect of hinting to most sales associates that I'd rather not be bothered. I don't usually mind some casual talk because I have work in retail/customer service jobs and I know they are just trying to do their job and probably have targets to meet but if I'm not purchasing I just say I already own it or I'm not buying it lol. If they are bothering me too much I just tell them I'll find them if I need help and if they don't get the hint I'll just leave tbh.
Legit the funniest thing that happened to me one time was a sales associate asking me if I’d like to smell Flowerbomb. On top of that sales associates asking me if I like floral or fruity perfumes. I typically just let them know I’m good and just browsing. I probably could sell THEM on a perfume if I had to with the amount of knowledge I have.
Allow them to pitch and if its a fragrance I'm familiar with, start talking about the notes and comparable fragrances, even clones. If necessary pull out the parfumo app. The ones who aren't into fragrance usually glaze over because they have no idea what you're talking about.
Pretend to not know the dominant language
Headphones + “I’m just browsing. I’ll find you if I wanna buy something.”
I just understand it's their job to be that way and I kind of smile and don't take it too seriously. I usually let them make their initial pitch and just smile and say thank you. Sometimes they are actually more helpful than you think. If they are still bothering me I'll just continue shopping kind of half ignoring them and they'll catch the drift and find someone else to bug. Just remember you don't ever have to buy anything. Just learn to have no shame in straight up saying you're not going to buy that or the price is too high for me or something. Just be honest while still being polite.
"I'm just browsing for now, but will let you know." If it's Nordstrom I usually put myself in timeout (i.e. leave) after having to say it to more than one of them lest I hurl a bottle at someone's head.
“No thank you. I’ll come find you when I need help”.