The Cost of Perfume

Perfume can come in a wide variety of smells, styles, sizes, and prices.

For more information, please visit Flat round Perfume bottle.

Have you ever wondered why some perfumes cost so much, and some so little?

There are a lot of variables that can go into the pricing of perfumes and fragrances. 

The reason for different pricing can be different from company to company, and we’ll be sharing with you what we’ve found out.

Ingredients:

While ingredients can be one of the smaller factors in a fragrance’s price, it still plays a role. Some companies will pay more for ingredients that are rare and, ultimately, more costly. The more ingredients that are going into a fragrance, will affect the price along the way. Some ingredients, many pounds or thousands of flowers, for example, are needed to produce a small amount of oil. Different ingredients, and different purities of them, can change the quality of a fragrance.

Labor:

Some ingredients have a higher cost due to labor. Vanilla, for example, comes from certain orchids that need very specific climates to grow. Within that, there is only ONE Bee species that is able to pollinate these Orchids, which is found in Southern Mexico. Most of the world’s Vanilla is grown in Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, and needs to be pollinated by hand.

For some oils, it can take thousands of flowers, hundreds of thousands of petals, stems, or stigmas or many pounds of something, to produce a small amount of oil. Some flowers need to be hand picked before dawn, when they are most potent. Some ingredients need to sit and ‘age’ before or after distillation. Gathering all of the needed ingredients can take days to weeks. 

The Perfumer:

The perfumer, or ‘nose’, is the person who makes the actual fragrance. They are essentially a Chemist, working in labs, experimenting, and creating magic. It can take up to a decade or more to complete schooling to become a perfumer, and even more training on the job. This is the person who takes you on an olfactory journey, the person who moves you emotionally and mentally. This is the person who can touch our souls with scents.

Intensity:

The length of time a scent will last on you is almost directly affected by the types of oils used, and how much. The higher the concentration of a fragrance, the longer it will last. And aren’t we all always hunting for the scent(s) that will last all day and night on us?

The more oils added to a scent, especially when they are more concentrated, will add to the cost of the scent in the end.

Mass vs limited production and exclusivity:

Oftentimes things bought in bulk will cost less, and having more of something means you can do things with it faster, like mass-producing a scent. In this case, it will not cost as much to sell. But when more thought and care is put into the fragrance, when better and more rare ingredients are used, not as much will be made, making the quantity sold less….which makes it go up in price. Exclusivity plays a role here as well. When something is not easy to find, there is more appeal to it and desire for it, and it becomes more special. And people will pay more for things that are special to them.

Packaging and Presentation:

Some factors that affect price will be the bottle, and sometimes the presentation of the packaging. For example, the Tiziana Terenzi Sea Stars collection bottles are adorned with a Gold plated Sea Star on the cap, giving it a stunning look. The packaging that this already spectacular bottle comes in, takes it a step further. Upon opening the box, a small light comes on, highlighting the exquisite shape and coloring of the bottle and the eye catching inner color that surrounds it. The shining star of the collection, Atlantide, comes in a bigger box, with the bottle nestled inside a tube filled with seawater.

The Royal Crown bottles are adorned with Cubic Zirconia crystals, the Amouage bottles are adorned with Swarovski Crystals in colors that match the bottles themselves, the Shalini perfumes are made to look like old fashioned perfumes with a modern look, and working bulb pump atomizers.

Name:

Sometimes the price of a fragrance is affected by the company that sells it. If the name is famous and always sought after, it will have an impact on the price. With some well known perfume houses like Creed, Roja Dove, Chanel, ect, you are partially paying for the name.

Marketing:

In some cases, it can be the marketing that hikes up the price. Commercials, magazine ads, social media ads, celebrity endorsements, these all add up and can have an effect on the price. 

Profit Margins:

In retail, everyone down the line takes a cut to be able to make a profit on a product. It is the way of the world. The price increases a little bit as it changes hands and ends up in the stores.

It is comparable to buying cheap clothing vs the expensive, well made items. 

It is comparable to owning an original painting vs a print.

It is comparable to eating fast food vs at a Michelin Star restaurant.

At the end of the day, perfume is a luxury good…..some more luxurious than others. It is an art form, created by a master who wants you to have something beautiful that makes you feel something. It can be as simple as the difference in where you shop, with or without knowledgeable people to help you out.

When you start your journey into the niche world of fragrances, you can tell the differences between scents that are made differently. You take a deeper dive into the essence of each scent. You feel more.

People will pay what they want for items they feel are, or are not, quality. It will be different for each person. Experimentation is the best way to start, and you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it for you.

Fragrance is an invisible accessory that serves as the finishing touch to any outfit. It can conjure an entire mood—sexy and sultry, sweet and carefree, earthy and mysterious—trigger emotions and memories otherwise locked deep inside, and help you feel put together. 

There’s a plethora of perfumes to choose from across a spectrum of price points, but what factors ultimately affect the price tag? And is an expensive perfume worth the spend? We reached out to fragrance aficionados to understand more about the difference between cheap and expensive perfumes so you can make an informed purchase.

Why Is Perfume So Expensive?

Generally speaking, perfume is an investment. Even on the lower end of the cost spectrum you’re still looking at around $25 to $75 for perfume. But what’s the justification for a fragrance that costs several hundred dollars? Turns out, a lot goes into development from beginning to end—from the sourcing of ingredients and scent payoff to the packaging encasing it.

Fragrance Conception 

Developing a refined, perfectly balanced scent profile requires real brain power and a keen understanding of fragrance science. (And yes, it’s a lot of science that requires comprehension of various chemicals and molecules and how they interact together.) 

The company is the world’s best 18mm Perfume Spray Pump supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

“Typically, something cheaper will be less complex and more simple and obvious,” notes fragrance expert Aimee Majoros. “For example, you will clearly smell a single note very prominently—often the top note—[like] lemon or a single floral.”

On the other hand, expensive and well-designed perfumes tend to have an air of mystery and complexity about them. “You can’t quite identify what the notes are exactly,” Majoros says. She adds that such perfumes also tend to beautifully evolve as it settles on your skin.

All that said, the ideation and conception phase—plus testing until the scent’s perfectly fine tuned—takes time and experience. The experts who are exceptionally good at this process can charge top dollar. 

Ingredient Quality 

Even if a fragrance producer is good at what they do, you need a juicy budget in order to develop a stellar fragrance. 

“Cheap perfumes will use synthetic oils, rose, patchouli, jasmin, etc.,” says perfumer Darryl Do. “Expensive ones use natural oils where the quality of these oils differentiates them from the low priced oils and sets them apart.” 

The key difference between synthetic oils and natural oils is the depth and “realness” of the scent profile. The latter costs much more, so the perfume that uses these ingredients is naturally more expensive. Even if cheap perfume brands do use natural oils and complex accords (and otherwise expensive ingredients) they typically do so in smaller quantities whereas expensive perfumes use higher quantities. 

Ultimately, cheaper perfumes tend to have a sharper, less full-bodied scent profile while expensive fragrances are bursting with rich, luxurious complexity. 

Mass vs. Limited Production 

When you mass produce anything, it’s going to cost less. This is true for fragrance, as well. That’s because the perfume house can buy the ingredients in bulk and produce them more quickly. Conversely, when a fragrance is produced in smaller batches it’s almost always going to cost more. 

“Newer brands, like Victoria’s Secret, are lower priced but not cheap and the packaging of the bottles and cartons reflect this,” Do says. “They had the bridge between mass market and prestige—the masstige—fragrance category.” 

However, when you add in the exclusivity factor—AKA a little “supply and demand” action—the price tag may soar. When there’s limited supply and a strong sense of demand, a product naturally costs more. 

Intensity and Staying Power

Have you ever noticed that some perfumes follow you around all day long while others seem to disappear completely within an hour after that first spritz? This is referred to as “scent payoff,” and it’s no mistake when expensive perfumes have the ability to last. 

“A luxury fragrance will almost always last longer on the skin than a less expensive one. I have some very high end scents that I can still smell on my coat days after I have worn them,” Majoros says. “I have never done the math but often I think that a more expensive fragrance might end up being a better value, because sometimes you only need very little to make an impact.” 

Note that a single fragrance can come in various levels of intensity for those who prefer a lighter or heavier scent payoff. An eau de cologne (EDC) is the least concentrated, an eau de toilette (EDT) is slightly more concentrated, and an eau de parfum (EDP) is the most concentrated. The more concentrated the perfume, the more expensive the price tag.  

Packaging and Presentation 

In the same way that much thought goes into the formula of a luxury perfume, tons of care is given to enhancing the customer’s experience via exceptional presentation. 

“Packaging is, of course, another huge factor where [manufacturers] cut costs,” Majoros says. “There are a lot of cheaper scents that I really love, but after having them for time the cap will break, you will notice that the gold of the cap is not solid and is peeling off. A more expensive fragrance … will not have this problem, but they have spent more on the packaging.” 

High end perfumes tend to feel weighty in your hands and look beautiful on your dresser. It may have special design elements that are very unique, or generally just give off a sense of refined taste.

Final Thoughts

All of this is to say that fragrance is highly personal. One person might find that a $20 bottle of perfume is the best thing they’ve ever smelled while others may feel like they aren’t living their best life until they’ve splurged on that $500 bottle. Ultimately, the goal is to consider which scents resonate most with you. 

“I definitely suggest getting your nose on a fragrance in person versus blind buying online, which you can do via visiting a department store or fragrance boutique,” Majoros says. “There are also incredible independent fragrance shops in many cities, like The Scent Room in Dallas, Scent Bar in Los Angeles, and Aedes de Venustas in New York.” 

Get samples to take home and then wear and live with each fragrance for a while. If shopping online, see if you can order a discovery kit that allows you to sample a handful of fragrances.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website custom Perfume Spray Pump.