Cheap Perfume Swiftly find half price fragrances

Whether for Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's, or anniversaries, perfume or aftershave is often an easy, heaven-scent (sorry) gift. Provided it's legit, Dior is Dior whether bought in Harrods, Asda or online. It's cost that counts.

So don't be sniffy. Follow this quick guide to getting smellies for less, including our one-click MegaShopBot.

Speedily find the cheapest

The internet is usually the cheapest option when purchasing aftershave, cologne, perfume and eau de toilette. Rather than keeping expensive shop fronts with fancy displays, they simply pile it high in warehouses and sell it cheap.

When comparing prices, note the size of the bottle and exactly what you're buying. Don't confuse perfume (the priciest) with the weaker eau de toilette, as you may find it's a false economy. Perfume lasts longer as, being stronger, you won't have to spray on as much.

Search all major retailers in one click

To quickly search and compare the biggest perfume retailers we've built a special tool called the MegaShopBot. It includes specialist comparisons like FragrancesCompared* and CheapPerfumeExpert as well as all the other mainstream ones.

Simply enter the name of the perfume you're after, click 'compare', and it will automatically scan the two big perfume comparisons, plus a selection of the other retailers, at once, ensuring that you can quickly find the very cheapest price. Click the image to give it a go.

Is it worth buying from the US?

A couple of large-scale US sites deliver to the UK and can be competitive. You may need to pay import duty, so factor in an additional 33% to cover delivery and charges. Big ones to try include Strawberrynet* and PerfumeEmporium.com*.

(Please note we're talking about the US-based PerfumeEmporium.com, NOT the UK-based Theperfumeemporium.co.uk, a site which went bust in 2010. They are unrelated sites and Perfumeemporium.com is still running.)

Current top deals

More tricks for sniffing out bargains

• Unboxed is even cheaper

  Some internet retailers, including Half Price Perfumes*, Fragrance Direct* and Fragrancex sell testers and imported perfume/aftershave at an even cheaper price. The main catch is they're often unboxed. While at first this may not seem like a good idea for a prezzie, it's easy to turn around...

  Tie a ribbon around it!

  Buy any unboxed scent, then simply buy a nice looking gift box for a pound or two and pack it in that; or even just tie a nice ribbon round it.
  
  The money saved on buying the perfume should more than cover it. It'll also look as if you've made an extra special effort rather than an extra cheap effort!

• Slash the cost with codes, vouchers and sales

  Especially in the run-up to Christmas, retailers are known to use sales, money-off codes and vouchers to lure customers in. Where high street shops are often expensive, these deals mean they can sometimes beat the online retailers. So once you've done a comparison check our daily updated Vouchers and Sales lists to see if you can shave any more off.

• Cashback sites

  Once you've found the cheapest retailer for your scent, you may be able to get additional cashback by purchasing via a cashback site (see the Top Cashback Sites guide).

• Boots extra points

  Boots often runs points promotions, where instead of the usual four points per pound, you get 12 or double.
  
  This can sometimes undercut the price of online retailers, especially for newer or more costly perfumes. For more info on Boots' Advantage Card, read the Loyalty Schemes guide.

• Duty free

  If you're going travelling, or someone you know is, it might be worth checking out your favourite fragrances in duty free, as they can sometimes (though not often) be cheaper than online. You can, for example, save 40% on Estee Lauder's Beautiful, paying £40.55 instead of £57.96 for 75ml.

  
  
• Scout out extra gifts

  Particularly around Christmas and New Year, shops may offer extra gifts with the perfume, so make sure you check the options before buying. It is sometimes cheaper to buy a gift set rather than the fragrance on its own. Some stores like Superdrug even offer search tools for gifts within your budget.

Most web perfume retailers offer free delivery, but ensure you allow for the time it'll take to be delivered. Depending on the website, the time frame usually ranges from three to 10 working days after ordering.

What if they don't deliver in time?

If goods bought for Christmas don't arrive on time, you've some protection. If you specified that an item must be delivered pre-Christmas when you bought it, then the retailer has breached its contract and you've a right to your money back. You could even take it to the small claims court.

Yet for this to work, you would have to 'specify' that the item was for pre-Christmas delivery as part of the contract. Obviously when you buy online, you usually just fill out a form, so this rule isn't much help.

But no worries, even if you don't specify, you can still get your money back. Under the Distance Selling Regulations you've seven working days after receiving goods to cancel your order, regardless of what time of year you bought them.

Unlike buying in a shop, this means you can return them even if there's no fault. As long as you send them back within seven days of receipt you can get a refund. There's a full explanation in the Consumer Rights guide.