Beauty advent 22 part 2 (massive spoilers)

[Zeeza]

I don't know the etiquette of starting a runover of someone else's thread. I hope this is OK.

Reminder advent22 gives a hand-wash and handcream free gift on space nk.

I bought it, but now I have alight regret. I should have held out to see what harrods had.

The CEO cream wasn't 5oz as had been trailed on many calendar sites, but 0.5oz, 15ml. 5oz would have been a ridiculous size so that makes sense.

@Zeeza I am so tempted with the Boots No 7 one at 140GPB - are they normally discounted at some point. I am back in the UK for November and wonder if I should leave it in the basket for a week or so.

I've not seen them discounted as such. But they often have points special offers, so you could hope to get 20 quid of points, or maybe even quidco cashback. Of course this year things are selling slowly so it might be the year.

If you really want it tho you should just get it. Gauge your potential disappointment in getting an offer vs the disappointment of missing the AC

I've bought the Sephora through top cash back so hopefully £111 total - it looks good value for money and not too many random tiny samples.

Thank you so much - you are right life is too short to miss out on an advent calendar

Anyone seen any discounts for the rituals? I love a good candle.

@Metabigot I think about doing this every year as I am a big eBay buyer but I know I will end up wanting to keep most of the big ticket items and end up spending ££££ on products I don’t need or can afford . Also not sure I can be bothered with all the wrapping, post office trips and generally having to deal with people

Definitely can’t be bothered with this. Advent calendars are supposed to be a) fun, and b) a luxury. Selling bits and bobs on eBay sounds like neither of those and tbh I’d rather do an extra shift at work which would earn 2-3x advent calendars. But you do you :)

@Metabigot These threads are generally full of people who buy the calendars for the fun of opening them and getting nice treats. I wouldn't want to buy up calendars to sell bits on knowing that other people might have missed out, it seems a bit like ticket touting. Maybe not so bad this year as there hasn't been the same demand as previous years tbf, I think anyone who wants (and can afford) a calendar has had the opportunity to get one for a change. But I don't think you'll fine many people on here doing the same as you.

No I don't sell on the things I don't really like. Couldn't be bothered with the faff of packing it, postage, possible complaints...plus it's kind of annoying when people buy things to sell on. Not saying you Meta but the people who buy just for that reason. I missed out on the fragrance calendar that I would have loved, and then saw so many on eBay for twice the price. I hang on to everything as even if I don't use it, my daughters might. (Or my sons).

I'm offering a much needed service to those who can't afford the RRP nor buy a calendar whilst getting some freebies for myself so can't see there's a moral argument against it. I think it's a bloody good idea!

I generally can't be bothered to sell anything on eBay that is worth less than £20

Once eBay has taken their share, I just don't think it's worth my time photographing things, packing, taking to the post office etc. It's too much faff.

The only things I've sold are the AB creams as I had a whole stack of them that I wasn't going to use, and there is a market for them. Think I sold them for about £30 each. Everything else I either keep or give to someone.

I have occasionally bought things on there from other calendars. Works well for me if I can sell off an AB cream and buy something that I actually want from another calendar.

The problem with breaking things up to sell is that if everyone did it then the companies would stop making them. They give us very cheap products in order than we try more and hopefully rebuy. If they are just bought to resell and undercut their prices and give ebay sellers their profit, Where's their incentive to gice us ACs?

I also get a bit cross when they are buying up in demand items like the harrods scent calendar. Those bottle arrived on ebay in hours.

All that does it removes the chance for a regular buyer to try things out. Its the same as ticket scalpers. All it does is rips off the genuine fans.

I do think selling off one or two unwanted products is different. But the question was about "buying to split up and sell".

I shall now go get my tin hat for any incoming responses.

I wouldn't really class it as 'offering a much needed service' Buying expensive beauty products is a choice, if people can't afford them (or ACs) then they will generally just buy cheaper brands, not expensive brands off EBay.

Agree with everyone else that this year it isn't so bad, but in previous years I think it's really unfair that people have missed out on calendars because they are bought by people purely to re sell.

I think that if you buy things specifically to resell on eBay then you are supposed to register as a business seller and pay tax.

Most businesses sellers on eBay do stuff like this I've noticed. They usually buy up sale items and sell them on eBay for profit. I don't think that's particularly ethical either. People miss out on sale bargains so that others can buy them up and make a profit.

I don't buy them purely to resell just to make my money back and keep a few treats for myself, I'm not making a profit.. sometimes even a loss if I keep more stuff. I'm not buying more than one of each calendar either. So it's hardly a big commercial enterprise.

Anyway I'll leave it at that.

Ticket scalpers claim they are provided a service too.

Like most others on here, I love the whole experience of the calendars. Waiting for details to be released, analysing contents to choose the best one (or ones) then packing it(them!) away until December to open day by day and participate in the lovely discussions threads on here.

My DDs get things they like and I don’t (eg pillow sprays, black eyeliners) and then I will sell a small amount of stuff I have no use for and feel it is wasteful to throw away.

I did get one of the Harrods fragrance calendars and (sorry @BrokeAsABone ) I’m loving it. But there was one item I know I don’t like and others do - so I sold it on eBay pretty cheaply. I’ll do the same for a small number of the advent calendar contents.

I agree @Zeeza that we are very lucky in the U.K. to have. fantastic range of great value calendars to choose from, and really want that to continue. When I look at the US offerings, they’re all full of tiny samples and much more expensive relatively speaking, it would be sad if the U.K. market went the same way.

I really really regret getting the harrods calendar. I like two, which are nearly the value. The rest are ouds that smell horrid to me, and the blackcurrant one that smells like wee to me.

I suppose it's down to harrods clientele who like ouds more.

Luckily my friend adores ouds, so she is getting them for Christmas. (She knows and is ok they are my rejects)

Interesting @Zeeza I wanted the fragrance calander but missed out but did notice there was quite a few Oud based perfumes and did comment to my DH about it and wether it was linked to the Harrods clientele. I spent quite a few years living in the Middle East so Oud is quite nostalgic for me

You're in luck then! They are nice perfumes, just not for me. It is beautifully packaged. I really regret finding another 300quid perfume that I really like. It might have been a HG otherwise. Still might ifni win the lottery I suppose...

Agree - I love the advent calendar experience. I give my niece anything I won’t use- she’s delighted 😀

Have to say that the perfume advent never appealed to me as I'd never smelt any of the fragrances before, and perfume is so individual. There aren't many that I actually like and I don't wear it regularly. For £150 I'd rather just get a big bottle of something that I know I like.

Haha @AprilLady...no worries I'm really glad you like it. I can't complain really as I already have Halfeti and the one I really wanted was Ex Nihilo so bought that one off eBay.

Yes the advent calendar experience is something I enjoy every year- I enjoy everything about it. I remember posters over the years thinking it ridiculous how grown women can get so into it....but they just don't get it. It's a sensory experience, a little luxury, some excitement, doing something nice for yourself- and a feeling of community, in a way, with the threads here.

I also thought I strongly disliked oud, as I haven’t enjoyed any perfumes I previously tried with it. I’ve now tried all the fragrances in the calendar except the Roja Dove and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. I’ve liked most, and actually loved one that included oud - the Montale Arabian Tonka: to me it’s like a mildly oudy MFK Gentle Fluidity Gold, but much cheaper. Which is one of the great things about beauty advent calendars - you discover new things you love.

Not sure the bias in the calendar is ouds. The bias is more fragrances exclusively sold by Harrods: at least 5, including the Diptyque, are Harrods exclusives.

I liked the Mugler Angel twelve day calendar they had one year. I would like to have similar but it would contain different Mugler parfume mini bottles.