It took me a long time to sign up for a perfume subscription service, but now I’m obsessed. I keep comparing them all, like Scentbird vs. The Fragrance Club, plus a few other alternatives on the market.
There are a few different services I’m a fan of, but Scentbird is always close to the top of my list. It’s the most familiar to me and seems like the gold standard to compare all the others to (which is what I’m doing here–does The Fragrance Club measure up?).
I love being in control of the scents I get and setting up a long list of perfumes I want to try all at one time.
Bottom Line Up Front
If you’re looking into signing up with Scentbird vs. The Fragrance Club, I recommend Scentbird. There are more fragrances to choose from, and it’s not that much more expensive per month.
Discover the latest perfumes and colognes at Scentbird. Date perfumes before marrying them. Explore over 500 designer fragrances.
Main Differences Between Scentbird vs The Fragrance Club
- Scentbird’s monthly subscription price is $16.99, whereas The Fragrance Club’s monthly subscription price is $14.99.
- Scentbird only has monthly subscriptions available when you sign up (you can switch to bi-monthly or tri-monthly in your account later), whereas The Fragrance Club has bi-monthly and yearly subscriptions at sign-up.
- Scentbird has over 700 fragrances, whereas The Fragrance Club has under 100 fragrances.
- Scentbird allows you to choose one, two, or three perfumes per month, whereas The Fragrance Club allows you to choose one.
- Scentbird lets you set up a queue that extends over a year into the future, whereas The Fragrance Club lets you choose three at a time regardless of the subscription option you choose.
- Scentbird sends you an 8ml sample (about 120 sprays), whereas The Fragrance Club sends you 10ml samples (about 150 sprays).
Key Features of Scentbird
- Scentbird has three options: one, two, or three perfumes per month.
- You get a case with your first order that you’ll continue to use with your new vial of perfume each month. That means there’s less waste if you are using your samples up over the course of a month.
- You can pause your subscription.
- You get access to almost 300 perfumes (600+ scents in total)
- Each 8ml sample will give you about 120 sprays.
- If you don’t select a fragrance for the month, they’ll send you the featured scent.
Scentbird Pricing
Scentbird’s pricing isn’t a one-price-fits-all situation.
- You can get one perfume per month for $16.95.
- If you want two perfumes per month, the price per fragrance drops to $13.50 (or $27.00/month).
- For three perfumes per month, you can pay $37.00 ($12.33 per sample).
Some fragrances are marked premium and will cost extra, but those are clearly marked and you won’t be surprised by a higher charge on your card.
Do You Get to Pick Your Scents on Scentbird?
You can choose your scents for over a year in advance and shuffle them around to ensure you get the type of scent you’re interested in each month.
So you’re not constantly adding to the end of your queue; you’re putting the perfumes exactly when you want to receive them.
Does Scentbird Give Full Bottles?
No, you’ll be getting a 0.27 oz. sample that will last about a month with four sprays per day. You can purchase full bottles of some of the scents there if you find one you like.
Scentbird Pros
- The packaging isn’t wasteful.
- You get to choose the perfumes you’ll get in the mail.
- You can find your signature scent without spending a ton of money, even comparing up to three fragrances in a month to narrow it down more quickly.
- You won’t be left with an extensive collection of full-size perfume bottles you thought were “the one,” only to find out a couple of weeks later that they weren’t really the best picks for you.
- The quiz really does help you narrow down your selection and find perfumes you like.
- They make it easy to see what you’ll get and the perfumes you’ll be able to have sent to you before you ever sign up.
- Frequent discounts on the first month’s price
- It’s easy to switch up your queue, pause your subscription, and cancel.
- Shipping is pretty quick.
- You can change your subscription to receive perfumes less frequently.
Scentbird Cons
- You won’t get a case for every scent; you’ll need to buy additional ones if you want to keep more than one vial ready to go. I don’t use the same perfume 30 days in a row regularly, so a case with each order would be helpful to me.
- You can’t return or exchange samples you don’t like.
- Contacting Scentbird with a question wasn’t the most ideal experience because I got an automated response that didn’t apply to what I was asking. I replied to that, though, and later got a detailed response from a human.
- If you don’t want to receive a perfume every month, you’ll have to sign up first, then change your subscription.
Discover the latest perfumes and colognes at Scentbird. Date perfumes before marrying them. Explore over 500 designer fragrances.
Key Features of The Fragrance Club
- You can pay for a monthly subscription ($14.99/month) or a yearly one ($149.88/year), where you get one 10ml bottle every month.
- A bi-monthly subscription is also available ($17.99 every two months), for those who don’t wear perfume daily.
- You get about 150 sprays per bottle.
- You can choose your scents (three at a time).
- It can help you narrow down your signature scent or scent-of-the-season, etc., without wasting a lot of time or money. You won’t have to spend time sampling in stores or money buying full bottles you don’t actually love after a few weeks.
The Fragrance Club Pros
- You can click to read about the perfumes’ notes or find out more information while choosing fragrances to start your subscription.
- The prices are reasonable. For example, if you want to sign up for a bi-monthly subscription, you’ll pay $17.99 every two months.
- If you sign up for the yearly subscription, you’re only paying $12.49 per perfume.
- You do have some say in which perfumes you get, not just a perfume of the month that may or may not align with your taste.
- You can request a refund (but you only get one for life, so make sure it’s worth it).
The Fragrance Club Cons
- The FAQ page is mostly empty, so if you have questions, you’ll have to contact them directly and wait for a reply.
- It’s a bit newer, so the selection of perfumes is light (just over 30 scents to choose from).
- Not all perfumes have information listed, so nothing is there when you click to find out more about a perfume’s notes, fragrance family, personality, etc.
- You can only choose three fragrances at a time, not create a long queue to forget about for months on end.
- Suppose you sign up for the yearly subscription and they don’t add more perfumes to the line-up. In that case, you may be disappointed by end of the 12 months (assuming you choose all your favorites and the most interesting ones early in the subscription).
- The lack of social media presence and links that don’t work on the site don’t inspire a lot of confidence. There were links to social media accounts that haven’t been updated since 2017 or don’t exist anymore. I was able to find The Fragrance Club on Facebook with updates as recent as 2020, but not through the link on their page.
Other Alternatives to Consider
Are you interested in more perfume subscription options than Scentbird vs. The Fragrance Club? Here are a few you might want to consider.
ScentBox
ScentBox is another of my favorites, and they have over 850 fragrances to choose from.
It’s similar to Scentbird in most ways, but you’ll get an atomizer case every month with your order. The perfume selection and prices may vary a bit between ScentBox and Scentbird, though.
You can only get one or two fragrances, with no option for a third.
Luxury Scent Box
Luxury Scent Box is another excellent choice, perfect if you’re more interested in higher-end, luxury perfumes that are usually harder to get your hands on. It’s $15.95/month for a subscription.
Each month, you’ll get a 0.30 oz. (9ml) fragrance, which allows you to spray it on five times every day for thirty days to see if you really like it and might want a full bottle. As a member, you’ll get a discount on the full-size bottle.
FragranceNet.com
FragranceNet.com used to just be a go-to place to find perfumes at discounted prices. Now, they have a subscription service called Purpl Lux that allows you to choose one perfume sample per month (0.27 oz., or 8ml).
There are almost 400 perfumes to choose from (around 550 fragrances total). You can set up your queue for six months at a time.
You can choose an annual subscription that works out to be $9.95/month or stick with monthly payments of $14.95/month (your first month will be $6.95 on the monthly plan).
In some cases, you may want one of their premium scents. You’ll be charged an extra $5.00 to $20.00 for those, but don’t worry; they’re clearly marked. You’ll get a new case with each shipment.
FAQs
Signing up for a subscription service is a big deal, so it’s understandable if you’re still unsure which one you want to choose. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions. Maybe you’ve been asking the same ones.
Question: Is Scentbird Authentic Perfume?
Answer: Yes, these are authentic perfumes.
Question: Is ScentBox the Same as Scentbird?
Answer: They’re very similar, but they’re different companies.
Question: Is Scentbird Good Value?
Answer: Yes, it saves you from spending money on scents you don’t love that get set aside. If you don’t need to test for a whole month to decide on a scent and you have a Sephora near you, it may not make sense.
You can ask for samples at Sephora locations. Those free samples are small, though, so you’ll only get to try them for a few days.
Question: Is Jo Malone on Scentbird?
Answer: As of this writing, you can’t get Jo Malone on Scentbird.
Conclusion: Scentbird or The Fragrance Club?
Overall, I have to recommend Scentbird over The Fragrance Club. I like the convenience of setting up the queue well in advance (shuffling it around when I feel like it) and the available selection.
Scentbird only a few dollars more per month. (The Fragrance Club actually costs about a dollar more per month if you opt for the bi-monthly choice.) However, you’ll only get four sprays per day with Scentbird, vs. five sprays with The Fragrance Club, regardless of subscription.
However, I like the different subscription options to pay yearly or only get one fragrance every other month without the need to adjust my account after signing up.
If you don’t need a large selection to choose from and those subscription options work best for you, The Fragrance Club might still be the better option for your needs.
Discover the latest perfumes and colognes at Scentbird. Date perfumes before marrying them. Explore over 500 designer fragrances.
Further Reads:
- Scentbird vs Dossier
- Scentbird vs Scent Trunk
- ScentBox vs Luxury Scent Box
- Scentbird vs Luxury Scent Box
- Scentbox vs Scentbird
- Scentbox vs ScentTrunk
- Scent Trunk Review
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