Fragrance testers vs retail bottles: what you get, and how we show them
Search for almost any popular fragrance and some of the lowest prices will say "tester" in small print. Testers are a normal part of the fragrance trade and can be a sensible buy. It helps to know what one is before you choose it.
What a tester is
A tester is a bottle made for a shop counter, so customers can try the fragrance. It is usually the same fragrance in the same size of bottle as the retail version. The differences are in what comes with it:
- The box. Testers usually come in a plain box, often white or brown, or with no box at all, instead of the printed retail box.
- The cap. Some testers are made without a cap.
- The label. The bottle or box is often marked "tester" or "not for sale".
Because they are not meant to be sold, testers reach online shops through the trade rather than from the brand's own retail channel. Many discount shops sell them openly, and say so in the listing title.
Why they cost less
A tester leaves out the retail packaging, which is part of what you pay for in a boxed bottle, and it reaches shops through a different route. Neither changes the fragrance. If you are buying for yourself and do not mind a plain box, a tester can be the lowest price for a full-size bottle. If it is a gift, the retail box matters more.
How we show testers
On a fragrance page, we keep testers apart from boxed bottles so that one never stands in for the other:
- A listing whose title says "tester" is not used to set the headline lowest price for the fragrance.
- Testers have their own checkbox in the size filter above the price table, so you can show or hide them in one tap.
- A bottle sold without its box gets its own row in its size, and is labelled the same way a tester is.
So the prices at the top of a page are for retail bottles, and the tester prices are there for you to compare when you want them. Our earlier post, How a fragrance price can look better than it is, covers testers alongside the other things to check in a listing.
Before you buy a tester
- Read the title and the condition. "Tester", "unboxed", "no cap" and "damaged box" all mean different things.
- Check the size. A tester is usually full size, but not always.
- Check the returns policy. Some shops treat testers as final sale.
- Compare like with like. Put the tester price beside the retail price for the same size on the fragrance page, and decide whether the box is worth the difference to you.
You can see the shops we compare, and what each sells, on our Shops page. To find the lowest price for any fragrance, search for it from the home page.