Oops! I am ashamed to admit that we have not done a follow up poll since 2017. If you participated in any of our swapmeets (episodes 11 - 17) or splitmeets (episodes 8 - 14) or freebiemeets (episodes 8 - 17) since then, how did it go? (And by the way, there is a regular weekend poll coming up shortly.)
Feel free to thank your partner(s), make any suggestions for improving the way we run these events, or just tell us about a fabulous fragrance you discovered via the efforts of your fellow readers.
You are also encouraged to let us know — without naming names please! — if things went wrong. It is helpful for other readers to know what sorts of issues they might encounter when swapping or splitting.
Note: top image is where once we loved flickr, now we don't : san francisco (2012) [cropped] by torbakhopper at flickr; some rights reserved.
I’m wearing one of the blind samples from Olfactif. I’ll be interested to see if the notes I identify match up with the published notes. But I think it will be a week or two before the scents are revealed.
I participated in one of the freebiemeets pre COVID. I haven’t had the time/energy to participate in any events since. As far as I know everything went off without a hitch: I received 1-2 packages and shipped out 6-8.
In retrospect I should have done bundles of far more samples than I did, just to keep the shipping effort down. Also I didn’t get takers for all my freebies! By the next time, I’ll have loads of samples ready for new homes.
The events are exceedingly well organized. Clearly Robin and the community have learned over the years!
We will not be doing any gathering for Thanksgiving. Plans morphed a few times, but now it’s just me and Grandma and the dog: A twosome holiday like some other commenters yesterday. We’ll have a Zoom call with some other family. I’ll spend all day cooking, but we’ll skip the turkey.
I enjoy participating in all the meets. My only regret, and it’s a big one, is that I’ve never kept track of who sent me what over the years and for this I’m truly sorry, esp since my memory is practically useless these days. So thanks to everyone who has sent me stuff, I’ve never had a problem, and I hope people who received stuff from me are happy too.
I wish I could participate more in freebies/splits)swaps,but our local postal service is basically a nightmare.
I dibsed on something during the last freebiemeet,it is yet to arrive.I am in weekly contact with the sender,and also checked in with the post office.
A previous package of mine made a trip around the world,was actually IN MY CITY,and ended up being sent back to the US!
So for anyone reading here,I love these events,and I would love to participate,but I hate the disappointment that might arise from a lost package from either me or to me.But keep it going,I love to read what everyone swaps etc etc!
I know there aren’t many people on NST who live outside of US, so I was happy to get involved in a swap in which I got a branded travel spray of Diptyque Eau Capitale
Over the years, I have participated in a few freebie meets, both as a donor and as a donee, in a couple of swaps, and in one (that I can recall) split, and all have gone as well as they possibly could have. NSTers are the best! ?
I’ve participated in the last swapmeet and was very pleased with the result. I swapped with Karina who was very friendly and so helpful for the mailing logistics which are tricky from the UK with a theorical ban on perfume shipping which was avoided by lying to Royal Mail (I enjoy doing it when it’s inoffensive ?).
I bought a couple of decants a year or so ago from UK based ebay seller and she said she ships them as “aromatherapy oils”, if I remember correctly.
Yes, that’s the right tactic, when asked I said it was shampoo.
I love all the meets and have participated in all of them since I joined the forum. I’m more comfortable with the swap meets (I think a part of me just likes the “wheeling and dealing” aspect of it :).
I have received generous freebies from lots of lovely people here, but I do have to admit that I don’t like the people that swoop in on freebiemeets, possibly with several user names, dib on items, and never even say thanks after. This has happened to me in a couple of meets, which is why I now say regulars only. I even once had someone (not a regular) contact me after a meet was over and asking for an item, which was creepy. Another time, a person (not a regular) got all snippy when I asked repeatedly for their address because I didn’t see it was in the bottom of the email. There are super generous people here and I don’t like the idea that anyone takes advantage of that generosity.
However, I LOVE that you do this Robin, and this feedback is really just feedback. Thanks for hosting them and us!
I’ve participated in lots of the meets – especially swapping and splitting, but also a couple of freebiemeets. They really are so much fun – a great way to spread the perfume love and meet new friends. I’ve never had an issue, other than sometimes people forget to let you know when the package has arrived and I do like like to know (However, I’ve forgotten myself to let people know, so this is a reminder to me as well!)
Thanks for organizing them, Robin. MUA no longer allows swapping so this is my primary channel for doing so.
I can’t wait to join the next swap/split/freebie meet because I miss swapping on MUA so much. The end of swapping there kind of coincided with a busy time for me and I was out of the fragrance world for a bit. But now I’m back, and it seems like these NST meets capture the spirit of the good ol’ swapping days!
Thanks for the poll! I’ve participated in a few swapmeets/freebiemeets, and one splitmeet, and everything has gone as well as possible. out of a couple dozen or so transactions, I never got stiffed, and only had a couple of problems due leakage or to mail (US).
I dream of someday being able to travel a lot because I want to go basically everywhere) and mule perfume ? It would be fun to meet people in person! Ya know, once international travel can be a thing again.
I have done the last two split meets and a swap meet. I was especially tickled with the swap meet, because two very nice things that flat-out failed for me went to happy homes and I got things I loved in return. I got tips on decanting, too, and will be doing some sharing and swapping in the future now that I have quality bottles. As we know from NST’s Angela and Kevin, actually using all the fragrances we accumulate is highly unlikely; so why not share???
I have never had a problem with the freebiemeets. I always receive whatever I have dibbed for within a reasonable amount of time and I make sure I send a thank you email after i have received a package; to do otherwise is just plain tacky. Also, I always ask folks to let me know I got their email correct before I list my mailing address; does anyone think this is silly or do y’all think I am being appropriately cautious? I also echo RingThing re: the not keeping track of who sent what over time. But i do keep all the little cards that some send along with the package because I think they’re cute and thoughtful. In all, i am always amazed by the generosity of the folks on this board.
I don’t give my address out in a first email either.
I’ve participated in all three meets, and have had only positive experiences. I hope the people that dealt with me feel the same. I know one swap where the item I sent took about six weeks to get delivered by the post office. I still feel bad about that.
Don’t fret, lillyjo, once I sent a perfume package that took several months to arrive. It wasn’t even going out of state. I worried a bit, but the recipient was very kind and patient.
And I learned from the post office not to use very small boxes for shipping. They tend to get lost in the system, then reappear when they’re ready, haha!
I love sharing perfume this way. Like MossyBerry said, we’re unlikely to ever use up all the perfume we’ve acquired. Might as well spread the love around before it evaporates.
I try to share with friends and acquaintances I see in real life so I don’t need to ship things. But even so, and especially nowadays, it feels wonderful to connect with NST fragrance friends through the mail.
I particularly love it that NSTers reach out and share a precious scent when someone posts an “in search of” in the sotd polls. It’s a wonderful way to re-home underappreciated bottles and share decants.
Thanks for all the fun, Robin!
I’ve participated in the last few freebiemeets, both giving and receiving, and have found them highly satisfying in that an unloved/unwanted fragrance finds a new home, clutter is reduced, and also it is a fun way to try something new and share the perfume love. A total win-win, in my opinion, and thank you for hosting!
I have been participating in the freebiemeets for the last few years and have always had a lovely time and been treated with kindness! I now have a lovely stash of regiftables for the next go-round. Also hope to see more MEN in the forum and “masculines” in the samples and stuff.
I finally received my freebie package yesterday!I was over the moon!The package have been lying at the PO since Nov 9th,I only received the notification slip yesterday!Fun to open and smell the wonderful wafts of new(to me) fragrances!Well packaged and carefully packed!
a thousand thank you’s to the sender!!
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I’m very belatedly getting around to answering questions asked months ago…There have been a number of polls that I’ve looked at in the last couple of months, and then thought, “I should write a reply to that post.” And then I get called to go do something else, and remember much, much later.
I’ve participated in the various meets, and NST folks have been very generous to me. Mostly when I’ve sent things, I’ve sent manufacturer’s samples, because they’re already packaged way better than I could do. I’ve tried making decants a few times now. I need to work on making them so they don’t leak. Bubble-wrap envelopes seem to have padded the smaller things I’ve sent well enough.