The splitmeet (episode 18) is open for business. PLEASE read the instructions! For people who would like to chat in addition to, or instead of, splitting, there will be a poll along shortly.

Don't know what a bottle split is, or you know but you've never tried it? See here.

Please note that the intention of the splitmeet is to split newly purchased bottles of perfume, not to sell decants of fragrances already in your collection! Anyone can join a split, but only people with current, active reader accounts may host splits. Update: in other words, you cannot host a split if you have never commented here before the day the splitmeet opens.

The rules: if you want to host a split

1. Anyone who wants to play can list up to 6 bottles they'd like to host a split for.

2. List each perfume in a separate comment. Things to include in your comment: your country of residence, where you're willing to send, the size and price of the decants (include any shipping cost, please!), what container you'll use for the decant (glass, plastic, spray, etc), how many decants you are offering, and what sort of payment you're willing to accept. If you require a certain number of participants in order for the split to go forward, please make that clear, and don't accept payment until you're sure the split will go through! Payment arrangements are up to the participants, but I strongly suggest that you use Paypal or something similar.

3. You will have to post your email address in your comment, or have some other way for readers to contact you — one option is to list your email address at gravatar.com, and then link to your gravatar page in your user profile here. Another option would be to link to a contact page at your own blog, or anywhere on the web where people can find a way to reach you.

4. You are more than welcome to provide information about the fragrance you're splitting, including links to reviews or the store where you plan to buy the fragrance.

5. Once the split is closed, the person hosting it should reply to the original comment to indicate that there are no more decants on offer.

6. And obviously, if you're hosting a split, you should package your decants properly and mail them promptly. You might want to read through items 6-10 on our swapping post.

The rules: if you want to join a split

7. Participants may call dibs on a decant from a split by replying to the original comment, then sending an email to the person offering the split.

8. Please do not comment for any reason other than to call dibs on a split. If you have questions about the fragrance or the arrangements, send an email to the host.

9. Please send your payment promptly, or by whatever date agreed upon with the host.

And some general rules

10. We will NOT be responsible (and we won't get involved) if your split doesn't work out in some way, nor will you be allowed to post complaints here, ever.

11. I will leave the comments open until next Saturday, then I'll close the splitmeet.

Note: top image is Orchid in Thirds [cropped] by timsackton at flickr; some rights reserved.