Gift sets — coffrets, in the trade — sell for about eight weeks a year, and they are made once. Houses produce the season's sets in a single run and allocate them to distributors months ahead. By the time customers start asking for them in November, there is rarely more to be had.
That makes gift sets the one part of a fragrance order that you plan in summer.
The calendar
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Early August | Our pre-order list for the holiday sets goes out with the regular price list. |
| Mid-September | Pre-orders close for most designer houses. Later requests come from whatever is unallocated. |
| Mid-October | Sets arrive in Earle and ship against pre-orders first, by order date. |
| November–December | Reorders from remaining stock only. Popular men's sets are usually gone by early December. |
| February / mid-April | The same cycle, smaller, for Mother's Day. |
How many to book
If you sold a fragrance's full size steadily last holiday season, its set will sell too. If you are new to sets, a sensible first booking is three of each set — our selling multiple — for the six designer fragrances that sold best for you over the last 90 days. That is 18 sets, enough to build a table display without leaving you with a back room full of boxes in January.
Experienced buyers tend to book about half of last year's November–December full-size units of a fragrance as sets, then let the full sizes carry the rest of the demand.
Which sets sell through
- Full size plus travel spray. The easiest set to sell: it looks like a bonus, and the shopper already knows the fragrance.
- Men's designer sets. Acqua di Giò, Montblanc Explorer and similar names sell to people buying for someone else, which is most of December.
- Sets priced close to the full size alone. When the set costs only a little more than the bottle, it outsells the bottle.
- Niche sets, carefully. They work for houses your customers already buy. They rarely introduce a house.
The January question
Unsold sets don't become full sizes. Don't break them up to sell the parts separately: the components usually aren't individually barcoded, and the travel sprays inside are often marked not for individual sale.
Store leftover sets cool and boxed and bring them back for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, or bundle them into a counter offer. Under our terms gift sets are not returnable after December 31, which is one more reason to book with a number, not a feeling.
Key takeaways
- Book holiday sets in August; pre-orders close mid-September.
- First-time buyers: three each of your six best designer fragrances.
- Full size plus travel spray is the safest set to carry.
- Sets don't come back after December 31 — plan the quantity.
