March at PerfumePosse went out, in the middle of the worst Nor'Easter in history to post a very witty FU to eBay today, so I am linking to it. Because of all of the traffic I get here.

For those of you who have not heard, eBay has decided that perfume decanters can no longer sell their wares on that site. Apparently, some manufacturer got testy. Well, luck for us, the dacanters in question have decided to give a hearty FU to eBay and are setting up their own websites to sell decants.

The question as to why manufacturers would even care boggles the mind: not everyone lives in a city that has department stores that stock this stuff. Even if they do, some people might not want to brave the sometimes rude sales people who are going to try to force them to buy the latest SarahJenniferBritney while they are merely trying to see if the new Bond No9 is really worth that astronimical price.

Personally, I have rarely bought anything that was not from a decant first. I live literally a mile from Neiman-Marcus, Saks, Barneys and Rodeo Drive, less than a mile from Robertson Boulevards tony shops and a little over two miles from the nice people at ScentBar, Apothia and Santa Maria Novello, and I still bought decants. Why? Because sometimes I don't want to have to ask. I want it shipped to my house so I can smell it, live with it, then show up at any of the above mentioned stores and buy.. and I have bought. So who is the loser here? When it comes right down to it, the manufacturers. The rumor is that Bond No9 was one of the ones creating the biggest stir. Well, they are dead to me. I don't especially like the sales people at Saks (where it's sold in Los Angeles), I don't have a charge there and they are look at you when you ask for a sample as if you'd asked them for their kidney, braised in white wine and capers.

So if it's true, Bond, you've just become that much more exclusive. Congrats on that.