Discontinued fragrances

I'm just wondering what sort of "sources" we're supposed to provide that a fragrance has been discontinued? What sources sufficiently prove a negative? A link to the perfumer website where no such product listing exists? (Or the retailer in the case of exclusive scents?) There's a lot of perfumes listed here as being "still in production" that you can't actually buy anywhere, so it would be nice to update these but I'm confused as to how one would prove something *isn't* for sale.

I hate everything.

Huge, exquisitely detailed, explanation novella post just disappeared into the ether when I clicked on Submit.

Telegram-style gist:

- Indeed, proving a negative is impossible. You can't be expected to triumph over 101 Logics, ahem.

So, possible options:

- you find a trace, somewhere, somehow, of an official token of discontinuation by the brand. Like an advance warning (it DOES happen! Maison Violet sent a newsletter a couple months ago to give a heads-up that they couldn't avoid discontinuing scent X, + cut-off date). Or a mention in social media, PR, or a reply from the brand if you ask them directly.

- lasting disappearance from the brands e-shop CAN be an indication, but not always: Lutens is consistently deleting this or that perfume from their site - no "out of stock" mention, it just vanishes, and if you do a search, no result. Internet goes kray "OMG LUTENS DISCONTINUED X". But then after a few months, X pops back up, no warning, no nothin'

- what helps: if the brand has several regional websites: Guerlanelmès has a specific EU site, a specific UK site, US, AU, JP, etc. If the perfume is suddenly gone from ALL of them, it's starting to look reaaaally likely that they sneakily axed it.
(NB: if it has vanished from 5 regional sites, but is still for sale on the 6th one, the perfume has to be considered as '(still) available' for the database. I know, but well, you'll have to wait till site 6 removes it too)

- (e-)retailers not belonging to the brand are no proof: they can still sell their leftover stock, or conversely label "sold out" a very much alive perfume that they simply scratch from their own offer.

-> the most likely situation: if you don't find evidence coming straight from the brand (that would be jackpot), I'd say cue + cue + cue + cue mount up to "OK now THAT pile of signs can only mean discontinuation!", as good as proof.
(and there, an additional "look, major perfume e-stores A, B and C ALL list it as "out of stock!" does count as additional cue!)

(I guess this wasn't a novella? or?)

@Fernqueen great question! 🙂 I don't speak for Parfumo, but for the revisions I submit, I usually:

- go to the brand's website and search for the fragrance name 
- take a screenshot of these search results yielding nothing
- submit this screenshot + the URL of the search results for the revision proposal
(sometimes I also add screenshots of Google search results, to show that it's only available on resale platforms - but the "primary source" would be proving that the main brand/house/etc. no longer carries it)

Example (under "Sources"): https://www.parfumo.com/fdb_c_...

You can submit a revision proposal by going to the fragrance's page, clicking on "Research" > "New Revision".

I often find it very confusing too (outside of what Parfumo sais, don't know their sources). Sometimes, when prices of a perfume start going 'through the roof' and the perfume is no longer listed on the brand's website, this can also be an indication that a fragrance may be or will be 'discontinued' while still being 'for sale'. Then it may turn up again for 'normal' prices and available on the website again. This was the case for instance with 24, Faubourg Eau de Parfum It was for sale for extremely high prices for a while and on the Hermès website, when one would search for the perfume, it said: 'Sorry no longer available' (with no indication that it would be back in the future); so one would think it was discontinued, but now it is back again and prices are 'normal' again. It might be reformulated, but I also read somewhere that there had been trouble manufacturing the bottle...

I had the same experience with Hermes. I wanted Bel Ami Vétiver and it was nowhere to be found. Not on the Hermes website, not at online shops. So, I emailed Hermes and they responded 'hold your horses buckaroo' (in a polite, classy way, of course 😃 ). Sure enough, in a few months it popped up on their website again.

Well, in principle, we accept the "untraceability on the website" as evidence. A screenshot e.g. of the search on the brand's website, which does not lead to any results, would be a legitimate source for the change.

Of course, a direct press release or email from the brand would be better, but we also know that many brands respond evasively or not at all to such questions.

And as for temporary sell-outs. We have no choice but to rely on common sense and our judgement of the situation. It is therefore advisable not to immediately mark a change in the database at the first sell-off, but rather to wait a little to see whether a restock occurs or not. It also depends on the brand, with some you just know sold out is sold out and gone and with others there are regular restocks.

However, if a restock occurs after the change has been made in the database, it is not a problem to cancel it with a new change request. This happens from time to time and that's just the way it is.