SEPHORA SYDNEY ! Opening Day and US Price Comparison

Friday 5th December 2014 marked the opening of the first Sephora store in Australia, located on Pitt St in the centre of Sydney's CBD. I never thought I would be one of those crazy people who lined up for the opening of a store, but with Sephora, I didn't even think twice. I spent around 6 hours lining up from 6:30am with the lovely Cathy from Silver Screen Beauty Queens and our new friend from Germany (also named Catherine!). We were entertained with a DJ from 8am, stilt walkers, dancers and Sephora staff handing out freebies including compact mirrors, popcorn and gelato! The countdown the midday was particularly exciting, ending in an explosion of confetti and Taylor Swift blaring through Pitt St! Inside the store was really crazy and they didn't stagger entry as much as I would have thought - it was a pretty intense shopping experience!

As one of the first 150 people to enter the store (105th to be exact!) I received a gorgeous Sephora makeup case, making it well worth the early start and 6 hour wait. As well as this, I was also one of the first 300 people to purchase a Kat Von D product, meaning that I received a mini Studded Kiss lipstick and bracelet as well as the guarantee of a spot at her meet up! Today I ventured back to Sephora for the meet up and was so honoured to meet the absolutely beautiful Kat Von D. She loved my Wheels and Dollbaby dress and told me she was shopping at their Surry Hills store yesterday!

Price Matching Promise?

One of the biggest dramas surrounding the opening in the last few days has been the revelation of a significant mark up of prices on the products in Sephora despite their promise to remain as true to US pricing as possible. Australian consumers are used to paying a lot more for products in stores, so is Sephora ripping us off?

I put together a table of the items I bought on the day, comparing the US prices to the ones in the new Australian store. Of course, a few factors need to be taken into consideration regarding the mark up of prices:

• US prices do not include tax, in Australia, all items are taxed at 10%
• The Australian dollar, while fluctuating, historically is valued less than the American dollar - so exchange rates need to be taken into account. 
• Shipping Costs
• Import Taxes - which for cosmetics is 5% (http://www.customs.gov.au/tariff/tariff2012.asp)

So I added the estimated the percentage mark up of 35% to the US prices to take into consideration the above factors. This came to an additional $75, still making my purchase $55 more expensive than it should have been, if prices were 'comparable'.

Product	USD$	AUD$
Tarte Bon Voyage Holiday Set	$59	$78
Tarte Pin Up Girl Blush Palette	$42	$58
Tarte Gifted Mascara	$20	$29
Sephora Pro Angled Blush Brush #49	$32	$43
Sephora Cream Lip Stain in ‘Always Red’	$13	$21
Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in ‘Trooper’	$18	$28
Formula X Base Coat	$10.50	$20
Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Wiz	$21	$34
TOTAL	$215.50 + $75 mark up = $290.50	$345

Not only that, but at the moment the Australian dollar is at a low point, meaning that when the value of the dollar increases, this also increases the gap from what we should be paying to what we are being charged in stores.

It's obvious that cosmetics costs more in Australia, but the question remains - why? Particularly since Sephora did make a big deal about remaining comparable to US prices.

Final Thoughts

Overall, opening day was really fantastic! Not only did Sephora put on a fantastic show and really looked after all the beauty fans who were lining up for hours but Westfield Sydney was absolutely wonderful! Not only were the staff from Westfield extremely patient with the huge crowds of people blocking entrance ways but brought out muffins, banana bread and coffee when we all needed it early in the morning. Despite the significant price inflation, I will definitely continue to purchase from the Sydney Sephora store. Prices of drugstore brands are also ridiculously inflated in Priceline etc. but it is still the easiest and most convenient way to purchase those products. I'm so excited to be able to access brands like Kat Von D, Make Up For Ever, Tarte, Bite Beauty, Anastasia Beverly Hills and IT Cosmetics!

Will you be braving the Sephora crowds any time soon? If you did, what did you pick up?

Don't worry a haul post featuring lots of product photos and swatches will be up soon !!

xx Catherine   

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