Have I been accidentally feeding the influencer machine? See, I was very happy to find a slightly-used travel spray of the honey-drenched myrrh of Mendittorosa* Osang recently–particularly because of the ruinous price of a full bottle. But when I buy something like this on eBay, I feel a little flicker of guilt.

While I am sure that some of those sales are managing changing tastes, buyer’s remorse, or recouping the damage of a spending spree, I wonder how often I am buying the cast-offs of a freebie-drenched “influencer” turning a profit on their “gifts”. There are an awful lot of barely-used bottles of niche perfumes for sale out there that have been “just sprayed twice”.

People have been rightly calling out bottle-begging and self-promoting giveaways recently, but is there any discussion of the effects of this sort of indirect, undisclosed earning? (And no, I’m not a jealous “hater”. I’m curious about the economics and mechanisms of influence in all directions. Ask me about my research if you’re srsly bored one day.)

While the blessing of a single shiny new freebie bottle may or may not shape the tone and tenor of a “review” on IG or YouTube, it’s hard not to see an even stronger potential to shape behaviour if it’s to attract a flow of bottles that are converted into cold hard cash. Just as we know how far magazines and corporations depend on their high-value symbiotic relationship between editorial and advertisements. “Gifts” sound so innocent and string-free compared to paid promotions and partnerships, but when do they become a business deal in this hazier economic relationship?

I have so many questions when I start thinking about this. For starters: do you think there is any difference between keeping a freebie bottle and selling it on? Would you buy them? Would you be willing to fess up to selling them? And would you tell the tax man if you did? Do  you think it changes what and how someone is writing if they are part of this foodchain?

* no implied shade at all to Mendittorosa. They don’t give away bottles to “influencers”. You want it? You buy it. It was just the barely-used bottle buy that got me thinking about this subject.

originally posted 3 may 2019, footnote december 2025