Has anyone gone to these make-up warehouse sales in Toronto? The Estee Lauder/MAC one is this weekend, NARS/Shiseido one was 2 weekends ago and the L’Oreal one was a month or two ago… I’m wondering how you get the free tickets and whether or not the sale is actually worth it. Interested to hear your views. 
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
Everyone I know who has gone to the Estée/Mac sale raves about it. I've never gotten any tickets but I think you can buy them off kijiji or Craigslist if you really want.
I went to the loreal one. I would say it’s worth it for certain products. You have to be careful with products that are close to expiry date. I usually buy perfumes/big priced items. They are usually discounted at least 50% off so the savings are good esp if you are buying in bulk.
For tickets check out smartcanucks or redflagdeals. People usually sell tix for $10 or $20.
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
I don't see any value in going to the Estee/MAC one. I went last year and thought it was the ultimate waste of time. But, with that said, it depends on what you're going there for. If you imagine you're going to big MAC store and will pick out your lip shades and eye colours and can get your NC35 foundation, that's not happening. They have very few shades of anything - just odds and ends.
Their brush sets are the travel versions and again - no picking and choosing which one you want, its whatever they choose to sell.
What it is good for is buying gift sets of perfumes or large eyeshadow palettes - so if you want to buy gifts to give, I would say its worth going to.
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been to one ages ago......decided never again.
like Sehrysh says, don't expect to find specifics.....not gonna happen.
the only things that I found useful were gift sets that were gonna be delivered to Pakistan... LOL
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
What is this magical place hidden in the clouds?!?
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
I don't know how I feel about paying for the tickets when they're supposed to be free though (I suppose I am just very kanjoos :) ). I also don't like the idea of having to drive around to random places to collect tickets. It would be easier if they just had them available at the venue for anyone who wanted to buy them.
Interesting to hear about what the atmosphere is like at these sales as well... I gather you're more likely to find good deals if you know exactly what to keep an eye out for. I'll have to go to at least one of the sales before I can decide if these are a good idea for me or not!
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Also, I read that it might not be a good idea to buy perfumes at these sales because they sell the defective ones that have too much alcohol in them (which apparently makes the fragrance irritating for the eyes or something)...
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
I love warehouse sales. Like Sehrysh and Muzna said it's not like going into a store and buying something you want...you buy something that you kinda sorta like. Having said that, the bargains are pretty nice. Last one I went to was Revlon's, and the products had sold out within a few hours of the sale, but what I did manage to get was the same thing you'd get at a store, but for a lower price. I wouldn't get any perfumes from there though because the bargain isn't worth it and they usually sell sample packs at the warehouse sale. You can just as easily get the same thing at any other discount store that sells sample perfumes.
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Yes! I've gone and it's amazing! the prices are very cheap, you can score MAC lippies for half the price and they often have older limited edition products which are no longer in stock or sold.
My sister works for a company which gave her tickets, but check online, many people who can't go sell them on websites like craigslist and kijjiji.
Once you're there, they have mailing lists where you can sign up and be notified for upcoming sales.
Go early and try to go the first day! The sales are usually Sat and Sun, but by Sun most of the good stuff is kind of minimal or gone if it's very popular.
BTW the sale I'm talking about had = MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Estee Lauder.
The one I'm talking about was in the North York area but the locations always change.
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I went many moons ago myself to the l’oreal one and came back with a Lancome jewellery box for $5. That was it. Didn’t like anything why buy something if its shelf life is almost up? So much for driving all the way to Markham.
What I’m am aiming to do is to go to the IMATS this year
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The website doesn’t make this clear, is IMATS mostly just MUAs demonstrating their techniques or can you also buy products at a discounted rate?
Re: Warehouse sales in Toronto
Yes! I've gone and it's amazing! the prices are very cheap, you can score MAC lippies for half the price and they often have older limited edition products which are no longer in stock or sold.
My sister works for a company which gave her tickets, but check online, many people who can't go sell them on websites like craigslist and kijjiji. Once you're there, they have mailing lists where you can sign up and be notified for upcoming sales.
Go early and try to go the first day! The sales are usually Sat and Sun, but by Sun most of the good stuff is kind of minimal or gone if it's very popular.
BTW the sale I'm talking about had = MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Estee Lauder. The one I'm talking about was in the North York area but the locations always change.
The only thing that bugs me about the tickets being sold on kijiji is that the sellers are usually so far away! And I seem to catch their postings just the day before the sale. How long before the sale do the employees generally get the tickets?
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The website doesn't make this clear, is IMATS mostly just MUAs demonstrating their techniques or can you also buy products at a discounted rate?
It is open to public; last year one was, some people went were not MUA's!!! But you gotta get the tickets in advance. I believe it was $40
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The only thing that bugs me about the tickets being sold on kijiji is that the sellers are usually so far away! And I seem to catch their postings just the day before the sale. How long before the sale do the employees generally get the tickets?
My sister got them about 3 weeks in advance. And some of the other employees put them up for sale right away who could not go. I know it sucks about travelling far to get them, but it depends on how badly you want to go. Most of these sales are not open to the general public and are very hush hush.