White Friday: How to Buy Perfume, Bakhoor and Oud Wisely

In short: White Friday is a sales season in late November. It usually falls around Black Friday, the day after the fourth Thursday of November. The name was coined by the Souq.com platform in 2014 as an Arabic alternative to “Black Friday”. To buy perfume, bakhoor (the Arabic word for incense) and oud during the season knowing what you are paying for, note the prices before it starts, scan the barcode to check that the discount is licensed, compare the price per ml or per gram rather than the price of the pack, and buy from a seller who discloses its details.

Table of contents

• What is White Friday, and why is it called that?
• When is White Friday?
• Before the season: prepare your list
• How do you check a discount?
• How do you read a perfume's label?
• Concentration
• Size
• Ingredients and packaging details
• Compare the unit price, not the pack price
• Oud and bakhoor in the sales season
• How do you avoid counterfeits?
• Perfume gifts in the season
• Read also
• References

In late November, messages and ads fill up with big percentages: a discount on a perfume you were planning to buy, a “buy two” offer on bakhoor, and a countdown warning that the offer ends in a few hours. Before you pay, it helps to know three things: whether the price is really lower than it was two weeks ago, whether the bigger bottle is better value, and who is selling to you.

What is White Friday, and why is it called that?

White Friday is an Arabic name for the sales season known in the West as “Black Friday”. It was launched by the e-commerce platform Souq.com in 2014 [1].

As one of the platform's co-founders said, the season was tied to our own Friday rather than mainly to American Thanksgiving, and white was chosen because it is a “positive and happy” color [1]. So the name is tied to Friday, while the date follows Black Friday, as the next section explains.

“Black Friday” is American in origin. The name caught on in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, where police officers used it to describe the crowds of shoppers and the traffic on the day after Thanksgiving [2]. The popular explanation that stores “go into the black” on that day, that is, move from loss to profit in their books, did not appear until the 1980s, so it is a later explanation, not the origin of the name [2].

When is White Friday?

White Friday is usually held in late November, around Black Friday, which always falls between 23 and 29 November. Black Friday is the day after American Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November [3].

White Friday is not limited to one day: in its third season it ran from Wednesday to Saturday [1]. The length of the offers varies from store to store, so ask each store you buy from.

Before the season: prepare your list

Start two or three weeks before the season by writing down what you actually need: an everyday perfume, bakhoor for the home, or a gift for a particular person. Then note the price of each product on your list, so that when you see the discount you know whether the new price is actually lower, and set your budget before you see the offers. If you can, try the perfume before the season as well, because the crowds during the season may leave no time for testing.

An advertised discount does not mean the price is at its lowest. A British consumer organization tracked the prices of home and tech products for a full year around the 2024 Black Friday season, and 83% of them were at the offer price or cheaper at least once outside the sales weeks [4]. Those were appliances, not perfume, but they are reason enough to note the price before the season.

How do you check a discount?

The Ministry of Commerce has announced nine controls on discounts in establishments and online stores, aimed at curbing fake and misleading offers; one of them is that the store must stick to the discount it is licensed for, without deception, misleading claims or price manipulation [5]. Some of them you can check yourself as you shop:

• The license: the store must obtain a discount license before advertising the discount, and must display it so that the consumer can verify it by scanning its barcode.
• The price before and after the discount: the discounted product must have a price tag that shows both prices.
• The discount rate: it must be stated clearly, in the form “from … to …”.
• The exchange and return policy: the store must disclose it during the offer period.
• Freedom of choice: the store must not oblige you to take the offer.

The E-Commerce Law requires an online store to state the total price, including fees and taxes, and the payment and delivery arrangements [6]. The price to compare, then, is the final one after shipping, not the displayed price alone.

How do you read a perfume's label?

Read the perfume's label before you compare its price: its concentration, its size and its ingredients. These are what tell you whether it suits you in the first place.

Concentration

Labels such as Eau de Parfum, Eau de Toilette and Eau de Cologne indicate the proportion of aromatic materials in the perfume. It is highest in eau de parfum and lowest in eau de cologne [7], so it is not fair to compare the prices of two perfumes of different concentrations as if they were the same thing.

Size

A larger bottle may be cheaper per ml, but it does not suit everyone, and for someone trying a perfume for the first time a smaller size is less of a risk. Heat, light and oxygen are among the main factors that change aromatic oils over time [8], so do not buy more than you will use within a reasonable period.

Ingredients and packaging details

If you are allergic to a particular substance, look for it in the ingredients list before buying.

The product page often lists the top, heart and base notes. The top notes evaporate fastest, and the base is what remains after hours [9], so judge a perfume by its base as well, not by the first spray.

If you are testing in a store, do not try many perfumes one after another, because the nose adapts to a smell it meets repeatedly and its sensitivity to that smell drops for a while [10].

Compare the unit price, not the pack price

Divide the price by the volume or the weight: the price per ml for perfume, and the price per gram for bakhoor and oud. The figures in this example are hypothetical, for illustration only; they do not refer to any particular product:

Product	Price	Size	Unit price
Perfume (A)	SAR 150	50 ml	SAR 3 per ml
Perfume (B)	SAR 216	90 ml	SAR 2.4 per ml
Bakhoor (C)	SAR 60	45 grams	About SAR 1.33 per gram
Bakhoor (D)	SAR 80	70 grams	About SAR 1.14 per gram

Perfume (B) costs more but is cheaper per ml. The comparison only holds between two products that are similar in type and concentration. With bundle offers, such as “buy two”, work out the unit price for the whole bundle, and do not count it as a saving unless you would have bought the second item without the offer.

Oud and bakhoor in the sales season

In the sales season, oud and bakhoor call for reading the description and the weight before the price. Natural oud is wood in which an aromatic resin forms when an oud tree is wounded or infected, and this does not happen in every tree [11]. Its international trade is subject, in most of its forms, to the controls of the CITES convention, which regulates this trade in oud species of the genera Aquilaria and Gyrinops [12]. Oud prices vary widely according to its grade, that is, the amount of resin in it, its density and its color [11].

The high price of oud invites imitation. Of 18 oud samples taken from the market and examined in a study, eight did not match the wood structure of agarwood at all, and in some of the remaining ten the tissue was not fully filled with resin [13]. Adulteration methods include injecting the wood with oil under high pressure, soaking it in aromatic substances, and using other wood in place of oud. Appearance and smell are not enough to detect adulteration, and examining the wood structure under a microscope is a reliable way to detect it [13].

Before you buy discounted oud or bakhoor, read the description carefully: “natural oud” is not the same as “scented oud”, and neither is the same as “bakhoor”. The differences are explained in our guide to types of bakhoor. Maamoul bakhoor (dukhoon) is made of blends whose ingredients differ from one kind to another, so if you find a description whose meaning you do not know, ask the seller to explain it. Compare the price per gram only between products of the same type, not between natural oud and bakhoor, and pay attention to the weight, because two packs that look alike may differ in weight.

How do you avoid counterfeits?

• Buy from a known source: the brand owner's store, or a seller you know.
• Check the store's details: the E-Commerce Law requires an online store to disclose its name and address, unless it is registered with one of the bodies that verify online stores, as well as its contact details, and the name and number of its commercial register if it is registered in one [6]. If you find neither these details nor anything showing that the store is verified, think twice before buying.
• Beware of a price far from the usual: if a well-known perfume costs much less than it does in its brand's store, find out why before buying.
• Compare the pack with its official photos: the name, the font, the cap and the details on the box.
• Keep the invoice: the E-Commerce Law requires an online store to give you, after the purchase, an invoice showing the cost of each product, the total price, and the date and place of delivery [6]. You will need it if you want an exchange or a return.

Perfume gifts in the season

If you buy a perfume gift for an upcoming occasion during the season, keep four things in mind:

• Know the recipient's taste: the perfume they wear now, and whether they lean toward fresh or warm perfumes, or toward oud and bakhoor.
• If you do not know their taste: we lean toward bakhoor or home fragrances, which are easier to choose than a personal perfume.
• Read the return policy: check whether it covers the discounted product, and whether it allows the gift to be exchanged.
• Store the gift well until the day: in a cool, dark place, and do not leave it in the car [8].

Read also

• Types of Bakhoor: A Guide to Oud, Frankincense, Maamoul and Mabsous
• Musk in Perfumery: Animal, Synthetic and Its Types
• Autumn Fragrance Notes: How to Choose Your Perfume in Saudi Weather
• How to Store Perfume: Where to Keep It, How Long It Lasts, and How to Tell It Has Changed

References

1. Moore J. White Friday: Middle East's Jeff Bezos Looks to Capitalize on Black Friday Tradition. Newsweek. 25 November 2016. newsweek.com. Accessed 27 September 2026.
2. Zimmer B. The Origins of "Black Friday". Vocabulary.com, Word Routes. vocabulary.com. Accessed 27 September 2026.
3. 5 U.S.C. § 6103: Holidays. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. law.cornell.edu. Accessed 27 September 2026.
4. Which? Don’t believe the hype: Most Black Friday deals the same price or cheaper at other times of the year, Which? finds. Which? Policy and insight, 25 November 2025. which.co.uk. Accessed 5 October 2026.
5. Ministry of Commerce. [“Commerce”: 9 controls for commercial discounts in establishments and online stores] (in Arabic). Media Center, 18 Sha‘ban 1445 AH. mc.gov.sa. Accessed 5 October 2026.
6. E-Commerce Law (in Arabic), issued by Royal Decree No. (M/126) dated 1440/11/7 AH, Articles 6, 7 and 8. Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers. laws.boe.gov.sa. Accessed 5 October 2026.
7. Miastkowska M, Lasoń E, Sikora E, Wolińska-Kennard K. Preparation and Characterization of Water-Based Nano-Perfumes. Nanomaterials. 2018;8(12):981. doi:10.3390/nano8120981. Accessed 27 September 2026.
8. Turek C, Stintzing FC. Stability of Essential Oils: A Review. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 2013;12(1):40–53. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12006. Accessed 27 September 2026.
9. Rodrigues AE, Nogueira I, Faria RPV. Perfume and Flavor Engineering: A Chemical Engineering Perspective. Molecules. 2021;26(11):3095. PMC8196857. Accessed 27 September 2026.
10. Dalton P. Psychophysical and Behavioral Characteristics of Olfactory Adaptation. Chemical Senses. 2000;25(4):487–492. doi:10.1093/chemse/25.4.487. Accessed 27 September 2026.
11. Naziz PS, Das R, Sen S. The Scent of Stress: Evidence From the Unique Fragrance of Agarwood. Frontiers in Plant Science. 2019;10:840. PMC6646531. Accessed 27 September 2026.
12. IUCN/TRAFFIC. Analyses of the Proposals to Amend the CITES Appendices at CoP17: Prop. 60, Amendment of the listings of Aquilaria spp. and Gyrinops spp. in Appendix II. 2016. Analysis document. Accessed 27 September 2026.
13. Feng J, Liu Y, Liu P, Yang Y, Xie A, Wei J. Resinous included phloem as a key indicator of authentic or fake agarwood. PLoS One. 2024;19(12):e0312102. PMC11611195. Accessed 5 October 2026.

Prepared and edited by: Sedr Al-Khaleej Perfumes team

Last reviewed: 16 October 2026