Pricing
HoM Haute · Products
A Note on Pricing
A simple explanation for international customers.
The Indonesian price
If your order is delivered within Indonesia, the Indonesian price applies.
The international price
Orders delivered outside Indonesia follow my international price, whether you purchase directly from me or through one of my overseas retail partners.
Why are there different prices?
I maintain separate pricing for Indonesia and for international orders. This is not based on nationality. It is based on the market where the fragrance is purchased and delivered.
Perfume prices that are already considered expensive in Indonesia can still be much lower than prices commonly seen in the international independent and artisan perfume market. Rather than raising my Indonesian prices simply to make them identical to overseas prices, I choose to keep a domestic price that makes sense for my home market.
Orders delivered outside Indonesia follow my international price. I keep this international price consistent whether you purchase directly from me or through one of my overseas retail partners.
Why is the Indonesian price lower?
Indonesia has a very different perfume market from Europe, the United States, the Gulf, and other international markets. Local income levels, buying power, customer expectations, and the usual price range for Indonesian perfume brands are different. A price that may look relatively affordable internationally can already be considered expensive for a local perfume brand in Indonesia.
For a small Indonesian brand, simply copying European or international prices at home is often not realistic. I still need local customers, repeat buyers, and a home market in which the house can survive, learn, grow, and continue producing. Keeping a lower domestic price is therefore not simply about giving a discount. It is a practical way of operating within the reality of the Indonesian market.
This is not a side market for me. Today, more than 90% of my sales are to local customers, and you can see it on social media too: most of the people who follow, comment on and share the house are Indonesian. The home market is what keeps the house alive.
Different domestic and international pricing is also seen among Indonesian brands, particularly smaller independent brands. The exact approach differs from brand to brand, but the basic reason is similar: a business has to price appropriately for its home market while also creating a structure that can work internationally.
For HoM Haute, this is less about choosing to charge one group more and more about finding the most logical way for a small Indonesian house to survive locally while still having the possibility to grow internationally.
What does the international price represent?
The international price is not an arbitrary premium I add simply because the customer is overseas. It is the price at which I believe HoM Haute can realistically sit in the international independent and artisan perfume market.
Internationally, I want HoM Haute to be judged beside other independent perfume houses on the same basic questions: the fragrance itself, the quality and character of the materials, concentration, production scale, originality, presentation, and the overall experience. The international price is intended to reflect that market and that comparison, rather than being calculated by simply converting the Indonesian price into another currency.
In other words, I adjust the Indonesian price to the reality of my home market. The international price is closer to the price level at which I believe the product should be compared internationally in terms of price and value.
I also believe that a higher international price creates a responsibility for me. If you purchase HoM Haute internationally and genuinely feel that the quality, materials, construction, presentation, or overall value does not justify the price compared with other fragrances in the same range, you are welcome to tell me directly. I am prepared to listen, explain my choices, and take responsibility where there is a genuine product or service issue. The international price should be supported by what is actually inside the bottle and the experience around it, not simply by a luxury label.
The cost of building a perfume house from here
There is another side to this that is rarely discussed. Running a fragrance house from a lower income economy does not make the work cheaper. In many ways it makes it more expensive, while the price the home market can accept stays lower.
Materials are priced in foreign currency
Many of the aroma chemicals, naturals and absolutes I rely on are bought in US dollars or euros. When the rupiah weakens, my costs rise, while my Indonesian customers still pay in rupiah.
Small volumes, higher unit costs
A one person house buys materials, bottles and packaging in small quantities. Large houses negotiate on volume. I pay the small buyer’s price for almost everything.
Perfume is difficult to ship
Perfume is treated as flammable dangerous goods for air transport. Fewer couriers accept it, the paperwork is heavier, and every international parcel costs far more than it would for most products.
Every market has its own rules
Selling abroad means safety assessments, ingredient labelling and import requirements that change from country to country. These are fixed costs, and for a small house they weigh on every single bottle.
Far from the centres of the industry
The fairs, retailers, press and collectors who shape niche perfumery are mostly in Europe, the Gulf and North America. Being present there means flights, samples and stock sent at my own cost, in currencies worth many times my own.
The origin discount
A fragrance from Indonesia is often expected to be cheaper before anyone has smelled it. I have to prove the quality twice: once through the fragrance, and again against the assumption about where it comes from.
The international growth dilemma
This creates a dilemma that many small brands from developing economies know well, and it is especially sharp for fragrance, where materials, shipping and presence abroad are all expensive.
Stay only local
Safe, but small. The house can only grow as far as one market can carry it.
One low price everywhere
No room for shipping, documentation, retailer margins or being present abroad.
One high price everywhere
The home market that keeps the house alive slowly disappears.
Separate market pricing
Grounded at home, and able to stand on equal terms abroad.
If I priced internationally at my Indonesian level, I could not pay for shipping, documentation, retailer margins and the travel it takes to be present abroad. Retailers need a real margin to carry a brand, and a price built for Jakarta leaves nothing for them, or for me. Selling more abroad would simply mean losing more on every order.
If I raised my Indonesian price to international levels instead, I would lose the home market that keeps the house alive: the customers who buy again, who recommend the house to others, and whose honest feedback I build on.
Being from a lower income economy is not a reason to be priced as a lesser house. It is a reason to be priced carefully.
Common questions
Why is the same fragrance cheaper in Indonesia?+
My Indonesian price is specifically made for the Indonesian market. At this level, my fragrances are already positioned relatively high within the local market. I want HoM Haute to remain viable and reasonably accessible in the country where it was created rather than raising the local price only to make it identical to international pricing.
It feels unfair that international customers pay more.+
I understand why the difference can look unusual. The price is based on the market, not on who you are or where you are from. Anyone purchasing with delivery within Indonesia can access the Indonesian price. Orders delivered outside Indonesia follow the international price.
Can I buy at the Indonesian price?+
Yes. If your order is delivered within Indonesia, the Indonesian price applies. If you are visiting Indonesia or have someone here who can receive your order, you are welcome to purchase at the domestic price. If I ship the order overseas, the international price applies.
Why do I still pay the international price when buying directly from HoM Haute?+
I keep the same international price across my own direct sales and overseas retailers. If I sold internationally through my website for much less than my retail partners, I would be competing directly with the stores that support and represent HoM Haute overseas.
If HoM Haute can sell at the Indonesian price, why can’t that price apply everywhere?+
Because the Indonesian price is made specifically for my home market. Different countries have different market prices, buying power, business costs, and retail structures. A price that works for Indonesia does not automatically become the reference price for every other market.
What if I think the international price is too high for what I receive?+
That is a fair question. I ask you to judge HoM Haute against other fragrances offered in a similar international price range. If you genuinely believe the fragrance or the overall product does not deliver the quality or value expected at that level, please tell me. I welcome fair criticism and will take responsibility for genuine product or service problems. I do not expect the international price to be accepted simply because I say so.
Why don’t I announce the two prices to everyone from the beginning?
I am not trying to hide my Indonesian price. At the same time, I do not actively announce or promote the difference to every international customer because the Indonesian price is not the price offered for international orders. Showing two prices to everyone from the beginning can create confusion and make people compare two very different markets as if they were the same.
There is also a practical reason. Once the Indonesian consumer price becomes the starting point of an international business discussion, it can be used to negotiate even lower wholesale prices. A retailer may see the lower home market price and assume there must be more room for discount, even though that domestic price was never designed as the basis for international wholesale.
For a one person independent house, repeatedly reducing the wholesale price because of this comparison can eventually make international expansion impossible. I would then be caught between keeping a realistic Indonesian price and giving overseas retailers margins calculated from a completely different market.
For this reason, I prefer to explain my Indonesian pricing when it becomes relevant rather than make the price difference part of my international marketing. I will answer honestly when asked, but I appreciate people who understand the context and treat the domestic pricing with discretion rather than using it as leverage for further discounts.
Why do I ask for discretion?
This is not a request to keep a secret or to stop anyone from discussing my prices. My Indonesian prices may naturally become known. It is simply a request for understanding toward the reality of a one person Indonesian independent house trying to operate in very different markets.
My domestic pricing helps HoM Haute survive, grow, and remain connected to the market where it began. My international pricing gives me room to work with overseas stores without undercutting them through my own website or reducing my margins beyond what I can sustainably support.
My approach
The easiest solution would be to raise the Indonesian price until it matches the international price. But that would solve an international pricing problem by making the fragrance less realistic for my own home market. I do not think that is the right solution.
For a small Indonesian house, separate market pricing is therefore not simply a preference. It is one of the most logical ways for me to remain sustainable at home while creating enough room for HoM Haute to grow abroad.
In simple terms
Indonesia has its domestic price. Orders outside Indonesia have the international price. The international price is intended to stand on its own against the quality and value of fragrances in the international market. The difference is based on the market and delivery location, not nationality.
Thank you for understanding the realities behind how I run a small independent Indonesian perfume house.
HoM Haute · Harum Oleh Memori