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YouTuber accused of re-selling ‘unwanted’ and ‘used’ products in £49 Christmas advent calendar

Here we go again


Another year, another advent calendar scandal. Meet Eltoria, an award winning blogger from Bristol, accused of selling her subscribers used and "dirty" products she no longer wanted in her 12-door, handmade, £49 Christmas advent calendar.

Simone Partner, or Eltoria on YouTube, is a 25-year-old lifestyle and beauty YouTuber with 155,000 subscribers. The "Advent Calendar Queen" is regularly sent free items and PR packages by beauty companies for reviews and now fans think she's selling them on in her calendars. She's also known for looking a lot like Zoella and she's even made a video where she copied her for a week. No, you couldn't make it up.

Her advent calendar was priced at £49 plus £6.80 for delivery. It was said to include nine "core items" and four "mystery" items, which were given to customers as "gifts". On her website, it stated the calendar was worth between £90 to £110.

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It all seemed innocent and simple enough. Just your regular YouTuber, hand-making 150 Christmas advent calendars for her subscribers, for the small price-tag of £49. She even made a promotional video unboxing a "sample" Eltoria Christmas advent calendar box on camera. The boxes sold out almost immediately. But here's where it all went wrong.

Fans reported 'used' products, without hygiene seals on them

Mercedes, who goes by Soon To Be Wilson on YouTube, uploaded a review of the box. She showed a dried up lip balm without a seal on it, an eyebrow pencil that's been tampered with and a Body Shop brush with red lipstick over it. She also claimed to have received a half-full bottle of shampoo.

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Some other customers reported broken and opened items in their calendar. One person claims they saw nail marks in their highlighter.

Eltoria

Eltoria

There are speculations Eltoria used 'unwanted' and free products from previous unboxings

Customers reported finding discontinued make up in their advent calendar. They've also pointed out the fact many of the beauty products included in the advent calendar have been spotted in Eltoria's previous unboxing videos, such as the Elegant Touch nails and Eylure eyelashes sold in the advent calendar. The exact same ones were sent to her in a PR box and appeared in a video months before.

She made £7,350 and was refusing to accept any refunds

You'd think after making £7,350 from 150 boxes priced at £49, she would at least offer some returns or refunds for unsatisfied customers.

On her website, she stated that the advent calendars couldn't be refunded because they were being handmade to order. But people didn't even know what they were getting?

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She did eventually give refunds, but allegedly very reluctantly

People have been claiming that Eltoria tried to appease unsatisfied customers by sending them "a few extra bits" in the post or that she has tried to keep 20 per cent of the money.

Eltoria

Jeffrey Star, the owner of one of the products Eltoria featured in her calendar, doesn't even know who she is

Another YouTuber, Petty Paige, reached out to Jeffrey Star, to ask if he was aware of his Blood Sugar palette being resold in Eltoria's Christmas advent calendar. He allegedly replied: "Hey love! I've actually never heard of this person before until now… My official retailers who carry and are authorized to sell my brand can be found in the FAQ section.

"I'm horrified to hear this, because my trademark lawyer is constantly battling this issue and it's sad what small companies do it brands who work hard. Who knows if she is selling fake or real products, that's what's scary.. Let me know what you find out!"

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Eltoria's fiancé has called her customers 'a bunch of morons'

He also called them "a bunch of pussies" and a "bunch of trolls" who "continue to bitch and moan."

Eltoria

She deleted her original video advertising the calendars

Then she uploaded a video about how the calendar was made, shortly deleting it after.

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Eltoria said the worth of the box was originally between £90 to £110, but then revised that number down to £58.19 in the video she took down

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Eltoria has been trying to take down videos of people reviewing her calendar, by claiming copyright infringement. Soon To Be Wilson was the first person to review the calendar. She told The Tab: "I paid for this item and the postage for it out of my own pocket. I wasn't being ungrateful I was in fact an unhappy customer who was entitled to an opinion." But soon after in the comment section of her video, she started receiving death threats from random YouTube accounts just for speaking out.

Eltoria

The Tab has reached out to Eltoria for comment, but there has yet been no response.

She told Metro: "I would like to thank the customers for purchasing this handmade, very limited edition product. I would also like to thank my fans for the support.

"It is unfortunate that people have made guesses and assumptions for it then to be treated as fact. Perhaps this is an issue that platforms need to figure out how to regulate."

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