If you are a canner or preserver of food than you must have noticed that supplies are scarce this year. Every store I have called locally is out of canning supplies and no dates in site for re-stocking.
Along with TP and sanitizer, yeast and flour the newest shortage, at least in my world is canning supplies, in particular the lids.
I saw it happening about a month ago when at the beginning of the canning season the grocery store I work at part time could not get supplies in. We had some left over stock from the previous year but that did not last long.
I immediately went online and Amazon had lids but they were over $20 a box! Nuh uh…not doing that. I ended up buying 6 boxes of regular lids from mason-official.com. THAT was a mistake. I found out later that mason-official is not an American company at all but a company from China.
The lids took almost a month to get to me but finally today I received them. But they came in a BAG. None of the lids were in boxes. Just loose in baggies. Coming all the way from China in a bag and you probably already can surmise what I found when I opened the package today. At least a third of my order is damaged. The lids are bent. Not surprising considering they shipped them from China in a BAG. Did I say a bag? Yes, a small bag. That’s the last time I’ll say that.
I can’t use bent lids of course so I emailed the company. They immediately emailed back and said to email them photos of the damaged lids, tracking number and SKU on the BAG. Oops I said it again.
I did what they asked and sent them photos. Let’s see what happens right?
This isn’t the first time I have had an experience like this. I have purchased items on Ebay and Etsy and have found out later that the items I purchased were actually coming from China. I have nothing against China but when I buy from a company supposedly saying they are an American based company with an American sounding name (Jane Smith in the case of Etsy) one would expect to receive their package from somewhere in the US. Needless to say I think I got one Ebay seller shut down for selling me a bootleg set of Legos. Pissing off an American momma on Christmas morning is not a good idea!
My advice when buying online is this:
If you can’t find an actual address for the company you are buying from beware. Read ALL of the description of the item you are buying and if it says it will take 7 to 14 days to ship to you it is probably coming from another country AND if there are any typos or the grammar is off anywhere on the website that’s also a red flag.
I think it’s time for a “Call to Action”. There is a shortage of canning supplies this year and if you have canning supplies you would like to pass on because you aren’t using them anymore or if you are a canner in need of supplies let’s connect with each other! Feel free to get in touch with me by clicking on the CONTACT button in the header above. Tell me about your experience this year with supply shortages and what’s going on in your neck of the woods. Hopefully we can help each other!
Don’t worry I’ll keep you updated on my canning lid saga. 🙂 -MM
The Professional Domestic 
Check out Tattlers, they are available and reusable. We have them, and while I don’t recommend using them for meats, if you follow the directions (a little different from Ball and Kerr lids) the results are good.
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I might just try that Kathy. I have never used them but might be a good thing to try for future use. Thank you for the advice. 🙂
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We bought a gross years ago when they had an introductory special at less than half price. I still prefer Ball or Kerr, but they work pretty well, and now we are so glad we have them!
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Wow I’m so sorry this happened to you, hopefully you get a refund 😒 and that’s definitely a good tip for shopping online!
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They have offered me a small refund I am working on a full refund for at least two of the “boxes”
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sorry to rea about the damaged lids. Hope you’ll be able to get a refund.
I also get annoyed when on-line shopping at the number of sellers in China who are listed on screen even when I’ve ticked all the search boxes stating I want sellers only in France. On big platforms like amazon, I will buy from marketplace sellers, but only those that have the amazon guarantee, so I know I can get my money back is things don’t go smoothly.
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It is definitely frustrating! But so far the lids have sealed so I will give them that 🙂
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Sorry that this has happened to you about those lids! I am hoping that when January kicks in, the stores might be able to restock as they did with the bathroom tissue. I have been and are still hunting for the regular and wide mouth lids. I can not even find a company locally in my area that will check the pressure gauges on my canners.
Some stores that are online, will only take orders from customers that have been ordering in the past. New customers are only allowed to buy certain items as I understand. As I have heard. I dont know how much that would be true. I have not tried places like Ball.
I have tried Walmart in person and online. The only thing I could get last weekend were those mainstay brand regular sized canning lids.
Now the supplies for the bathroom tissues is not as severe as they were this past March. thank you for your post and have a blessed day.
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It’s very frustrating isn’t? Amazon said lids would be available to ship but not until November which doesn’t help much. I did put a post out on my Facebook page and I had so many friends and family that responded with their stories of shortages but many of them offered me their own supplies that they didnt need anymore. Thank goodness! Maybe there are some people in your area that don’t need their supplies and would lend or give them to you? I hope next canning season is better!
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I had a similar experience to you, probably purchasing from the same company. There was not as much damage on the lids I received as yours. I got fooled as well. Will you be using the lids that are OK for canning? I do a lot of freezing of soups and spaghetti sauce in mason jars, and know I can use the lids for that purpose. However, I am a bit concerned about using them when I need use a hot water bath and expect the jars to seal. Thanks for any advice you can give. I have been canning for about 5 years and have learned a lot in that time. Never had a problem getting lids before.
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Hi Annie, I did use the lids for hot water bath and they all sealed fine so I am so glad for that. So far the lids have been good. Just was not happy with the company on a business level. I thought it ran a misleading website.
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Thanks for letting me know that the ones used for hot water canning worked fine. I will go through the lids again before use to more carefully check for damage. Only tossed the ones where the bending was obvious.
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You really must read ‘all’ the fine print when shopping on ebay/amazon. Before pushing buy it, look for things like item location, estimated shipping time and sellers rating.
If you have a bad experience you should leave a negative rating for that seller so other buyers can see what type service you received as well as the quality of the product you received.
Happy Gardening
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