People love to shop on Amazon. It’s convenient, the variety of goods is seemingly endless, and the shipping is lightning-fast. But what few people realize is just how many counterfeit products there are on Amazon, including fake Ball® Mason Jars.
To help you ensure shoppers are buying the items they think they’re buying, MasonJars.com put this at-a-glance guide together. If you have any questions, be sure to drop them in the comments below!
Analyzing an Amazon Listing
Seeing as 81% of American households make at least one annual purchase on Amazon.com, we’re confident you’ve probably seen an Amazon listing before. But have you ever investigated who is actually selling the product? How about the brand?
Take a look at this listing for Regular Mouth Mason Jars. The jars in the pictures are clearly Ball®, right? Sorry to say, they’re not. This real Amazon listing is one of many examples that mislead and outright lie to consumers.
To make sure you know what you’re buying, let’s break down this listing.
First, let’s look at the brand. It’s located below the product title. Does the brand on the listing match the photos? No.
Clicking on the brand Peaknip will lead to a general page without any brand-specific information.
We now know that these jars are not Ball® brand, which also means you need to watch out for misleading information. For instance:
- Ball® Mason Jars are NOT microwave-safe.
- This type of Ball® Mason Jar is NOT freezer-safe.
Next, let’s look at the seller. Seller information is located in the “buy box.” These jars are sold by Goods For Your Home. Goods For Your Home is owned by a company called LOBO USA. If you look up their business address on Google Maps, it takes you to a Staples in Menlo Park, California.
Now, let’s look at the real Ball® store on Amazon. You’ll be greeted by a well-developed brand page.
Remember, Ball® does not sell directly to consumers, so this brand page shows products from Ball®-approved resellers.
Here is what an approved reseller’s listing looks like:
The Ever-Persistent Problem of Fake Products
While Amazon offers a wide variety of great products, it has a growing problem. There are so many products on the e-commerce giant’s site that their marketplace has become hard to police for third-party sellers. The biggest problem is, many shoppers don’t even realize it’s an issue.
A major Wall Street Journal investigation found that Amazon lists thousands of banned, unsafe, or mislabeled products. From expired food and dangerous children’s toys to knock-off clothing and electronics with faulty parts, it’s become such a significant problem that even Homeland Security weighed in, stating:
At present, many consumers remain uninformed as to the risks of buying counterfeit and pirated products online. These risks are both direct to them (e.g., tainted baby food), as well as indirect (e.g., sales revenues can fund terrorism).Many consumers are also unaware of the significant probabilities they face of being defrauded by counterfeiters when they shop on e-commerce platforms. As this report has documented, these probabilities are unacceptably high and appear to be rising.
Shop Safe. Don’t Buy Fakes.
Give yourself the time to shop safely and mindfully, especially when it comes to buying something you may store your food in. When you’re on Amazon, take the time to look at the brand and seller. Just keep in mind that the seller can change when you change the color or size of an item.
Be sure to navigate down to the reviews as well and look at them carefully. While Amazon blocked 250 million fake reviews in 2023, there are still innumerable fake reviews left on product pages.
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