A market inefficiency like….a Walmart in a populous region that doesnt have a large percentage of the population that does canning winding up with a shelf full of canning lids…..and a Walmart in a rural region where people are known to do quite a bit of canning and be survivalists that has no canning lids in stock.
There’s an opportunity there.
Someone who knew I was interested in lids texted me. The conversation was like this:
Them: Im in a WalMart and they have canning lids…
Me: All of them
Them: They have….
Me: All of them.
Them: How many do you….
Me: All. Of. Them.
(And bring me all your bacon and eggs while youre at it)
And in todays post:
My daughter called me from her Walmart.
Daughter: They have lids here.
Me: how many?
Daughter. 35 dozen. How many do you want?
Me: Is there a limit?
Daughter: Nope. Want them all?
Me: Yes. All of them.
And so I have enough to can my garden produce next summer.
Good for you! they are still in short supply here, and I have shared my stock with friends who needed them to can venison during hunting season. 35 dozen is not as many as it sounds like. I canned 57 quarts of tomatoes alone a couple years ago, That is nearly 5 dozen just for maters.
As I read the post, it reminded me about the Ron Swanson “give me all the bacon and eggs” scene. And, sure enough at the end of the post… 👍🙂
What am I missing, where it is better to pay for postage from Wal-Mart rather than just buy with free postage from Amazon? Is it boycotting Amazon? Not trusting non-brand name?
You’re not asking the right questions. Perhaps the question you should be asking is: were they cheaper than if I had ordered them from Amazon.
I’m seeing the generic lids at 10-18cents each. Yeah, the name brand are insane at 50+ each. Which is why I wondered if it was just generic aversion. Surely, with postage, you can’t beat that?
It would be even cheaper for me to just stamp my own lids out of empty Coke cans and rubber cement but that doesn’t mean its a good idea. I’m not going to risk botulism and hunger because I wanted to save thirty cents by using Made In China canning lids that were stamped from recycled car fenders at People Glorious Stamping Plant #388. I’ll save money when I can, but not on critical things. I’d rather spend and extra couple bucks and have confidence in what I’m doing.
Wrong! It’s Plant #387.
Damn, that is classic snark. Loved it! I only saw one review on the generics saying they sealed good. Which I’ll grant you is no consensus. I haven’t canned since 2018, so I’m missing all the excitement. I don’t disagree on being extra careful, I just had no idea the lower quality.
Didnt mean to peg the snark needle. While I appreciate saving a buck whenever possible, there are some things I think it’s just foolish to compromise on. Yeah, the Made-in-China parachute is $150 cheaper than the one made in the US, but…. and the Made-in-Mexico space shuttle is offering space tourists seats cheaper than Musk and Bezos, but……
Some things it just isnt worth taking a risk to save a few bucks….surgeons, body armour, scuba gear, parachutes, rappelling gear, etc. Canning lids that prevent botulism and starvation are one of them.
How were the bacon and eggs 🥓🍳?
mmmmm bacon
Yeah, my sister bought a bunch of the generic lids from Amazon and returned them after checking them out. Obvious defects, very thin, didn’t want to chance it.
Around here you can’t buy just lids; you have to get them with rings or with jars and rings.
The local stores don’t stock off brand lids except with off brand jars ( and few of them).
The Wal-marts around here I always seem to get golden harvest it’s back in stock but at least they are still a made an American brand so I always try to pick up a gross of lids a.k.a. a dozen boxes every time I see some in stock. At this point I’m going on about six dozen boxes so far. Each box contains a dozen lids so 35 dozen lids isn’t really that many just 35 small lid boxes and only really one small shipping boxes worth. Many people go through that many in a single Canning season. The Walmarts around here typically get one or two flat packs of 36 boxes each when they get a shipment in. As far as the cost of lids on Amazon last I checked it was almost 4 dollars for a box of 12 golden harvest lids and more for ball lids. When Walmart when they have them in stock I can still get the golden harvest lids for under $1.50 a box a price difference that is ripe for flipping.
Just be careful with ANY newly manufactured lids. My bride is on a few canning forums and even the name brand stuff has gotten dangerously thin. Most seem to be okay for water bath canning, but hearing problems with pressure canning and lids buckling…
On last trip to store had left without checking canning shelf,went back and found 4 flats(36 doz) of regular and wide mouth,took 12 doz@. As I was getting mine a lady saw they had some and I asked if she was going to get any? She replied she might get some later and I asked the last time they were in stock? She replied “last year”,took a couple and was quite pleased with herself. I was almost disappointed she didn’t buy more.