I ordered Ball jars off Amazon. I got jars - not Ball - with lids that were so well attached that I had to pry them off. I used the greyish glass jars (not clear like Ball/Mason) and replaced the lids and rings with new because I was desperate by the time they arrived. I'll keep watch during the year at the local stores and skip Amazon in the future.

I would have sent back the ones I got but didn't have time. I found that you have to watch what an independant seller sends you; I've had poor luck with these. Things that come from Amazon warehouse have been OK... so far.

I ordered the jars from Walmart (who is by the way posting some good prices for Ball jars) but am ordering rings and lids on Amazon. I think if they are from a 3rd party but are 'sold by Amazon' one can return them without too much trouble. But I would really like to know whether these off brand lids work or not without having to experiment too much myself so I'm just asking around to see how others have fared.

During the lid shortage I spent a great deal of time reading the reviews of the counterfeit Ball lids sold on amazon and other off brand lids sold and they were horrible.
I have 5 boxes of a brand called Empire large mouths given to me and last spring my first two batches of Asparagus lost 5 seals, changed to ball with no lost seals. I compared the lids to Ball and found the rubber on the Empire wasn't as wide or thick as Ball. I don't even know if the seals are BPA free. Who knows what those knock off lids use, if it's safe and will the button pop back up if the seal is lost. I have a bunch of golden harvest lids and the button won't pop back up, I still use them but I always check for good seals since the buttons will lie.
Here's a brand and seller on amazon named Homyplaza to use as an example, which started selling lids about a year ago. They are scammers selling substandard lids with horrible reviews and will soon end the listing and start a new one with another stupid name. If you must buy lids from Amazon play attention the to seller name, and how long they've been selling lids, and with good reviews. Stupid names are the ones I always avoid no matter the price.

While good reviews can be fake, I have gone ahead and bought some lids of off brand sellers that have mostly good reviews. I will start out canning something inexpensive like pinto beans, and if I get an unacceptable failure level I'll return them.

I've had more fails with Empire and American Harvest. Anchor Hocking has worked, but they came with the jars.

I thought about using Tattlers but from reading some posts of people who have used them, there are people who say they are experienced but have a high failure rate. I realize there is a learning curve, though, but for now I'm just going to use the disposables.

Q. is there a big price difference between Ball lids and the "other" brands?

For me the lids aren't the problem, getting 12oz. jars is.

Yes, a huge difference in price. Many things are made in China and imported because of the difference. (Including, for example, Presto canners).

I've had poor luck with Empire and with Golden Harvest. With Golden Harvest I lost some to bad seals but the Empire actually eroded on the inside top and became black, it looked like mold although I do not know what it actually was that turned the lids black and fuzzy. I now use my remaining stock for the vintage jars I use to store dried beans, rice, cornmeal, etc. as the seal doesn't matter for those.

My DH got some wide mouth lids from Amazon that had no brand on the box or the lids, and they were terrible. About half of them never sealed and others lost the seal when the jar was cooling. Never again.

I stick with Ball and Kerr, with Golden Harvest as an "emergency" alternative because I do get more failures with them.

Annie

Annie, do you remember the name of the seller he bought from?

Lucille, I never knew the name. It was two years ago, just when lids were getting impossible to find, and he thought he got a good deal. I guess he did, they work fine for my jars of dried beans and dehydrated garlic or leeks, for quarts of refrigerator pickles. I don't hesitate to poke a few holes in them for a quick bug catcher for the grandkids and they're fine for freezer jam or a jar of overnight oatmeal or soup that my daughter takes to work in a pint jar and warms in the microwave for her lunch. I just don't use them for canning, LOL.

One of the problems I have with these Amazon sellers is that they use a name, get a bunch of bad reviews and then just pop back up with a new name but the same product. Blech. I do see that right now Amazon has 6 dozen regular sized Ball brand lids (no rings) for $18.76, which is a pretty good buy if you have free shipping, or at least it's cheaper than my local Meijer and/or Walmart.

Annie

I see your point with flybynights getting bad reviews and moving on, but there are a few companies that are getting very good reviews. Yes, they could have hired a lot of people to leave fake positive reviews, or they could actually make good lids. It does not cost much to run a canner batch, if I can some batches of water and have few fails that might mean that these lids are good.

Good luck, I hope you hit the jackpot! Mine seemed to seal at first, then the seals started to go bad, one after another. So, my time was wasted, my product was wasted and all that garden work was wasted. (sigh) Plus, those quarts of sauerkraut smelled TERRIBLE sitting on the shelf, unsealed, before I "sniffed them out" and discarded them.

Annie

I think it is sad that possibly excellent companies in China are at a disadvantage because of the bad experiences people have suffered at the hands of bad companies and then lump all Chinese companies together. I love Presto which is made in China, an example of a good manufacture there.

I'm sad for you too, that you lost all that time and money on a poor product, Annie.

But the points you make are good, and you have a lot of experience. It might not be worthwhile to take a chance on losing food over a bad seal due to sub par materials. Plus I went back and looked more closely at the reviews for one seller and half of them are Vine reviews which means they got the product for free, and as far as I'm concerned that is a paid review.

So I ordered some more Ball lids.

I don't believe you understand China. But anyway Pesto is a public American company headquarter in Wisconsin. They contract manufacturing out to Chinese companies to build their products and to conform with corporate standards including quality control. The other Chinese companies knocking off products have no quality control or even care about quality or safety.

The only brands and companies manufacturing 2-piece lids in bulk that are FDA Approved and Made in the USA are by Newell,/Jarden/Ball. Newell makes golden harvest, Ball Kerr and Bernardin lids. Fillmore also makes generic 2 piece lids in bulk that are made in the USA but unsure if they're FDA approved. They sell in bulk and a sleev of 175 lids (14.5 boxes) cost $29.95 or 17 cents each, or buy 2,800 lids for $449 or 16 cents each.

Websites that sell generic lids claim they're made in the USA get the lids from Fillmore and buy in very large quantities to resell.

There are about a dozen other companies that make a one piece lid that fit canning jars and made in the USA. I almost bought a case to fit regular mouth jars during the lid shortage but really didn't need a case of 1000 for 23 cents per lid. Look familiar? Same lids used on Classico pasta sauce jars.

I don't believe you understand China.

Could be. There's lots I don't completely understand.

The other Chinese companies knocking off products have no quality control or even care about quality or safety.

I don't think making a canning lid is 'knocking off.' I don't think jar tops in general are patented, although some improvements or differences may be.

And there may be Chinese companies that are excellent. I don't think you have looked to see. I don't believe in lumping people together by race, gender, religion, or geography or national citizenship. I'm sad that companies that may be genuinely trying for a good product but may be prevented from doing so by xenophobia.

Is it a total lack of knowledge or political indoctrination that resorts one to make a blanket statement insinuating people will not buy a product from a different country because they are prejudice. Nonsense, the stuff is inferior trash made with inferior material to sell to gullible people thinking they will save a dime. Go ahead and buy the junk, they are calling your name, but I'll buy a product that works well and safe.