Everything is always shrinking. I was sick last week & bought a few boxes of tissues. I still had one box from my previous stash & noticed that the new box was 75 tissues & the older box was 80. Wonderful Great Value brand!

Our local Walmart is showing in stock, 16.49 for 12 1 qt wide mouth Ball. Fred Meyer 15.44 for the same but they are 45 miles away. I'm seeing my SIL on Thursday and she will pass there on her way to meet me - but I don't need quart jars this year. I still have several 1 1/2 pint jars that I'll use for peaches and pears and seldom need larger any more - if I'm canning its for two of us. I'm sorry you are finding them higher your location.

What I treasure are a case of 10 oz jars my neighbor gave me she got when working at the oyster farm. They are a perfect size for salmon or tuna for two 😊

I really dislike the weird new sizes for things. Especially if it is something I use in a recipe. Then I end up with 2/5ths of a can of something I rarely use.

Another pet peeve is when the same item is packaged several different ways and the unit price is different for each. In one per hundred count in another per pound etc… Plus some items are permanently on sale so the unit price listed is for the theoretical regular price. Today I went out with my mom. I went into Walgreens to buy something for her. I knew what size and which of several possible variations she uses. There were multiple variations within the brand with different packaging and random different quantities per package. All on sale for various 2 for prices. Limited quantities of each. Figuring out which was the best deal was a pain.

Doing the math, the jars are all $1.50 apiece in both quantities.

What was the price last year?

That's the best price I've seen here, too, $1.50 apiece for wide mouth quarts with two-part lids. Maybe better at a farm supply or commercial kitchen supply store? Or a mom and pop hardware store with last year's prices?

Blain's Farm and Fleet farmandfleet.com $12.59 regular mouth for 12, wide mouth $13.49 for 12, you have to buy more than $79 for free shipping and be a Rewards member which is free. I ordered jelly jars from them this year and shipping took about a week, everything arrived perfect no broken jars. Walmart has regular mouth quarts $15.44 for 12. Also I bought Superb lids for the first time this year and like them, superbsealing.com, 10% off your first order if you are a new customer.

Just for grins I looked around the web a bit, and found the same price differences you mentioned finding locally. As Lucille implied, the best prices for a dozen is significantly better than for 8-packs, but prices lower than about $1.38 apiece are probably making up the difference in shipping prices, which, of course, are built in with local or most free shipping. What was eye opening were the prices at commercial trade retailers. I found bulk prices like double-ish Walmart. If your snack shop is using jars, don't trust your suppliers! They're charging the we don't want to trade in glass prices! Good luck in your quest.