JOANN store closures spark a massive scam crafters need to know about
Any website that claims to let you place an order for JOANN online is fraudulent.
Any website that claims to let you place an order for JOANN online is fraudulent.
Any website that claims to let you place an order for JOANN online is fraudulent.
JOANN Fabrics , and crafters are looking for good deals from its liquidation sales.
But in your hurry to stock up on your favorite fabrics and supplies, make sure you don鈥檛 fall victim to scams.
Several fake websites pretending to be JOANN have popped up online. These sites look like the real thing and may be advertised to you via social media ads, but they are designed to steal your personal and financial information.
Instead of JOANN's real website, joann.com, these scam sites may have URLs like joann-us.com. They advertise great sales and count on you checking out before you check that the URL is legit.
"I am pretty savvy, but I got suckered in to making a purchase from a fake Joann Fabrics site," one person wrote on Facebook.
"Joann Fabrics close out scam. This is a VERY professional operation with an elaborate website and they use all the 'add on' marketing stuff like little popups showing how many people bought that in the last hour," another person said.
How do you recognize the scam? That鈥檚 easy: As of March 5, JOANN no longer allows online shopping, so any website that claims to let you place an order for JOANN online is scamming you.
A note on JOANN鈥檚 , joann.com, reads: 鈥淒ue to high demand, we can no longer fulfill online orders. Please see your local store for all your crafting needs.鈥�
Items are still advertised on the website as they were before, but individual listing pages no longer offer an 鈥淎dd to Cart鈥� button. Instead, a button to 鈥淰isit Your Local Store鈥� redirects to the store locater page. So if you see a website offering to let you purchase from JOANN online, don't go any further.
Make sure you check clearance prices
JOANN is holding closing sales 鈥� but the deals may not be as good as you think.
The liquidator selling off JOANN鈥檚 assets first raised prices across the board, then reduced them by 20-30% as a 鈥渟ale.鈥� However, on some items, these 鈥渟ale prices鈥� are actually higher than the regular price was.
One example is the Brother ST150HDH sewing machine. The JOANN鈥檚 website , a 10% sale from its listed price of $499.99. But if you look at the Brother manufacturer website, is listed at $299.99 full price. That means the 鈥渟ale price鈥� at JOANN鈥檚 is actually $150 more expensive than the regular price of the machine from the manufacturer.
Additionally, fabric is marked 20-30% off, but the stores have instituted a 2-yard minimum on all fabric purchases. That鈥檚 a much larger quantity of fabric than most projects need. You were previously able to purchase as little as 1/8th of a yard of any kind of fabric.
These deceptive sales are advertised like they are a good deal, but are actually designed to make you spend more than you otherwise would have.
As you stock up on supplies before JOANN鈥檚 final days, make sure you鈥檙e really getting a good deal by searching other retailers before you head to JOANNs to make your purchase.