Dishonest dealers, with as many eBay user ids as there are days in the week, are offering counterfeit, or reproduction, cookie jars on ebay without disclosing that the jars are copies. Unsuspecting buyers are buying the fakes, more knowledgeable collectors and dealers are throwing up their hands in despair, fearing that the values of prized jars will plummet.

The list of fake jars reads like a collector's wish list: the Brush Covered Wagon, Circus Horse, and many Brush jars with gold trim, the American Bisque Sweet Pea and Wilma, the Shawnee Smiley and Muggsy, the Hull Little Red Riding Hood, and lots of great McCoy jars --Cauliflower Mammy, Leprechaun, Boy on a Baseball. (For a more complete list, see the end of this article.)

The risk to the cookie jar community is obvious. A sudden glut of fakes, and serious collectors will be gun shy about buying the real jar. So the only response is to be extremely careful when shopping particularly over the internet, such as the eBay auction site. Eventually, as the fakes stop selling, the fakers will turn to something else and the cookie jar market should recover.

The fake jars are sold by a relatively small number of individuals, many of whom operate under a number of different ids. Often, they list the same jars over and over, every few weeks, so always check the seller's completed auction history before even thinking of bidding.

"Private auctions" -- ones, in which the bidder's identity is not disclosed, appears to be the selling method employed with most of the fake jars. This way, the purchaser can't be warned about the possibility the jar is fake. Although ebay discourages "private auctions" as of yet they are still permitted and are a real risk to collectors.

Another double check is to see if the item, for example, a Hull Little Red Riding Hood, has been on eBay recently. If you search for that item in the cookie jar listings and check both current and completed, you will be astounded at the number of the jars, both real and mostly fake, there have been offered on eBay. As you go through that list, look at how many share a common description also used over and over, and/or a common picture. Look closely at the pictures. Often they reappear time after time. Another trick is to have very dark or blurry images, which really tells you nothing about the jar being pictured.

As far as we have been able to determine, two different individuals operating in Ohio are making the jars. The jars are sold directly to dealers for $35.00. Apparently the dealers in turn sell them over the Internet often for many hundreds of dollars. Many of these dealers are related to one another or share common phone numbers.

Another egregious practice of these dishonest dealers is shilling. These dealers will use different id’s to bid on each others jars, to make them seem legitimate and to drive up the price.

Additional tips to avoid being taken:

Don't bid unless the jar is guaranteed. If you get a jar that is and have doubts once you receive it, insist upon a refund.

Ask for precise measurements. The counterfeit dealers are often vague about the measurements of the jar because they know their merchandise won't measure up!

Look at the numerous references on cookie jars and be familiar with the typical characteristics of the jar. In recent months several Brush jars have appeared with a shiny glaze instead of a more matte finish (The Humpty with the peaked hat and the Chick on Nest). Further, the fakes often are betrayed by little inconsistencies with the original. For example a Brush Circus Horse had opened and painted eyes (the real jar has an unpainted and closed eye.)

Ask the seller questions about how she came to have the jar. Beware of long involved stories about family estates and the like. Those are a set up for the sale of a great volume of fake jars. Take with a grain of salt those who write their product descriptions ungrammatically, hoping the buyer will think he's found an ignorant seller, unaware of the true value of his or her jar. In this day of the Antiques Roadshow, that is unlikely to ever be the case!

Ask questions of the experts. Longtime collectors and dealers who know a great deal and are willing to look at the jar in question, and help you determine whether it is real.

If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Now this is tough, as I, like all other collectors are always looking for the incredible find (and sometimes we do find them, to our great delight!) But when jars worth hundreds are offered with a starting bid of 9.99 with no reserve, ask yourself WHY?

When in doubt, don't buy. There will be another chance for a guaranteed original jar.

List of fake jars on ebay:

Brush:

Circus Horse, Covered Wagon, Hillbilly Frog, Pink Elephant, Squirrel with Top Hat, Formal Pig, Purple Cow, Black Cow, Blue Cow, Peter Pan, Little Boy Blue, Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty with Peaked Hat, Humpty Dumpty with Beanie, Smiling Bear on Wedges, Elephant with Ice Cream Cone (sometimes marked Brush McCoy,) Clown Bust, Donkey and Cart, Chick on Nest, Panda Bear and Cookie House.

American Bisque:

Wilma on the telephone and the other Flintstone jars, Sweet Pea, Olive Oyl, Popeye, Sitting Horse, Mickey/Minnie turnabout (this is an APCO or Leeds jar) and Cowboy Boots.

McCoy:

Little Red Riding Hood (marked McCoy,) Mammy with Cauliflowers, Rooster, Mammy, Leprechaun, Boy on Baseball, Boy on Football, Snow White (marked McCoy,) Dalmatian, Jazzman, Amazing Grace, Chef, Clown Bust, Dog in House, and Chairman of the Board.

Hull: Little Red Riding Hood and go-withs.

Advertising: Keebler Tree House

Shawnee: Sailor, Smiley, Puss 'n' Boots, Muggsy.

Lane: Sheriff

Regal: Goldilocks (marked Brush McCoy)

Twin Winton: Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy