By Sarah Vincent Published: Mar 16, 2025 9:04 AM EDT
JOANN Fabrics is closing all 800 locations, and crafters are looking for good deals from its liquidation sales. When I stopped by my local JOANN to check it out myself, every parking spot was full! But in your hurry to stock up on your favorite fabrics and supplies, make sure you don’t fall victim to scams.
Beware of website 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’s easy: As of Wednesday, March 5th, 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’s real website, joann.com, reads: “Due to high demand, we can no longer fulfill online orders. Please see your local store for all your crafting needs.”
Items are still advertised on the website as they were before, but individual listing pages no longer offer an “Add to Cart” button. Instead, a button to “Visit Your Local Store” 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 — but the deals may not be as good as you think. The liquidator selling off JOANN’s assets first raised prices across the board, then reduced them by 20-30% as a “sale.” However, on some items, these “sale prices” are actually higher than the regular price was.
One example: the Brother ST150HDH sewing machine. The JOANN’s website advertises it as $449.05, a 10% sale from its listed price of $499.99. But if you look at the Brother manufacturer website, that same model is listed at $299.99 full price. That means the “sale price” at JOANN’s 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’s 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’s final days, make sure you’re really getting a good deal by searching other retailers before you head to JOANNs to make your purchase.
