Status: NOT Recommended
Spoiler alert: These aren’t leakproof.
In this case, we have a socially conscious concept being utilized to make a defective, more than worthless product. Similar to the Friendly Cup in many ways, this is a Chinese company with shady business practices. Take a look, and make sure you do not buy from Bake Everything!
Why I Purchased These
After getting through a final bag of plastic zip baggies, I knew the conscientious thing to do was to transition to reusable, non-plastic silicone. In the recent Birchbox, I received one silicone seal-shut bag and it is great. The zero waste store near my house was gone (moved, I later learned), so I turned to an online search to find a set.
The average prices for starter sets is about $50-75. But I saw Bake Everything’s 8-piece starter set for $19.99. Even though I just know that it should ring alarm bells, it’s nearly a compulsion that I just can’t resist a deal. I mean, I have to keep working on this. If you click the linked articles above, you’ll note a recurring issue I have, and I bet a lot of people have this issue.
The Trap Is Set
The order was placed on March 12, weeks before the April Buy Nothing Challenge, and I would be amiss to say that this experience didn’t contribute to why I wanted to complete the challenge.
By April 12, when no other purchases were rolling in anymore, I realized I still didn’t have the bags. I wrote to customer service to cancel the order, but they said the only reason I could cancel was for quality. UGGGGGH not this BS again. All these scammy Chinese companies use the same English translations, I swear.
After some back and forth in which they said it had “shipped” and “orders were taking longer because of COVID” – a flat-out lie at this point – I had to give up and eat the $25 cost. Their return policy was not going to let me send them back at their expense, either, just as with all the other Chinese scams.
The Products Are Defective
As it was Buy Nothing April, I didn’t buy replacements at the store, which is what I absolutely should have done in the first place.
Instead, when I received the silicone bags in May, after over 60 days, I decided they looked pretty good so we tried them. The bottom is flat, a feature I genuinely liked when I picked them because they stand up on their own.
Bake Everything is absolutely worthless.
The seals break on the zip tops at the sides, even when they’re totally empty. Your foods will spoil, your toiletries can leak all over your bag, or your makeup will rip open top all the way and spill everything out into your purse.
The Aftermath of the Story
There are two parts to this story that make the whole Bake Everything scene even worse:
- They of course won’t let me return these for being flat out defective pieces of crap. You have to have never opened them and give them an ‘acceptable’ reason for the return, then still pay a shipping fee. They arrive sealed in plastic, to make sure you don’t try to use. (Oh the irony!) That’s just shady business practice, set up by a company who doesn’t stand behind their products for any kind of quality whatsoever.
- I had to order a $70 set anyway, from reputable company Stasher. This was the same company that I discovered in Birchbox, and their one silicone bag is the only one we have right now that actually works. You can really feel the difference in quality, of the bag itself and of the seal.
As a person wanting to reduce waste, I often feel I toe the line between hoarding and a genuine desire to re-use or re-purpose things.
- Could I use them as standup organizing containers for my desk?
- Perhaps I could organize Buddha’s treats, the extra sauce packets, or other kitchen odds-and-ends?
Update: I ended up using them around the house for the most part, to stash things. NOT worth purchasing for this, but it was the best of a stupid situation.
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