Industry Trends

Fillmore Container Review: What I Learned After 3 Years of Ordering (and Messing Up)

Is Fillmore Container Any Good? My Honest Take After Ordering for 3 Years

Look, I'm not here to tell you Fillmore Container is perfect for everyone. Because it's not. I've used them for about three years now, mostly for glass jars and bottles for small-batch hot sauce and skincare clients. I've also screwed up enough orders to know exactly where their strengths end and their weaknesses begin.

If you're Googling "Fillmore Container" wondering if they're legit, or what their catalog actually looks like, here's what I wish someone had told me when I started.

Who is Fillmore Container, Actually?

They're a Pennsylvania-based supplier of glass and plastic containers, lids, closures, and some packaging odds and ends. They sell to businesses—mostly food producers, craft makers, cosmetic formulators. Not directly to consumers, though you can technically order as an individual if you want. Their thing is selection. They stock a pretty wide variety of sizes and styles, which for a small business like mine is kind of a no-brainer compared to hunting down different suppliers for every bottle type.

I first found them in 2022 when I was looking for 8oz amber Boston rounds. My previous supplier stopped carrying them. Fillmore had three different options. That alone was a game-changer at the time.

What Products Does Fillmore Container Offer?

I'm going to be real with you: their online catalog takes some getting used to. It's not the slickest site in the world. But once you figure out how to navigate it, the depth is actually really impressive.

Their core product categories (what I've actually ordered):

• Glass jars – Mason jars, regular mouth, wide mouth, apothecary, Boston rounds, swing top. Sizes from 1 oz to 1 gallon. I've used their 4oz regular mouth jars for honey clients, and the 16oz wide mouth for pickled goods.
• Plastic containers – PET jars, HDPE bottles, some specialty shapes. I don't use plastic much, but I ordered once for a client who needed lightweight shipping containers. Worked fine.
• Bottles – Glass and plastic, including Boston rounds (my go-to), euro dropper bottles, and some cosmetic-specific shapes like the "bullet" bottle for serums.
• Lids & Closures – This part surprised me. They stock a ton of cap styles: continuous thread, phenolic, polycone, dropper caps, sprayers, and even some specialty ones like the "child-resistant" caps for tinctures.
• Packaging supplies – Some bubble wrap, boxes, dividers. Not their main thing honestly, but okay for topping up.

To be fair, they don't carry everything. If you need custom-printed jars with your logo baked in, that's not their lane. They're a stock container supplier, not a custom packaging house. Understanding that limitation saved me a lot of headache early on.

Is Fillmore Container's Pricing Competitive? (With Numbers)

I get why people ask this. We all want a good deal. But here's the honest answer: their pricing is competitive for the variety they offer, not always the cheapest per unit.

I did a price check in September 2024 for 500 cases of 16oz wide mouth glass jars (a common order for me):

• Fillmore Container: roughly $0.75 per jar (before any discount codes)
• Alternative supplier (bulk-focused): $0.62 per jar, but minimum order 1,000 cases
• Smaller local supplier: $0.92 per jar, but you can order 50 cases

So Fillmore sits in the middle. Their advantage isn't rock-bottom pricing—it's that you can order 100 cases of a specific jar without being forced into a massive commitment. For small to mid-size producers, that flexibility is worth the premium.

Also worth noting: they consistently run a discount code. I've seen codes like "FILLMORE20" or "CONTAINERSHIP" pop up. Always worth checking before checkout.

The Biggest Mistake I Made (and What I Learned)

I only believe advice after ignoring it and paying for the lesson. Here's mine:

In January 2023, I ordered 2,400 units of an 8oz Boston round. I saw "case of 12" and assumed dimensions were consistent across all their glass lines. I didn't check the neck finish specification. When the jars arrived, the lids I had ordered separately didn't fit. The neck finish was 38-400, but I needed 33-400. Every single jar was useless with my current caps.

That order cost me about $320 in jars, plus $80 in lids I couldn't return, plus a 2-week delay for my client's product launch. I was not happy. But I also learned something obvious that I'd been too lazy to check: always verify the neck finish spec before buying lids separately.

Fillmore's site actually lists the neck finish on each product page—I just didn't look. My fault. But hey, now I have a checklist for every order. That mistake alone saved me from repeating it on a later $600 order.

How Reliable Are Their Shipping and Customer Service?

Mixed, honestly, but leaning positive. Standard orders ship within 1-3 business days in my experience. Have I received a broken jar? Twice out of maybe 20 orders. One time they replaced it without hassle; the other time I had to send a photo and wait for a response.

Customer service is… okay. Not amazing, not terrible. They respond within 24 hours on email. You can call them too. The person I spoke with when I had the jar/lid fiasco was helpful but couldn't do much about the return since I'd messed up the spec.

If you need something fast, I wouldn't rely on Fillmore for next-day delivery unless you pay for expedited shipping. Standard shipping to the West Coast (I'm in California) takes 4-6 business days.

Should You Use Fillmore Container? A Real Breakdown

Here's where the "honest limitation" thing comes in. I think Fillmore is a great fit for some people:

Good fit:

• Small to mid-size food producers (hot sauce, pickles, honey, jams)
• Craft cosmetic makers (lotions, serums, lip balms)
• Anyone who needs a wide selection of jar sizes without large MOQs
• People who value variety over absolute lowest price

Not ideal for:

• Large-scale manufacturers who need millions of units (go with a bulk supplier)
• Companies needing custom printed/embossed containers (Fillmore doesn't do that)
• Anyone who wants same-day shipping on everything

I honestly recommend Fillmore for most small businesses starting out. But I'd also tell them to double-check their neck finish specs before ordering lids.

How to Verify a DocuSign Envelope ID? (Bonus: Trust Your Sources)

A quick aside that I've seen this question come up when people are signing supplier agreements or contract approvals. If you receive a DocuSign envelope from Fillmore Container (or any vendor), always verify the envelope ID before signing.

Here's how: Open the email, look for the envelope ID (usually a string of letters and numbers like XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX), then go to the official DocuSign website and use their "Access Documents" feature. Enter the envelope ID and your access code from the email. If it doesn't match, do not sign. This is basic security—I learned this the hard way after a phishing attempt last year that looked identical to a real order confirmation.

I've posted a "You Can Do It Woman" poster in my office to remind myself to stay cautious with these things. Honestly, the poster is just a fun decoration now, but the habit stuck.

Final Verdict (Spoiler: I'm Still a Customer)

After three years and a few expensive mistakes, I'm still ordering from Fillmore Container. Their catalog is genuinely useful, the pricing is fair for what they offer, and their discount codes help offset the occasional premium. But I also don't romanticize them. They're a solid option for a specific type of buyer. If you fit that profile, they're probably the best online catalog for what you need.

Just check the neck finish spec first. I promise it's worth it.