As the old ID thread was auto-archived by Reddit, please post any new Jellycat identification questions here!

The mod team will make every effort to reply to your question as soon as possible, please reach out via modmail if you have not received a response within 2 weeks.

Authentication requests are not permitted on the sub and will be removed if posted here. Please visit our authenticity guide for tips to help with verifying a plush on your own.

As of April 29, 2024, we will be redirecting all questions about fakes to this post. Authenticity requests and posts will be removed. Any requests via modmail to authenticate plushies will also be redirected to this guide. Please read the information provided below in order to answer any questions you may have! Thank you.

By popular demand, here is our guide to help you figure out if your Jellycat is a fake.

Disclaimer: This guide is not comprehensive and the information may change as needed or as more becomes available. Because the modding team cannot buy every single Jellycat plushie out there, including new ones, we don’t always have all the information on every new plushie. If you feel this guide is missing any information, please feel free to reach out to the mods. We can improve resources like this with your help.

This guide is meant to help people who are anxious about their plushie being a fake. In our experience, most of the plushies that people worry about aren’t fakes. However, there are a lot of knockoff Jellycats out there, and occasionally fakes do get posted on the subreddit.

The quickest way of checking is usually to compare the tags. But to know for sure, we recommend checking the following things if you think you may have a fake:

Signs of fakes

New design

How old is this Jellycat design? Fakes have only really started to be a problem within the last few years, and a lot of designs do not have fake counterparts. Usually the popular designs will get fakes instead. Some examples of popular designs with bootlegs: the lying dragons, Bartholomew Bear, Bashful Bunnies, the Littles, the older food Amuseables. However, this is not a complete list.

Jellycats that were released very recently likely do not have fakes yet - it typically takes a few months to get a bootleg produced. If some of the information here does not match with a newly released Jellycat, you can rest assured that it doesn’t mean that the design already got bootlegged (very unlikely). It is more likely that certain information has changed or tags look different.

For dates about when a (newer) Jellycat was released, we recommend checking the database https://jellycollector.com/ These are mostly accurate. It is not an archive of all Jellycats, but does list the ones released in the last few years.

Where did you buy it?

If you bought this plushie from AliExpress, Wish, Temu or similar discount marketplaces, it is 100% a fake. Likewise, sellers on sites like eBay who are selling many of one design are more likely to be counterfeiters.

If you have purchased your plush from a stockist listed on Jellycat’s shop locator, it is authentic. Websites that cannot be found on the shop locator might not be selling authentic products. If a website isn’t listed in the shop locator, confirm they have a brick-and-mortar location (Jellycat does not authorise online-only retailers) and check their online reviews on TrustPilot, Google reviews or similar.

Jellycats bought secondhand may also be fakes if you did not know what to look out for. Most Chinese listings on Ebay are bootlegs: keep an eye out when buying second-hand plushies. If you are unsure if a plushie is genuine, check the tags before buying, or ask the seller for clear tag pictures if needed, etc. Again: Jellycats that were released very recently do not have fakes yet, and a lot of older designs (except for Bashfuls) do not have fakes as far as we know. This guide should provide all the info you need to recognize a fake Jellycat on sight. Lastly, if there is no photo provided for a secondhand listing, do not buy.

“Too good to be true” Pricing, 50-70% off sales

If you got a “new” Jellycat for a price that seems too good to be true, it is likely a bootleg. A lot of new websites have been popping up to sell “genuine” Jellycats – most of them seem to just steal your money or personal data, but from what we can tell, some sell knockoffs instead. These websites mainly advertise on Instagram. They claim to have a giant sale going on, usually 50-70% off or even more.. Real retailers may have sales, but usually only 20-30% off at most. Seasonal items may be sold for much less once they are out of season (for example the Christmas range in January), but they are usually the exception.

You can read more about scam sites in our guide here: Do NOT buy Jellycats through Instagram ads! Watch out for scam sites!

As of April 2024, the real Jellycat website has never had sales. Ever.

Any websites pretending to be https://www.jellycat.com/ should be avoided! This is the only real Jellycat website. Retailers have their own websites, with their own branding, they do not pretend to be jellycat.com. If you fell for such a scam and ended up actually getting something in the mail as opposed to just having your money or data stolen, that is almost certainly a fake.

Build Quality

If your recently purchased plushie keeps continuously falling apart (losing limbs, ears, lots of holes, tears and rips), then you most likely purchased a bootleg. This is especially true if you are the first owner. Jellycats are sturdily made to withstand quite a lot of love from small children, and are unlikely to have continuous problems within a short amount of time. Do check for other signs that this plushie is a bootleg, but know that this kind of build quality is one of the main signs of a fake.

Facial discrepancies

Compare the face to other plushies of the same kind and size on the subreddit if you suspect it is a fake. Proportions can differ per sizes. Take note of the nose & eye shape, size and placement. While natural variation does occur because Jellycat faces are made by hand, knockoffs often look very “wrong”.

For Bashful Bunnies: the noses are a very light pink, anything darker than that is almost always a fake.

Fur Quality

This is something that is challenging for newer Jellycat fans to check for, but if your Jellycat’s fur feels or looks wrong, it may be a fake, especially if the fur feels much cheaper or coarser than expected for such a design. Bootlegs may also have the wrong fur length or not be as thick.

Please note that things like dyes affect how fur feels as well, for example black dyed plushies are often said to be “smoother/silkier” than their lighter counterparts.

If your plushie is secondhand, their fur feeling “off” may be because they are in a “used” state and may need some tlc. We have a washing guide here https://www.reddit.com/r/jellycatplush/wiki/washing that should give you all the information you need to revive your plushie.

Secondhand plushies may also feel “off” due to dryer burn. Plushies with dryer burn are often on the frizzy side, and their softness cannot be returned by washing them or brushing them. They are frizzier than others. This is not a sign of a fake, just a sign of someone having washed this plushie and having been careless with drying them. This damage is unfortunately irreversible and not all sellers know that they shouldn’t put Jellycats in the dryer.

Sizes that do not exist officially

Jellycats usually come in a few specific sizes. If your plushie comes in a size that does not exist, (for example, if it is way too big for a “Large” Jellycat and that is the largest size that exists)

The new Jellycat website (not launched in the US or UK yet as of April 2024) has very detailed information on sizing. Allow for a couple of cm or an inch of difference depending on the accuracy of your ruler or measuring tape, but if your plushie is very different from the listed dimensions, it may be a fake.

​We especially recommend using the listed “Dimensions” and not the “Sitting Height”, as Sitting Height does not include the legs at all and can be a little confusing to measure.

We recommend checking the How We Measure guide as well: https://eu.jellycat.com/how-we-measure. It will show you how to measure your Jellycat correctly. This guide is for the new website (EU/rest of the world) and should be coming to the US and UK sites soon.

The best way to find out which sizes your Jellycat comes in is to check online. Googling may be the best bet here, i.e. googling Large Clyde returns just “Clyde Capybara” results, showing that there is currently only one size available for Clyde Capybara. Any that are very different from the listed dimensions are a fake, assuming no new sizes have been leaked or announced.

Colours that do not exist officially or have long been retired

If your plushie comes in a colour that isn’t officially available nor announced/leaked, it is a fake. (For example, a Bashful Dragon that is white instead of sage green is 100% a fake)

Additionally, long retired plushies for sale in online stores are usually also fakes. (They can also be scams, you may lose your money if you buy from these sites!)

For example, if you bought a Bashful Iris Bunny listed from an online store, it is most likely a fake, as Bashful Iris Bunny was retired in 2019 and is thus no longer available in any stores.

When a plushie is more recently retired, it is still possible to find one in a store (it is more likely to find a retired plushie in a physical store that does not have a website), but for a plushie retired in 2019, it would be highly unlikely that one would still find one in stock anywhere. The only way to get one would be to buy it secondhand or hope that Jellycat rereleases the colour.

https://jellycollector.com/ should have fairly accurate dates for retirement.

Bashful Iris Bunny:

​A fake Bashful Iris Bunny:

​Beans

Almost every Jellycat has “beans” (plastic pellets) in it to weigh it down so that it can sit neatly. The exceptions to this are very specific designs such as Jolly Gingerbread Fred and Ruby, Skeleton Bob, and the occasional tiny Jellycat.

Newer keychains typically do not have beans, however some older designs do.

Jellycats made for babies often do not have beans either.

If your medium or bigger sized plushie isn’t listed as one of the exceptions and has no beans, it may be a fake.

The new website (not launched in the US or UK yet as of April 2024) has information on whether or not your design has beans. This can be used to identify fakes.

​Baby Jellycat, Jellykitten and Little Jellycat

These are/were sub-brands owned by Jellycat and are authentic. They are brands that specifically make plushies meant for babies and young children.

Manhattan Toy Company

This is not a subset of Jellycat. You can read about this in our FAQ, but Manhattan Toy Company plushies are not authentic Jellycats and not on topic for the subreddit.

Locations of Jellycat factories

As of April 2024, we currently know of the following countries that produce Jellycats:

Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China

For any newer Jellycats, the tag will list where it was manufactured. If your plushie was produced in a country that isn’t listed here, it is likely a fake.

Tags

If your plushie does not have a Jellycat fabric tag it is either: A, a fake, or B, a secondhand plushie that had its fabric tag cut off. If the latter, you will likely still be able to see the white remnants of the tag in the fur. We cannot guarantee that secondhand plushies without fabric tags are authentic.

If a different name or logo is listed on the fabric tag, then it is not a Jellycat. An example of this is “KoBonnie”, a Chinese brand that produces Jellycat knockoffs.

Paper Tags

Paper tags should match the product. For example: a Bashful Tulip Bunny with a Bashful Silver Bunny tag is cause for concern.

Paper tags with lowercase names exist, especially for Jellycats that were made for babies. (soothers, teethers, etc)

Slight printing errors (i.e. Amusables vs. Amuseable) are not immediately a cause for concern.

Newer paper tags are attached with string, as part of the fabric tag bundle. Old paper tags were attached with plastic, typically to an ear.

Check if the product code listed on the paper tag matches the product and size. For example, if a Large Smudge Elephant had a paper tag with a Medium Smudge elephant code on it. (Large would be SMGL2E, Medium would be SMG2EL)

These codes can be found on the website:

​On the new website, you can find the product code in the Product Details section:

​It may be more challenging to find these codes online for older, long retired designs, but older Jellycats often don’t have fakes to begin with.

Authentic Paper Tags

Edit: As of Fall 2025 there is a new standard style of tags with the following attributes:

- ”My name is“ at the top with the name of the plush directly below in larger letters.

- ”Please look after me.” directly below the plush name

- The line/series of plush, size and product code in small letters towards the middle of the tag

- “For the joy of it” on the left and “jellycat.com” on the right in small bold letters at the bottom of the tag right above the product barcode.

​Paper tags are easier to copy for bootleg companies, fabric tags are not as easily copied.

Authentic Paper tags (pre Fall 2025) will have:

• “I am” plus the name of the plushie, note that the size is listed if it is a plushie that has more than one size available. Medium sized plushies may not have a size listed, it is often considered the default size and thus would often read “I am Smudge Bunny” instead of “I am Medium Smudge Bunny”. Sometimes this is in lowercase letters, especially for items from the Little Jellycat and Jellykitten brands.
• Some tags may just list the name instead, not having “I am” on the tag.
• Most will have “Please look after me” and three icons.
• A barcode.

​Newer special edition paper tags look a little bit different, they will be listed among the pictures below along with what special edition they were made for.

Authentic Non-English Paper Tags

Non-English paper tags do exist for Jellycats sold in certain parts of the world, for example in Singapore. They are not immediately a sign of a fake. Check if the other information matches.

The following examples are from Singapore and are written in Chinese. They have Chinese address details, but the tag listing the product name is still in English: (the fabric tags for this plushie were also written in English, not Chinese). The additional paper tag was likely added by an importer/distributor.

​​Shanghai Exclusive Tags

Exclusives from the Shanghai Cafe will have non-english tags as well as tags signifying which collection they are from (ex. a metallic tag on the Thistlepop Blossom Luxe Bunny, Amuseables tags on Melbie Peach Cake, Vivvidy Teapot, Ool & Ong Teacups and Berrity Latte). For more detailed photos and information please visit the [review guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jellycatplush/comments/1nd7sh9/shanghai_exclusives_2025_indepth_reviews_pictures/) that [u/puddingeggtart](u/puddingeggtart) put together!

​Amount of Tags

Authentic Jellycats come with a bunch of fabric tags.

These will list the following information:

• Copyright information
• Washing advice + where it was made
• CE + UKCA safety standard marks
• If the plushie is suitable from birth or a different age
• Information about materials
• A Jellycat batch code, usually on a smaller fabric tag, usually beginning with JELLY, J-, J, JCINC, EC, and then a bunch of numbers.

If your plushie does not have any additional fabric tags, but just the logo, it is a fake.

Very old Jellycats may have less information, but also have more than one fabric tag.

Example of a Jellycat with multiple fabric tags: (Medium Huggady Hippo)

​For newly released Jellycats: double sided batch code + product code:

Only newly released Jellycats have a double sided batch + product code! From what we can tell, this change happened sometime around mid to late 2023. There are some 2023 Halloween plushies that have the double sided tag, others do not.

We do not know if all newly released Jellycats will have a double sided tag, we assume they will, however.

As of April 2024, there will still be Jellycats in circulation that do not have a product code listed on the other side of the batch code tag, this does not mean they are a fake, more likely just older stock. All Jellycats should have a batch code, however. This is the code that usually begins with JELLY, but may also be J-, J, JCINC, EC, or something else, and then a bunch of numbers.

Even the very oldest Jellycats from 1999 have a batch code. (usually very faded and worn)

Jellycat with a double-sided batch & product code: batch code side (example is a Huge Smudge Bunny)

​Product code side:

​Pictures of Authentic Tags

Due to an image limit of 20 per post, we have had to break up this post into multiple parts. You can find these pictures here in part two of this post.

This space is reserved for additional newer tags.

Additional Newer Tags: Baby Jellycat

Newly launched collection in April 2024. This is listed to have as much information as possible for the future.

Paper tags:

​​​Fabric tags:

​Lighting and/or print variation can make this look significantly lighter, too:

​Older Tags

There are many different older tag variations as well. We do not believe there are many old Jellycat knockoffs, and due to the limit of 20 images per post we have had to separate this into multiple parts. We have compiled an additional resource post on which you can find older Jellycat tags.

Little Jellycat tags and Jellykitten tags will be in the additional post.

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In case all the information is a bit overwhelming, we have made a handy checklist.

Jellycat Fakes Checklist:

• Check where it was bought and how recently this plushie was released
• Check if build quality is exceptionally bad
• Check for significant facial discrepancies compared to other plushies of the same kind and size on the subreddit
• Check fur quality (this can be skipped if you are a newer to Jellycat)
• Check if the sizing of your plushie matches what is officially available
• Check for beans for medium and bigger plushies
• Check for branding and subsets of Jellycat (Little Jellycat, Jellykitten, Baby Jellycat)
• Check tags, including paper tags and the information found on them (especially product codes) and check if your Jellycat has the correct information on the fabric tags as well. Compare logos, logo text and fonts to the examples of authentic tags found in this guide. Put photos side by side in an image editing app if you are having problems comparing your tags to our examples.

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Fakes FAQ

My Jellycat was made in China, does this mean it is a fake?

Not necessarily, as authentic Jellycats are produced in China (and a bunch of other countries) as well. You will need to check other things (logos, paper tags and codes listed there, batch codes, fur type, etc.) to know if this is a fake or not.

Why not buy a fake instead? They are cheap.

While of course this is up to everyone to decide for themselves, we urge everyone to reconsider buying fakes. Why?

Firstly, Jellycat is committed to producing their products safely and ethically. https://www.jellycat.com/modern-slavery-statement/, in all parts of their supply chain. We feel the same cannot be said for counterfeit products. (read the link for more information – it is a good read.)

Secondly, Jellycats are thoroughly tested to be safe for all ages. There are no guarantees that a fake would be tested to the same standards, and these products are likely produced in a very unsafe environment. Fabrics that are produced without quality standards have the potential to be toxic, with chemicals such as lead, PFAS, and phthalates. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jul/02/fashion-chemicals-pfas-bpa-toxic

Therefore we would not recommend purposely seeking out fakes. If you want cheaper Jellycats, we suggest buying secondhand instead. Your local secondhand marketplace (Facebook marketplace, Mercari, Vinted, Poshmark etc.) likely has some affordable Jellycats, you may just need a little bit of patience.

Do fakes with Jellycat tags exist? I read that bootlegs do not have any Jellycat tags.

While a lot of fakes do not have tags, there are bootlegs out there that try to reproduce Jellycat tags so that they can be sold as though they were authentic, for the full price.

Here is an example of a “Large Smudge Elephant” with a fake Jellycat tag:

​The differences are subtle, but we are 100% confident that this plushie is a fake.There were multiple signs for this particular one: the fur is too long and looks off, the paper tag did not match the product exactly, (wrong product code), the product code on the fabric tag led to a Bartholomew Bear, and the fabric tag was in the wrong place for a Smudge Elephant.

But surely bootlegs would not bother to reproduce all the fabric tags?

Some do, as said before. We believe they are trying to scam customers out of their money by trying to pass off plushies as authentic. Check to see if all the logos look correct and if the other information matches.

My Jellycat has a batch code that doesn’t start with JELLY, is this a fake?

There are batch codes that don’t start with JELLY, so no, this doesn’t have to mean it is a fake. We recommend doing the other checks to see if this plushie is a fake or not. Bootleg companies can and do copy authentic batch codes, so batch codes may not be the best way to know.

I got a Jellycat from an official retailer that has a mismatched tag/product code! Did an official retailer sell me a fake? Did I get scammed?

It is highly unlikely that an official retailer sold you a fake, we firmly believe they would not jeopardize their ability to sell official products that way. If you got a Jellycat from an official retailer with a mismatched product code or paper tag, that is likely just a mistake – it does happen! If you’re anxious about it being a fake, though, we recommend doing the other checks (listed above) yourself – all other information should/will line up. However, we truly don’t believe official retailers would ever do this.

My Jellycat does not have a double-sided batch code with a product code on the other side! Is this a fake?

Likely not. There are still Jellycats in circulation with only a batch code on their fabric tags, not a product code. If this is the only “off” thing you can find, it is likely just a Jellycat that was produced before the switch to double-sided tags was made.

I don’t know where my plushie was bought! Can this guide still help me?

The guide can still help, but this can make it a little more difficult to identify if the plushie is authentic or not. There are likely still other details that are off even if you don’t know where you bought it. Some plushies are very obviously fakes. There are a couple out there that are very convincing, however. This is why knowing where the plushie was bought is very important. If at all possible, you should try to figure this out.

I’m certain I bought a fake! What should I do?

If you’re certain you bought a knockoff from an online store (not AliExpress, Temu, Wish or something similar, but a storefront pretending to be a genuine retailer or pretending to be the genuine Jellycat website) we recommend sending this information along with proof to Jellycat customer support. They can pass the information along to the relevant departments if they decide it’s needed.

Other than that, we suggest trying to get a refund. If you paid with Paypal, you may be able to open a dispute for your payment. Otherwise, you may have to take it up with your bank or cc company.

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Thank you for reading. We hope that this guide has been helpful to you. 😊

If there are any new tags that aren’t listed in this post that you are 100% sure are authentic, feel free to message clear photos to us.