How Amazon & AliExpress confused the planner world with their mislabeling of Ring products
I’m going to keep today’s blog short and sweet: there is an issue that I keep seeing come up in the planner community and I want to clear the air so we’re all on the same page: A6 Rings and Personal Rings, are not the same thing. Amazon & AliExpress Sellers may want you to believe that they are, but I assure you: THEY ARE NOT.
In the last year or so there has been an influx of folks purchasing what they are led to believe is an A6 Ring binder. It’s got six rings, the dimensions sound right but when you get the item delivered and go to use A6 Ring inserts, they don’t fit! What gives?!
Unfortunately there is an abundance of Personal Ring planners being labeled as A6 online. I'm not sure who confused it originally, but the trend continues and it leaves insert makers to clear the air.
Personal inserts are 3.75" x 6.75" ---- A6 inserts are 4" x 5.75"
So right off the bat, their respective planner sizes couldn't be the same, but this is further complicated by the placement of the hole punches, which are also not the same.
I’m here to tell you the one fool proof method to make sure you are buying a TRUE A6 Ring planner:
Measure this distance between your inner most rings.
A6 Ring planners have a gap of 1.5 inches.
Personal Ring planners have a gap of 2 inches.
I’d guesstimate that 95% of all A6 Ring planners listed on AliExpress and Amazon are, in fact, Personal Rings. A6 Rings are still a much rarer size than the Personal Ring configuration is, so usually you have to purchase them through small retailers. So if you see a planner online that you think might be your next place for planner peace, ask the seller to measure the distance of those rings for you! It’s the one sure-fire way to know you’re buying the right size.
Some examples of mislabeled products:
YIKES. In fact, the only ones I was able to find that were labeled correctly on Amazon were the leather options from Moterm.
So, I guess the moral of this story is, if you must shop Amazon, shop Moterm exclusively. OR, better yet, support one of my favorite handmade crafters like:
