Some additional commentary: http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/2018-09-18-how-would-trade-tariffs-affect-star-wars-toys/
Resurrecting this thread because it's going to become relevant again. There was some discussion in the profile updates here about it. I've been at multiple toy conventions in the past month and everyone I have talked to who makes something overseas is very concerned about the impact.
I'm not worried about it on something small scale like vinyl toys, Manufacturing in China is criminally affordable and a soft vinyl toy is probably declared 10 dollars. If there is an extra cost of 20% in tariffs, you are probably talking about an extra couple of dollars a figure. Sure some makers might try to scam you and say they have to charge 20% more at retail, but the reality is is they raised their price by a few dollars a figure it would absorb the cost of the tarrifs.
20% feels optimistic. According to different sources, they could be up to 40% or even 60% on Chinese goods. Vietnam and Japan are also in the incoming administration's sights. (Sources: "people are saying...")
Figure it'll squeeze some of us out of the hobby, but for the most part we're all addicts with "disposable" income so we'll keep collecting. It'll probably tougher for parents trying to put presents under the xmas tree next year (we'll see if anyone cares at that point). For me probably means I'll have to focus my collecting even tighter than has been lately. No more random NECA figures.
Broadly imposing tariffs is about as thought out as using light or bleach to end Covid. Make sofubi great again.
This article was timely: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-promises-25-tariff-products-mexico-canada-2024-11-25/ Looks like it will be starting at 35% for imports from China. So, if a company is buying an item at $10 and normally marking it up three times to $30, they are now buying it at $13.50 and marking it up to $40.50. If they normally mark that $10 product up five times to $50, they are now buying it at $13.50 and marking it up to $67.50. Of course, not everyone will want to make compromises like keeping their retail prices lower than their usual markup, or finding another way to eat these new costs. We'll see what happens.
I wonder what the affect will be on third party buying services? Presumably they'll be hit with these as well so will up fees?
I don't see how a Japanese buying service that buys things from Japanese sellers would be affected by American tariffs. If anyone pays a tariff, it's going to be the American customer of the buying service.
Hopefully Japanese imports won’t be hit like those made in China Trump bibles that will cost more for the states mandating they be used in public schools.
Yeah not a tariff expert but presuming these get charged at customs? Gonna suck to get a tax bill along with your package...
I don't know if retail customers like us are going to get charged via customs fees or some other method.
According to google : “In general, customs duties are based on product characteristics, tariffs are fees applied to specific products from specific countries for specific times, and tax rates (VAT/GST) are fixed and calculated on the total value of the product imported into the country.“
Found this useful: https://search.app?link=https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl2,sh/x/gs/m2/4 "In other words, "Buyer, Beware." When you buy goods from foreign sources, you become the importer. And it is the importer - in this case, YOU - who is responsible for assuring that the goods comply with a variety of both state and federal government import regulations." "The importer is ultimately responsible for paying any duty owed on an import. Determining duty can be very complicated, and while shipping services will often give an estimate for what the duty rate on an item might be, only CBP can make a final determination about what is owed. You should not be misled into thinking your purchase price includes duty because the seller cannot say with absolute certainty what the duty will be. As a rule, a purchase price that includes shipping and handling does not include duty or any costs associated with clearing the goods through CBP. First time importers are often surprised by bills they receive for duty, U.S. Customs and Border Protection merchandise processing fee, and something referred to as "customs fees," which are actually charges for the services of the broker who cleared your goods through CBP." At the end of the day I guess it'll depend on how efficient tariff collection is. Whoever is in charge may decide to hunt bigger fish rather than going after small fry toy collectors. I guess the opposite side of that coin is if they end up being severely underfunded it may be easier to hunt one off, small cases than go after large, complicated operations.
I mean… this is not new. DHL and FedEx loved collecting high duty fees from me until I started having the proxies label everything as sample products.
I have never been charged a customs fee, not once, from any shipper, in 25 years of getting things sent here from Japan. Even when I received six big boxes from Marusan a couple of years ago for a show. I wonder why they charged you.
Probably because the items being delivered met a certain criteria, like being above a certain monetary amount. It also has to do with how the shipper fills out the customs forms. Sometimes they wouldn’t deliver a package until I paid. Definitely learned from it and how to avoid it.
This topic has come up before on SB. It depends on the custom form information and also what courier is used. The duty fee minimum is $800 USD but USPS never seems to inspect/apply it for personal imports for any amount. I have been subject to this import duty for imports from third party carriers such as DHL, FedEx for imports both Japan and Europe. Congrats if you have gamed this system for 25 years. USPS seems to be a helpful partner but I wonder for how much longer?
Welp I just got my Zenmarket order via DHL rejected by customs. I’ve never had this happen before. It’s not a particularly expensive package. Zenmarket sat on the packed for a long time before shipping it. Not sure what is going to happen next. Was supposed to show up tomorrow ( Xmas eve).
I’m curious if this is some sort of F the US because of the tariff threats. Honestly the only reason I decided to due an order now was to avoid all the stupid shit that’s about to pop off politically/economically but maybe I’ll get it anyway.
It could have been rejected for mundane reasons, like the package was damaged, or the customs form was incomplete, or their assessment of the size/weight or contents of the package didn't match the form. Hopefully Zenmarket can send you a picture of the rejection notice. Catching up with a friend at one of those toy companies I mentioned, right now it is a scramble for their Chinese factories to get as much as they can into shipping containers by the beginning of January. They're also looking into ways of getting tooling made in China and then sent to Vietnam via rail.
