How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

This is awful.

As a side note, just to double check since I’m not sure I’m up to date at this point, one of my dolls is on its way now, but it’s from Vietnam, so tariffs should be paused, right?

 

I believe the May expiration of the de minimis only applies to China and HK so you should be good

 

Thank you! I have intense panic (doll and non doll related at this point).

 

Since I can think of at least one Hong Kong-based doll shop... fyi, HK Post has immediately suspended all sea packages to the US, and will suspend all airmail from April 27 (so at that point, all postal packages to the US will no longer be accepted). Of course these days, anything could change at any time; but that is currently what they've announced.

 

So unfortunate…also with this seems that unshipped items to USA will be returned and refunded to sender around the same time. Probably will be a logistics nightmare depending on volume.

Minor silver lining is this currently only affects HK Post, their USPS, so packages can still be sent with FedEx, UPS, and DHL. But they charge additional fees and have higher shipping cost overall. More cost out of pocket for us….

My pre-order is getting more expensive everyday…

 

The preorder due in first was already paid with DHL shipping. So, now I am holding my breath that it doesn't get refunded, and neither do my other dolls. I believe three are EMS, and the only one USPS is from Korea.

I am worried about the EMS ones. I would rather pay for alternative shipping then have my orders cancelled. I can't find any info on EMS halting packages to U.S. Hopefully orders don't get cancelled and dealers and companies are willing to wait this out.

 

Well here we (US) are at tariffs of 125% from China even for $800 and below (or are tariffs higher now?) I think we should report our experiences here to help each other plan what to request from the Chinese sellers. I have been talking to Legenddoll and Space Studio. They both plan to undervalue. Space Studio told me about express shipping, “Oh the express ways. But they dont have custom clearance services like prepaid taxes. So you will need to complete it all by yourself.” I haven’t the experience to understand about prepaid taxes. Can someone fill me in? I’m trying to decide on express vs. regular mail. I know it’s faster but unsure if there are any other advantages. It’s so hard to keep current but I am planning on posting anything I know.

 

That's because we've been sitting on our hands.

I got an unexpected delivery notice for another Chinese package that I hadn't thought I would see for another two months. There were a couple of things I found interesting: The shipping method switched from Fedex to DHL and back again, and it's being routed through Europe instead of across the Pacific. I don't know if that's common for Fedex? Also, the dealer is undervaluing it. Hopefully it will get here before de minimus expires May 1.

Update: It arrived yesterday, no fees due.

 

That's interesting. I did hear that some container ships weren't sailing, but nothing about planes. I could see shipping routes changing on smaller packages like a doll, since they'd normally be with a bunch of other packages. Hope it arrives soon, let us know how it goes for sure.

 

Well i figured now's as good a time as any to place the orders I was looking at. I'm not going to get them before de minimus ends, but the shipping method for one order said it was a tax included option so taxes like tarriffs (smh we don't even have a name like the vat to call them) should be included as far I i understand it? My other order will be from Resinsoul, which came to me via USPS last time I ordered with them, so I'll have to wait and see what happens.

 

I have two dolls preordered from acbjd that won't be ready for at least another month or two, plus a body from NCS and a few outfits. I know I should start setting funds aside for the tarriffs but I don't even know how much since the situation keeps changing...

I decided to ship some doll eyes/clothes I had sitting in superbuy's warehouse, fingers crossed it gets here before may so it can at least be spared from this mess.

I definitely don't feel comfortable placing any other preorders, even though I still have a floating head I wanted to get a body for this year...it upsets me, but I'm already in a hole with my current preorders.

 

I did a thing last night and pre-ordered a Ringdoll from their sale. This was after fully discussing the full details with my boyfriend, who told me to just go for it. At the sale price + shipping + tarrifs and duty taxes = maybe it will come out to about (or more than) the full price doll. I definitely have to set aside some money to save him from customs in 6-9 months.

But who knows? The rules seem to change every day. Come May 2nd, they might roll back the de minimus or cut the tarrifs for another month. Or the entire border will be closed to shipments.

 

I have a Rement order from Hong Kong. 17Track says it shipped. Fingers crossed.
I have many others to worry about though.

 

Just got a package in from Bimong from South Korea and had no fees, however he'd also marked the package value at 50 bucks and as a used doll (also shipped it in a small package rather than the whole shebang most dolls come in since this is from his retirement preorder)... xD; Not sure how helpful that is.

I do have a 1/4 girl from FanFF on preorder though (China-based artist I believe) and will report on how that goes when she eventually ships.

 

Ugh, the tariff situation is gonna slap me pretty hard since I purchase almost all of my dolls from Xianyu—I can NEVER find the dolls I want on the western secondhand market, but they always pop up on Xianyu (gotta play the avoiding recasts game, ofc, but same goes for any secondhand market).

I'm definitely regretting waiting on some sculpts and bodies I've been meaning to pick up for a while now . . . always figured 'lol why rush, I've got time!' Haaa . . .
I grabbed a couple this past week and had them shipped out with DHL Express along with some wigs and eyes I've had sitting around in my Superbuy warehouse for a little while. Just HOPING they'll squeeze through customs before May 1st. I normally wouldn't worry since I generally get my express packages in, like, 4 days, but idk what kinda mess my packages are gonna run into at US customs.

I'm honestly pretty content with the dolls I have (and will be more so once these new boys arrive), but ALL of my doll clothes/wigs/eyes/etc come from either Taobao or AliExpress, sooo . . . Pretty much gonna have to hit the pause button on actually styling my dolls )':
I've spent way too long procrastinating on buying more of those sorts of things, so that's on me I guess ahaha. Just gonna have to actually start sewing for my boys like I've been saying I'm going to do for the past two years now, pff.

 

I wondered this too. Then decided to open a savings/holiday account with my bank and set up an auto transfer for a bit of funds on pay days.

Unless actual magic or a miracle happens I doubt I’ll see my pre-ordered doll anytime this year. But at least I’ll have something set aside for whatever tariffs will be when she ships. And if somehow the tariffs go down then I’ll use the leftovers to buy my dolls some extra eyes and wigs.

 

Is undervaluing normal to do? I ordered my first doll through Denver Doll but my second is pre-ordered through an international dealer. I never pay attention to the paperwork on international packages so I didn’t know thats a thing. But if the doll got lost in transit wouldn’t that mean you don’t get a full refund? Or if the shipping companies or customs wanted extra documentation and see your doll was undervalued to avoid higher fees wouldn’t that cause additional issues and maybe delay transit? With how uncertain things are I’d be scared to undervalue my doll.

 

It's pretty common. You can probably ask your dealer not to undervalue if you'd prefer. If the doll was lost in transit, undervaluing would mean the dealer can only claim the declared value for insurance purposes IIRC. Whether the dealer refunds you in full is a separate issue.

Yes, it can cause problems if customs decides to check on the actual value. It hasn't been an issue in the US before now, but I remember some European collectors getting dinged with more fees when their shipping company decided to check the dollmaker's website.