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How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

Nov 9, 2024

    1. Just a heads up regarding FedEx - they tend to send their customs bill after you've already received the package. They prepay all customs fees/tariffs/taxes themselves to get the package to you swiftly and catch up with the fedex-to-customer bureaucracy later meaning you might get a bill from them like two weeks to a month later (or months... in some cases) if there was anything to pay. My experience has been in Europe but some US pals had a similar billing experience pre-tariff chaos so I thought I'd mention it here just in case.
       
      • x 19
    2. Thank you for that heads up!!
       
      • x 2
    3. Has Denver Doll posted anything about how tariffs will be handled? I have a Doll Leaves head I ordered from them in February.
       
    4. I haven’t seen anything. (I have Tianba eyes ordered.)
       
    5. Small update that might be useful to somebody: I just got a small package from Dollmore, from their eBay store. It had been shipped via Rincos, a Korean (I think) delivery service, and passed off to USPS. Arrived with no fees due. I think Dollmore has added tariffs into their shipping costs.
       
      • x 2
    6. @Alewife Dollmore is from South Korea, the the de minimis exemption still applies although it recently went from $800 to $150.

      I received a doll from them last month when it was still at $800, and paid nothing. They added nothing to my shipping at that time. Depending on the cost of your package it might have still fallen under the exemption.

      From what I read toys are still exempt from South Korea, so dolls and doll related stuff would possibly fall into toy exemption, now matter how expensive and as much of a collector item are 'toys' can be.
       
      • x 7
    7. @RabbidBunnies you're right, I forgot about de minimus still applying in some cases. I'm so confused *_* :lol:
       
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    8. @Alewife Yes! Especially because it keeps changing every week! It's got my mind in a whirlwind! :XD:
       
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    9. I was hoping to just not buy anything for a good while...but ringdoll is rereleasing frankenstein. anyone have experience with alice's collections recently? I haven't used them in a few years (but had a good experience back then) and they're currently claiming no/minimal tariffs.
       
      • x 3
    10. The Shipping Co. Alice's collections used to send my DV Moth circumvented any customer tariff charges to me, also I was not charged any shipping or anything by Alice's.
       
      • x 5
    11. @nocchios I received a doll from them on Friday. I paid no tariff charges.
       
      • x 3
    12. I receive another EMS package from South Korea today. It had security check stamped on the box but it didn't look opened. COO is KR of course. No tariff collected and arrived within 5 days.
       
      • x 4
    13. SpeedPAK / eBay update

      The good news, the wig I ordered off of eBay arrived today, no tariffs owed. In the tracking it showed that export customs had been processed, there was no update on imports.

      Neutral news: the wig is now listed $7 cheaper from when I bought it. This seems to reflect the current lower tariff now versus the higher tariffs when I had bought it (possible that the listing just hadn’t been updated yet).

      The sad news, the wig is adorable but seems to have been mislabeled the wrong size. It’s too small for both of my dolls with 6-7” heads.
       
      • x 6
    14. I received a package from Thailand today for a 13cm doll. Also some kips from Taiwan. No tariffs and both came USPS.
       
      • x 4
    15. I just ordered a few things from AliExpress, including a backdrop that was $19 shipping, but said import fees included, so...we'll see what happens!
       
      • x 4
    16. Well, the body I ordered from Resinsoul arrived today apparently (I used my parents' address when I placed the order because I wasn't sure if I'd be moving). It was sent UPS, or at least has a UPS ground label from the picture my parents sent me. At this point, I'm assuming there wasn't an additional tariff charge, because neither of us got any kind of notice about it. The box does have an additional label with a QR code and a line specifically saying made in China. The package I got from them in February was sent EMS/ USPS, and while it has a similar label, that one does not include the line that it was made in China. I won't be able to stop my parents to pick it up for a few days, but I'll check the labels affixed to the box more then to see what kind of information is on those. I'm guessing it did go through customs inspections, because it has additional red tape on it than the packing tape.
       
      • x 5
    17. Fwiw the figures I ordered from Hobbylink Japan arrived just fine with no tariffs a week ago, HLJ put country of origin as Japan for anyone curious despite the figures being manufactured in China. On the other hand, the nendoroid I pre-ordered from Good Smile USA last year still hasn't been imported yet apparently, despite releasing in Japan end of April. So delays in that sphere are definitely still a thing.

      Back on topic, one way the tariffs are affecting me is that I decided not to order eyes for one of my dolls from a company based in China because I don't want to have to figure out if de minimis is still gonna be in effect when they ship; someone local has some I can hopefully buy instead. But it is definitely still affecting my decision making in this hobby.

      On the other hand I'm starting to have the itch to get (off topic again though, oops-) ob11 clothes from aliexpress (obvs only legit stores, nothing recast-adjacent) where a lot are available and I've caught myself looking into info on "tariff free" and prepaid shipping because I miss getting small packages of nice things... I dunno if I'd buy anything still, and there are (more expensive sans shipping) options within the US as well so I'm getting a sense of all my options. So it hasn't entirely put me off buying things.

      I suppose I should say that my interest in figuring out Taobao, which I was hoping to do earlier this year, has pretty much completely waned for the moment.

      Also, while not being financially unsafe of course, a part of me is almost a bit desensitized to all the political stuff now and wants to spend money on nice things even with the economy being uncertain. Or possibly especially. I haven't actually impulse bought anything and if I did it would absolutely not be a doll, but a lot of the "we're fucked anyway" mentality is starting to get felt, if that makes sense.
       
      • x 7
    18. i just received an order from Alices Collections today actually! it was shipped thru SF International and i got free shipping and no tariff fees at all.

      tbh i have nothing bad to say about Alices, they're my preferred dealer if i'm buying a non-secondhand doll. there was actually an issue with this order and they were so easy to deal with and took care of it for me right away.

      what happened was: my order was for an Impldoll body (what i got today) and a doll leaves body (tracking shows that one should arrive tomorrow.) they had told me when i placed the order in March that they would be shipping the doll leaves body to me when it was ready, but impldoll would just send the body i ordered from them to me directly. cool, all good--except Impl shipped via EMS and the package got hung up in customs as it was about to leave China, then rejected and returned to Impldoll. when i had seen on the tracking that it was stuck in customs for over a week, i had emailed Alices and asked if they could find out for me if there were any tariff fees i needed to pay to get it moving again. they got back to me right away and let me know that it had been returned to Impl and that Impl would resend it using SF International, the shipping service that Alices has been using which seems to be working much more smoothly right now for China to US shipping. a few days later, they emailed me the new tracking # and confirmed that Impl had re-sent, and the second time everything went fine.

      Alices has been super nice and really patient with all the recent tariff and shipping mess, and like i said really easy to work with if something does get tangled up in transit-- at this point i think i feel more comfortable ordering thru them during the current state of things than i do ordering direct from a dollmaker, i like knowing they can help if something goes awry. i would definitely say go for it if there's something you want that you can get thru them!
       
      • x 10
    19. Oh I definitely feel this! I didn’t buy for months, so stressed over this, and then my current grail body AND head suddenly both became available to me last week! So I just said screw it and bought the body (secondhand in US so no issue) and two heads (new from Korea) and a big order from LegendDoll (China) plus a few small things from AliExpress. It’s possibly a huge risk, but after so much anxiety and fear over this, I could not pass up the opportunity. If everything’s going to go to hell, I’ll at least have my boy to go through it with me.
       
      • x 9
    20. update to my previous post from yesterday: the second half of my Alices Collections order arrived today. a Doll Leaves body, shipped at no charge to me from Alices via SF International. got here safe and sound and there were no additional customs or tariff fees whatsoever. completely problem free order :aheartbea
       
      • x 9