How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

So far nothing from Aliexpress has had a tariff.
I also bought eyelashes from Dollmore on EBay with no sign of tariffs.
I got a doll head from Doll Sphere in China with no tariff.
And a white turtleneck from Legend Doll with no tariff.

 

I’m thinking of ordering something and they have two shipping methods (both DDP):
- Fedex (they said the first part is handled by another company, which handles customs too, and then Fedex delivers locally)
- USPS
Funny enough Fedex is a little cheaper (and supposedly I shouldn’t have to handle any

 

My order from Resinsoul just arrived in United States. As soon as it was picked up by DHL, they sent me a text asking for an import duty payment of ~$23 (not as bad as I was expecting, considering it was a ~$300 order), otherwise my package would be returned in five days. Just paid the duty, and now my package is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

 

@slight out of curiosity, were you able to pay at the DHL website, or did you have to click the link?

 

I didn’t bother clicking the link because I don’t trust random links sent to me through text (I know now it was a legitimate link, but can’t be too careful nowadays). I went straight to the DHL delivery website, signed into my account, saw the pending delivery, and was given a link to pay the fee for the delivery there.

 

wow i think i might call DHL and have it out... if a $300 order was $23 tariff why would they charge me $42 on a $100 order.
seems like they might need to justify that hot garbage to me. DHL is just the worst.
what pirates they be.

on another note, received a floating head from origin S. KR, no tariff when under the de minimus ($800) into US so far.

 

I think folks will want to know: as of today's news, de minimis for ALL countries will end, effective August 29. So the tariff will be charged on any order, regardless of value. Happy to share sources as well, technically still at my job (shh).

I have some "de minimis" value packages on the way from South Korean companies because I was worried about lack of a deal, AND this possibility. Bit of a last hurrah :P Guess I'd better ponder that for Japan now as well... will obviously update here on how those are handled, too, since things have been rocky already.

 

For what it's worth, I received a doll today from South Korea who was shipped on July 26th and was delivered via UPS with no tariff charge. Whether I get charged at a later date remains to be seen and I'll update if I do get a bill. The doll was marked at full value on the custom forms and he was labeled as a barbie doll. (biggest barbie doll ever lmao...he's a 65cm doll!)

As is, I'm going to continue keeping my head down and not purchasing overseas unless I have to. I have a doll body coming from Legend doll hopefully soon but they told me to not worry about tariff charges so we'll see.

 

I forgot to update - got packages from Nine9 Style and Tree Design (both S. Korea) the other day, totally normal. No customs slowdown (via JFK, if curious), packages weren't opened for inspection, no tariffs or additional charges. I think they went through customs July 31. But de minimis should be in place for South Korea and Japan til August 29 (currently). I might do a "last hurrah" order with Japan also... sooner feels wiser than later, since... well, things can change.

But I'm relieved I was able to get some cute items without problems or anything unexpected, and support some small businesses.

 

Hopefully it’s okay to post this here. It’s not BJD specific, they’re talking about Smart Dolls and tariffs after the de minimum exemption ends, but really the same applies to any doll collecting, including BJDs. They are primarily using Japan as the example.

Not sure why I can’t embed the vid, link here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/2sWPmkuz1lc?si=csS391XI7wFSiFEl

In case you don’t want to watch the vid, the summary:

Tariff on Japanese goods is currently 15%. However, it is not just the tariff percentage, but a whole lot of other fees as well that will inflate the cost of whatever you’re buying. This will make small items like clothes, shoes, wigs, etc egregiously expensive to purchase from anywhere outside of the USA. Some of the charts they show for $100 purchases have tariffs and fees that could make up 60-80% of the cost of the good. For larger purchases (such as dolls), the rate of tariffs/fees goes down to about 26% and lower as the cost of the parcel goes up. Again, these numbers are specifically what the fees from importing something from Japan would be like. Countries with a different tariff rate could change this somewhat.

They talk a fair bit about how group orders would be better when ordering smaller items, to reduce the fees per person. They also talk about how pretty much everything doll related, even if it’s handmade and purchased within the USA, is going to go up because all of the supplies come from outside of the country.

They also point out how the shipping carriers are responsible to processing the fees on absolutely everything that comes in. The government doesn’t have the resources to have customs do this so they are requiring the carriers to handle it from the customers.

Needless to say, I hope that the executive order gets struck down, saying that for both doll and off topic goods.

 

As of now, I'm only waiting on one international package and it's a large accessory order from LegendDoll, who says not to worry about tariffs, they take care of it. I hope that's true, as it contains a custom wig that is probably going to be another month before it's ready, and who knows what will be going on then.

I did receive several Korean packages early last month from Tree Design, TTYA, Nine9 Style and Migidoll. I still have not received any notification of fees due at all, nor have I for anything else I've bought from anywhere all year. (Which includes several Chinese things from AliExpress and eBay, and a few small dolls from Europe.) From reading this thread, it really seems to be a complete gamble as to whether you'll get fees, when you'll get them, and how much you'll pay. I've really cut back on my spending this year, and am trying to focus now on streamlining my crew and spoiling the ones I have. And learning to sew more complicated things now! So...buying tons of patterns I can just download and print, no shipping, no fees.

 

131.14 DHL tarrif on Volks DD Alphinaud.....
༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽
No info on Alisae.
Like how could I have predicted this when I preordered them in Jun 2024... Trump wasn't even president....

this is really making me rethink about trying to get the upcoming frieren dolls or the Harajuku memories SD Luna....

 

I would like to have more details and will share if/when I get them, but heard via an artist Kickstarter that it may be worse than feared... he says his DHL rep told him USPS says they'll be suspending ALL DHL packages, plus "other shippers" (no specifics) into the US, as there is no mechanism in place to customs process so many packages. I want to believe maybe he got inaccurate info, but he's a solid source and it's both very concerning and believable. A friend also said they had a package turned back without explanation. They were supposed to have two years, as the de minimis global repeal was set for 2027.

There has to be some way this will change and it's temporary, surely? But that's the word right now... everyone in the arts community is very distraught. So I'm genuinely so sorry, it's very scary particularly if you have preorders. But if you were planning to buy from outside the US and it would come fast... do it now? No telling how long a suspension will last.

 

I got a 75cm body from Legend Doll yesterday. No tariff so far. Shipped SF Express. The shipping number didn’t change after customs in NYC so I couldn’t track it, then a few days later I was told it was 20 minutes away where UPS is located. It arrived later that day with no paperwork or origin address. It was weird.

I unfortunately have another 75 body preordered and an outfit as well. Not sure how soon my head from Rainman in SK will ship. My head from France has shipped and hopefully will arrive 5-10 days from now as they predict. We will all be nervous until we find out how this garbage will play out. Maddening to put it mildly. My dolls are my greatest pleasure, darn it.

 

Add me to the list of a package being mysteriously sent back (I'm located in the US). In my case, it was an EMS package from a Japanese shopping service. The shopping service was not provided an explanation of why the package was sent back to them, only that it was US custom's call. Thinking it was a fluke, I requested them to re-ship (at my cost, not cheap, but it wasn't the shopping service's fault).

Also awaiting a different doll from S. Korea (EMS). According to tracking, "The item is currently in transit to the destination," but I my Japanese package had that too until it was sent back to Japan, so I'm really at a loss. Stressful and frustrating--two things hobbies definitely shouldn't be. I don't want to gamble again, so purchasing overseas isn't something I'm going to do until things go back to "normal" again (whatever that means).

I'll report back what I experience on these pending packages.

 

Fingers crossed for your reshipped package to arrive safe and sound.

 

Likewise!

 

So. I asked my friend, Google Gemini, the following:

Is this true: the de minimis global repeal was set for 2027

Here is his response:

Yes, that statement is true in a literal sense, but the situation is more complex due to more recent actions.

A law, often referred to as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," was signed that sets a statutory repeal of the de minimis exemption for all commercial shipments, effective July 1, 2027. This means that starting on that date, all imports into the U.S., regardless of their value (even under the current $800 threshold), will be subject to duties and taxes.

However, the effective repeal date for some countries has been accelerated. On July 30, 2025, an executive order was signed to suspend the de minimis exemption for all countries starting August 29, 2025.



In summary:

• Statutory Repeal Date: July 1, 2027 (established by law).
  
  
  
  
• Accelerated Executive Order Date: August 29, 2025 (suspending the exemption for all countries).
  
  

This means that while the formal, global repeal is set for 2027 by law, the practical end of the de minimis exemption for many imports is happening much sooner due to executive action.

 

I have a package of some accessories ordered from Legenddoll that just shipped SF Express. I'm hoping it will get here before the 29th and there won't be any sort of tarriffs on it :/

 

Crossing my fingers for you, on both packages! And everyone else with things in transit.

I have a Japanese shopping service package that hasn't shipped yet; seems like it's going to be a real nail-biter, AND down to whatever customs... feels is the vibe that day. At least my final package from S. Korea has already cleared customs (no fees yet, there shouldn't be any, but there have been flukes with friends).