How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

With DHL you could go to their site to verify. Maybe USPS will go back to leaving pickup notices in your mailbox or something. It's hard to guess how it will all work out.

 

You can always call your local post office to inquire about packages. They tend to know when a spam wave is going around, but USPS also won't call or text you about packages, so calls or texts that appear to be from them are very likely spam. For UPS and Fedex, you can create an account and set up how you want to get alerts and where exactly to leave packages for your address, and it also will tell you what packages are coming and from whom. I've found that to be pretty reliable

 

For USPS, you can sign up for Informed Delivery to track your packages. Usually once it enters the US it'll appear on there, or if you have a USPS tracking number (or one that'll work with USPS tracking), you can copy/paste it into Informed Delivery.

I have stuff ordered that should be shipping in the next few weeks, so I'm hoping things smooth out and the tariffs go down. And I'm not surprised the USPS reversed their decision so quickly. I was a contract clerk for a year with them - you'd be surprised how fast rational human beings can suddenly turn crazy or brimming with unbridled rage when they either don't get their package or it's being held up somewhere. It's almost never your local post office's fault and it's insanely stressful trying to find a package that you have no control over.

Please remember that your local post office isn't responsible for this and this is only going to make their jobs even more stressful than they already are! Good luck everyone!

 

I foresee I'll be buying from domestic sellers and secondhand mostly, which I was already doing because of costs and wait time. I can only imagine how frustrating this has to be for people with dolls and goods preordered though. Wishing everyone good luck right now!

 

My biggest frustration is that I purchased a doll from Alice last year, and she should be ready very soon. I am not happy about having to pay an unexpected tariff, especially since I ordered her prior to any of these changes being on the horizon. That said, I know how privileged I have been to not have to pay those tariffs like the rest of the world. I just wish it was clear what I can expect to pay. That might be the most frustrating part, honestly.

I'm terms of how it will affect me going forward? Well, I was ready to purchase a doll that I've been eyeing for ages, and I'm holding off now. If things stay as they are right now, I probably won't be buying anything unless I absolutely must have it. Which... might be a good thing for my wallet. But I am concerned about the impact it will have on our favorite companies - they're mostly small businesses with small teams of artisans. It's already so hard to make a living as an artist, I really hope it doesn't hurt.them too badly.

 

Yeah the impact it will have on small businesses I can't see as anything else but deeply detrimental. The US is a very large importer, and the amount of just...things big and small will affect everyone.

 

I'm from canada, and I thiiiiink I might be fine on doll stuff if I stick to china/japan/etc.? Anywhere except the US, which really sucks for the indie artists/businesses that I wanna support outside of the hobby (their clothing brands, artwork, plushies, etc.).

Guess i'm fresh outta luck finding US customers to buy my doll stuff though. One of my resolutions this year was to finally sell some of my dolls/doll bodies away, but I can't now unless I'm willing to help pay extra (which will definitely not break even and will defeat the purpose of selling stuff to. Y'know. Gain back some of my money). Like others said groceries will be more of a major concern, as will rent. I'm probably gonna cry in march when my rent increases YET AGAIN and i'll have EVEN LESS funds to spend on my hobbies, let alone necessities.

I don't know...I'm largely uncertain of the future. Like, the year has barely started man, I don't wanna find out the rest of 2025 will be more Hell just for existing and wanting to enjoy things..

 

Two heads up for US folks (via a Discord I'm in for people who sell in convention artist alleys):

• The de minimis rule is back after being repealed, so you should (as of now) *not* be charged a tariff if the value is under $800. Will help in some cases with dolls, should help with clothes/accessories. We should all still expect the chaos to make things slow.
  
• As of yesterday, there is some threat of tariffs being expanded to ALL imports, regardless of country of origin. I think it's probably not actionable, but something to be aware of...? (And deeply dread while screaming into the void???)

I think they both add up to a) who even knows!! b) you could maybe get in some orders now to other countries, including China, without major issue and there's no way to know when that may change again. Probably only relevant if you had a planned and budgeted order for like, the end of the month, but it felt like maybe it's better to hear what's going on? As far as anyone can tell, at least...

Meanwhile, still waiting on my package from rRabit, and it's totally unclear if I'll have to pay any sort of fees or not, based on when it arrived in the US. If customs opens it, hope they enjoy confusingly tiny plaid shirts...

 

"LOL!!! This person totally got TEMU scammed!!!! Didn't they check the reviews?"

 

I'll adjust my budget accordingly, within reason. This hobby is what is keeping me relatively sane, so I'll start with adjusting as needed based on tariffs and increased spending in other areas (groceries, gasoline, etc). I tend to buy items that I don't have the skills to make -- which are the dolls themselves, eyes, shoes, and some sewing notions.

If I'm purchasing something, that means I've put a lot of thought into it and that I have the money for it. I personally follow this principle: if I can't afford to pay for my purchase twice out of my free/fun spending allocation at that moment, then I need to reconsider. It's worked well for me over the years. I'll just have to factor potential tariffs into the overall cost. But if tariffs end up being egregiously high, I'll have to cull my 'To Buy' list to the items that are the most important to me.

Over the past few weeks, I've been compiling a list of shoes that seem like they might fit my dolls that have a non-standard foot size. Part of me wants to just get the entire list to 'FAFO' (about fit and tariffs lol), but then the reasonable part of me is like "maybe you should go through that list a few more times..."

 

I've got 3 floating heads currently, so I've been tentatively planning on bodies for them plus another vinyl doll or two. I typically only make large doll purchases once or twice a year anyway, so it wouldn't be that much of a change, but it would still require more saving up and budgeting. In particular, I was hoping to get new vinyls as a graduation present to myself for completing my master's degree, but who knows if my school/degree will even still matter in the coming months. And like, I get it, the rest of the world deals with import taxes and the like so this comes off as very American-centric whining, but I'm also exhausted by the state of Current Events and would like to be able to afford my silly little hobby.

Unfortunately, two of the bodies I want are from Chinese companies, which is anticipated to have a higher tariff than other imports. Womp womp.

 

I can't say the doll hobby is at the top ten of my own current worry list here in the USA, but as far as this particular subject, I will not be buying dolls for a while- and none from Chinese companies, I think, unless something epic comes along. I have a Granado body in the waiting stage and an order from Alice's, and then that's me pausing my collecting for a while. I do hope I won't have to pay extra for them but if I do, well, that's just how it has to go.

I have a lot of faceupping and mod work to entertain myself for a long while and even before all this.... Thisness *flails hands* I was slowing down on collection because frankly I have a lot of dolls! Most of what I wanted to own I now have and a few surprises besides.

 

It is a bit of a bummer, if I’m being honest with myself. The few holy grail dolls I have left to collect have a higher chance of showing up on china marketplace websites, and I really wanted to buy more dolls from china based doll sellers. It’s a bit of a conundrum since I already spread my spending pretty thin just to buy a doll once or twice a year, but it is what it is.

 

Coming into this from a non USA angle I am curious what will be charged.

For example, in the UK it will a customs charge, value added tax (when over a certain amount), then handling fees (the courier charges for collecting and paying the charges on your behalf so it can be collected from customs so it can be delivered). This can add up, and also be annoying if the customs fees are very low, low enough no vat is charged, then the courier can charge around 15 usd for their bit (looking at you Parcel force!). Had that back in the day for a wig a few times.

Also, this isn't just the cost of the item in the UK but also the shipping cost too. Eg I bought a $50 head, shipping was $30, the customs and tax will be calculated on $80. I actually had to pay this yesterday unfortunately, so a very recent example (except it wasn't Parcelforce this time so the handling charge was small compared).

 

The difference for US folks is: we didn't have this on small packages at all before, even though it's normal in other places. We don't have the infrastructure (enough customs people) to do it, so it's slow and chaotic. Certainly something I've heard about Parcelforce, I have UK friends who've told me horror stories! But here it's worsened dramatically because the rollout of these changes is completely chaotic, and in some cases it's been "this is true now" and 12 hours later it isn't. It doesn't help that the folks in charge don't understand that US consumers are the ones paying these costs, so they're doing things like threatening 100% tariffs on imported goods... we're not all just spoiled by lack of paying them before, it's a real mess. It's impossible for us to know what we'll be charged, when, or by whom.

I just got a package from rRabit in Hong Kong, and was not charged anything because (I guess?) it managed to go through customs between "we're doing tariffs on everything from China" and "we're not doing tariffs for 30 days." But a friend got one from the UK two days before, and was charged both an import fee and a brokerage fee (by the shipping company, for doing the paperwork), even though there's no current tariff on UK goods. We basically just have no clue what's going on.

 

That's the worst part!

I just got a small package from mainland China that would ordinarily have used USPS. This time it came via a "delivery partner" I'd never heard of. I got a super scammy looking text early on a Sunday morning but it turned out to be legit (text did not have a link or ask for money, unlike the scams).

 

Privatizing everything!! That's happened to me before with bath and body works during a busy season. It's like an uber for deliveries or something. a random guy just showed up with my stuff. He wasn't FedEx, dhl or UPS - or at least he didn't have any uniform or branding on the car. Maybe Pitney bowes is helping with the Chinese orders

 

The partner was called UniUni if that sounds familiar!

 

Well.. I'm new to the hobby, and don't have any dolls yet, but I'm lower-class, so I already expected it'd take me quite a while to save up for each doll I want. I was intending already to spend this year thinking of what I want so I don't over-spend or buy dolls I don't have any real plans for, and knew I might not get my first doll until next year, or the year after (later this year is if I'm exceptionally financially blessed).

I have other hobbies, and business expenses. I know how to balance everything, generally speaking, but I know I will need to become more patient with saving. With the cost of everything going up, that means my business expenses especially going towards paying other creatives will likely be bumped up, since we all need to live. Which means I will have less money to put aside for doll-saving.

I'm exceptionally picky and don't tend to like buying second-hand anything, which will also affect this. But I tend to avoid FOMO marketing and most highly limited-edition things, so I'm not prone to impulse spending as much, which definitely helps.

Outside of all that, I just assume this will give me a taste of what it's like to struggle with shipping stuff internationally. While I'm currently in the US, I plan to move to a small country in Eastern Europe, so I have to wonder how it'll effect things there, as well.

 

It makes me glad that I am a mostly used doll buyer because buying overseas is going to get very pricey. If I can't buy in the USA I'm not going there. It makes me mad that I can't go to some of the Asian markets for cheap clothes and wigs though. It's just not going to be worth it probably...