How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

I also just got a shipping notice on my order from China (Alice's Collections). I'm nervous! I'll report back on what happens.

Other than that, my overseas buying is on hiatus until/unless things change. I guess this will force me to play with the dolls I have.

 

Um Yeah.... So I'm an American and Yesterday (April 2nd) just happened and... without getting political we are So.So sorry. Nobody wanted this except the ones doing it.
I myself am now probably solidly DONE with being able to get anything outside of this country for a long time. Hopefully it'll only be 4 years.

 

Yeahh this pretty much curtailed the vast majority of any non-essential purchases for me, unless we get really really lucky and some sort of Christmas Carol ghosts come along and scare sense into our politicians sometime soon. I have some money for dolls/ fun stuff saved up and one definite purchase planned, but will probably wait for that until later in the year maybe. or maybe i should order it now? It all keeps changing so quickly it's hard to plan. I might think more seriously about selling a couple of dolls I've been debating selling now though, to help with making purchases for other things more feasible.

 

I genuinely considered emailing some of the companies like, I'm so sorry, this is not what we want. Rrabit just recently gave me some wonderful customer service, it's small businesses we're talking about and they don't deserve to be hurt by this absurdity either. I know of an artist in NZ who says it will cost them like 20% of their sales if US folks stop ordering, which is more than they can absorb.

I do feel a bit less silly about some of my larger orders in the last few months now... (wigs and clothes.) I didn't go totally ham, but since I hadn't gotten anything new in a decade, now I have a box of things I can dip into a little at a time to play with the dolls I have. My boy from Mandarake did arrive on election day, actually, I do wonder if he wishes he'd stayed in his glass case in Sapporo instead...

I certainly have my fingers crossed for those Christmas Carol ghosts, for everyone's sake.

 

I had already mentally prepped for this since the election and know that it will probably nix my spending a lot for the foreseeable future, not just because of the actual cost increases from the tariffs, but because I want to prioritize saving as much money as I possibly can. This means I won't even be buying things domestically or secondhand as an indirect impact.

Hobbies can be amazing portals of escapism, but for me, I can't justify spending money for non-necessities when it feels like we're on the verge of an economic crisis that will last for years and years.

On the flip side, I will focus on doing non-cost incurring projects like giving my blank heads face-ups and maybe learning how to sew some simple pieces of clothing

 

Honestly, I suppose I'm finished buying dolls, since most of the ones I want come from South Korea.

Being on a fixed income, I won't be able to afford to buy any more that aren't already in the US, so I suppose my doll buying days are pretty much finished. I"m not happy about this, but I can't do much about it.

I may just buy preloved dolls from the secondhand market, but right now, it seems like more realistic dolls are popular, and that's not a aesthetic I'm into.

I suppose I'll just have to buy My Crew clothes and shoes, more than likely only from Etsy sellers here in the US.

Ryu

 

With the news of more tariffs being threatened on other countries (such as Taiwan and South Korea) this month, has anyone who had shipments coming to them in the USA arrive with fees, be held in customs, or had dealers reach out for additional shipping costs? Or notice it's baked into their shipping costs? I had a Spreenow order that had 4 dress/textile items in it with my BJD items, and the cheapest shipping (the carrier was UniUni) was $60.... EMS was $101.00... but I'm not sure if it was because of the clothing items, which I've heard can cause upcharges.... Needless to say, the 60$ hurt more than I was expecting, and the 100 royally spooked me! I can only imagine it will continue to increase- either in the shipping, the items, or both.

I'm not much different than other commenters in that I'll have to go dormant on collecting or buying overseas, which probably is for the better if other necessities in the States continue to get more expensive... I will still try to stay faithful to the 2ndhand market, crafting, local trading, and the like. I love this hobby and I'll find other ways to enjoy it. I hate not being able to support our overseas artisans, though.... but I guess we can't know fully how things will go since it's so tumultuous right now.

 

I received a head from Ringdoll (China) and Raccoondoll (Korea) last week. Both arrived at my door in Texas with no issues. They were both preorders I placed several months ago, but I don’t think that made any difference.

 

Ugh. I am extremely new to the hobby, only recently bought a doll after wanting to get into since the 2000s. Spent a really long time weighing the pros and cons of buying 3 MSDs and committed to that order last month... Assuming this all stays in effect or gets worse, this will be a really bad markup when they actually ship. Feel pretty stupid (both for the purchase and for being concerned about a doll purchase in the midst of this chaos).

 

Just a heads up, you'll want to buy the fabric for that now because between Joann fabrics being in the process of liquidating and all fabric being imported, the cost of fabric's also about to go through the roof.

 

Thanks - that's a great point.
Honestly, I'll probably start with recycled materials I already have haha... I don't have a lot of faith in my sewing skills

:edit: I also realize I don't have any Joann's anywhere near me, so that's unfortunate

 

Very solid advice for anyone who makes items for their dolls, fabric prices (and trims, beads, wire, etc.) are about to skyrocket. I have a business doing handmade plush on top of doll clothes for fun, so I have significant vested interest! JoAnn is at 50-60% off on most fabrics right now, but there is a minimum cut of 2 yards. Generous for doll clothes, just a heads up so you're not surprised. Their site doesn't do online ordering, but you can get an idea of what your store might have and what it will cost before you go. Definitely check remnants, too, for end-of-bolt pieces that would be more usable for doll stuff. I also suspect some of us who are hoarding now () will wind up selling some smaller cuts of our remnants on Etsy or somewhere in future...

I have a package inbound from South Korea that's already made it to the US but stopped moving... not uncommon, really, but I do wonder if it could be tariff-related. I'll be interested ("interested") to see whether tariffs are charged or not, given the timing.

 

Yeah, honestly, all this falderall will probably halt my spending on anything new, and I'll be redirecting my energies into what I currently own and maybe finally taking photos or changing them into the other clothes I own but uncommonly use.

I do have a couple incoming items so I get to wait and see with the rest of everyone. Just.... super disappointing on all fronts.

 

I just cannot get over the election result STILL, and am feeling for all the people who will now face awful, real life hardships.
Will have to see how DreamValley's Moth girl will get up-charged when she arrives from Alice's ( no idea how many more weeks, she was ordered Sept. 1st) but will definitely report on how that goes. And she will be my last doll, I am thinking.
I still am about 4 dolls behind in customizing etc so will have plenty to keep me busy for the next few years. My plan is to leave as tiny an economic footprint as possible the coming years, also out of protest to the Orange's insanity.

 

I already slowed down on spending in the hobby in recent years, but I purchased my last two new dolls several months back because of everything happening now. Purchases on clothing, wigs, eyes, etc. will also be slower.

 

It makes me feel less inclined to buy stuff overseas especially now with all the confusion, chaos, etc. I may buy more locally and may even consider making clothing and other accessories if I can't find what I want. Oh...and there's a great second hand market so there's always finding stuff in my doll groups.

 

My local JoAnn's also has a lot of fat quarters left.
Fortunately I'm a big ol' fabric hoarder, so I have enough to go on for a while.

 

i'm about to sound so bratty right now but this is all so frustrating, I'm new to the hobby and was hoping to get my first doll in the may or june (i've been eyeing some of the cheaper resinsouls and gem ofdoll babies) and have been weighing pros and cons and metiocolously planning eye color, wig, clothes ect (was planning on buying a resinsoul winter and waiting a long while till buying another one)
im thankful I don't really have to worry about my basic needs being met but everything has been so scary recently and not being able to indulge in something i've been looking forward too, on top of all the other stressors, because of what's going on is just urhewhkchdbhkw

 

im glad my kikagoods ot doll arrived a few weeks ago before we had to worry about the extra costs tho (he was a gift from a friend, and not a BJD)
i'll just practice making tiny little clothes for him until I manage to get winter (far future, or at the very least until all the chaos and uncertainty about how many of this is going to work and how things will ship from china dies down/goes away)

 

Yeah, I'm glad I mostly finished collecting all the dolls I wanted a few years ago. I don't think I'll be buying anything any time soon. Too much need to save money and worry about the future.