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Found on a news site, probably concerning to some here

Not sure how many parcels come into the US using UPS, but I am sure there are some

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ups-delay-customs-tariffs-packages-destroyed-rcna236607

Yeah, between the tariffs and this I've pretty much given up on buying any hobby related stuff directly from sellers outside the US.

So much winning.

I'm so lucky I got my Mantic Epic Warpath. Not ordering anything else from overseas, and other products I've tried to get the sellers have stopped messing with it anyway. What a mess.

Yup, I ordered one $22 item from Canada and was hit with $73 in tariffs and brokerage fees back in June I think I declined delivery and have not ordered anything else from outside the U.S.

At least I got Guards of Traitor’s Toll before the tariffs kicked in.

The brokerage fees are a nightmare because a lot of delivery services profit off them by paying Tariff/Import taxes for you up front without asking. So you can't even opt out and just pay the fees when the parcel arrives even if it would slow things down.

I believe sometimes you can argue against the fee as it was levied against you without your agreement, but its hoops you have to jump through

 ScarletRose wrote:
Yeah, between the tariffs and this I've pretty much given up on buying any hobby related stuff directly from sellers outside the US.

So much winning.

Kinda feels like this was the whole point. So many sellers have basically opted to just NOT sell to the US due to the hassle. And I'm still worried that Dungeons and Lasers VII is gonna get completely screwed over by all this.

I guess I'm already sick of winning?

There's basically two ideas of Tariffs that are long term

1) To reduce overseas trade and encourage domestic trade by making the costs for overseas trade too steep for local markets

2) To provide the government with additional revenue through tariffs. Since they are a purchase-tax which only the government receives.


The other angle is short term Tarif use which is as a bargaining chip during trade negotiations.


In general small businesses, independent customers and basically most who aren't at government level tend to lose out. Those small firms are now hit with reduced incomes and more difficult challenges trading abroad; esp since many don't have the resources to just hire someone to do the tariff and form work for them so that eats into work-time for their limited staff (which for some in our hobby can quite literally be a single person )

The real problem is the end of the de minimis exemption. While it seems like it was intended to target things like Shein and Temu, it was more akin to killing a mosquito with a bazooka.

By increasing drastically the number of parcels affected by tariffs, it's no wonder shipping companies would have problems.

...It's almost like nobody really planned this whole thing out. It's like "Ready, Aim, Fire!" but without the 'ready' or the 'aim'.

There were several items I really wanted to get that have been screwed completely by tariffs and the new >$800 import fees. Some for a loved one that I don't have a lot of time left with.

But god knows what problems would arise nowadays trying to get something to the US from a place like Poland. Problems that wouldn't have existed this time last year.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
There were several items I really wanted to get that have been screwed completely by tariffs and the new >$800 import fees. Some for a loved one that I don't have a lot of time left with.

But god knows what problems would arise nowadays trying to get something to the US from a place like Poland. Problems that wouldn't have existed this time last year.

Tell me about it. I have something living at US Customs. I wonder if I can visit it someday.

I was kind of thinking the de minimis thing would be temporary, maybe even short term temporary, but after looking into it more I discovered that of the two major sides in American politics both have wanted to drive a steamroller over that exception for awhile now and it was more a race to see who could do it first. The truth is the US has a consumer economy bigger than most entire continent's, and the history books will record that they used protectionism to start getting a huge chunk of that money spent internally and there will be no mention of how it became difficult to get your little plastic men if they weren't from the biggest gaming companies. Though likely the tariff process will get worked out and streamlined.

 frankelee wrote:
I was kind of thinking the de minimis thing would be temporary, maybe even short term temporary, but after looking into it more I discovered that of the two major sides in American politics both have wanted to drive a steamroller over that exception for awhile now and it was more a race to see who could do it first. The truth is the US has a consumer economy bigger than most entire continent's, and the history books will record that they used protectionism to start getting a huge chunk of that money spent internally and there will be no mention of how it became difficult to get your little plastic men if they weren't from the biggest gaming companies. Though likely the tariff process will get worked out and streamlined.

Ever heard of the phrase 'a rising tide lifts all boats'? Yeah.

 frankelee wrote:
I was kind of thinking the de minimis thing would be temporary, maybe even short term temporary, but after looking into it more I discovered that of the two major sides in American politics both have wanted to drive a steamroller over that exception for awhile now and it was more a race to see who could do it first. The truth is the US has a consumer economy bigger than most entire continent's, and the history books will record that they used protectionism to start getting a huge chunk of that money spent internally and there will be no mention of how it became difficult to get your little plastic men if they weren't from the biggest gaming companies. Though likely the tariff process will get worked out and streamlined.

Gonna skirt the p word here and say that's a very rose colored view of things.

My point in my post was the tariffs aren't "getting a huge chunk" of my money spent internally, I'm just not spending. Because there aren't domestic suppliers of a miniatures I want to buy from, and even if some enterprising spirit wanted to start a company many of the inputs (molds, machinery, 3d print resin or casting polymers) come from overseas and would also be subject to tariff/random cutoms destruction.

The history books are going to be about an economy of abundance that deliberately capped itself in the head because foreigners gave people bad feefees.

fwiw, UPS has been hitting random KS/GF backers with "brokerage fees" of $120+ for an import of $1K or something. This was happening *before* the tariffs as well, though.

Me, I spent too much money on boardgames, Legos, and waifus during the Amazon Prime sale, as well as a few hundred on WizKids crappy prepainted mini's. Might drop another $200 on WK FOMO this weekend, since this KS I was going to back wants $200+ for the core game and I've already lost several thou during Friday's stock market drop. (Got plenty of dry powder though and bought in April..!)

I also hear FedEx has a new motto. Instead of "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”, it'll be "Because we're not going to chuck it in a bin".

 ScarletRose wrote:

 frankelee wrote:
I was kind of thinking the de minimis thing would be temporary, maybe even short term temporary, but after looking into it more I discovered that of the two major sides in American politics both have wanted to drive a steamroller over that exception for awhile now and it was more a race to see who could do it first. The truth is the US has a consumer economy bigger than most entire continent's, and the history books will record that they used protectionism to start getting a huge chunk of that money spent internally and there will be no mention of how it became difficult to get your little plastic men if they weren't from the biggest gaming companies. Though likely the tariff process will get worked out and streamlined.

Gonna skirt the p word here and say that's a very rose colored view of things.

My point in my post was the tariffs aren't "getting a huge chunk" of my money spent internally, I'm just not spending. Because there aren't domestic suppliers of a miniatures I want to buy from, and even if some enterprising spirit wanted to start a company many of the inputs (molds, machinery, 3d print resin or casting polymers) come from overseas and would also be subject to tariff/random cutoms destruction.

The history books are going to be about an economy of abundance that deliberately capped itself in the head because foreigners gave people bad feefees.

Well there's certainly no shortage of economic experts online. If the argument is everything was going perfect, then I'll let them make that argument and see how many people listen.

But do I expect consumers across the nation are just going to sit around with a sour grapes puss on their face and not spend any money? It's not where I'm putting my money, let's just say that.

 frankelee wrote:
I was kind of thinking the de minimis thing would be temporary, maybe even short term temporary, but after looking into it more I discovered that of the two major sides in American politics both have wanted to drive a steamroller over that exception for awhile now and it was more a race to see who could do it first..

The de minimis exception existed because historically it just wasn't cost effective to collect customs duties on low value items. With everything being tracked digitally these days it's much easier to do, and so it's becoming the norm worldwide to remove it.

Unfortunately for the miniatures industry, that does catch products that don't have a local alternative in the same basket as those that are purchased from overseas for cost reasons.

I recently ordered some aftermarket parts for a model from China, via Ebay. The order form said all fees were going to be pre-paid, & they were. Kit arrived without any extra problems., Interestingly, it shipped from a US address, (although the product is listed from China, from a Chinese manufacturer), so perhaps one way China is dealing with this, is by using a courier service to bulk-ship small parcels...

The kit was, before tariffs, $20. I had to buy it for $30. Those tariff fees were absolutely passed on to me...

My regular job is working for a cigar vendor, We do mostly mail order. The vast bult of cigars we sell, whether premium brand, or "budget" cigars, are imported. Prices have gone up across the board, as tariffs are passed on to the consumer. Even the pricing on domestic cigars is going up, in relation to the imported stuff. In addition, getting restocks is problematic, as customs are backed up because of all of this. It is absolutely hurting business.

Anyone that says buy domestic, doesn't understand cigar connoisseurs.

Damon.

I ordered a desk from Amazon and received the legs (from California address). After waiting a month the desk top portion was still sitting in China. After another month it was sitting in an Australian port. I was able to cancel the order luckily but had to pay return postage for the legs to California. Lost $50 because of this fiasco.

callidusx3 wrote:
I declined delivery and have not ordered anything else from outside the U.S.

You need to be careful with that because even though you declined the shipment it is possible to still owe the tariff and brokerage fees depending on how it they were handled. If the carrier already covered the tariffs they may be allowed to seek recovery of those fees and returning or refusing the item doesn't get them there money back.

WTH? Desk top arrived! Lol

Helldiver0621 wrote:
WTH? Desk top arrived! Lol

Congrats!

Helldiver0621 wrote:
WTH? Desk top arrived! Lol

So you pay for half a desk, hopefully it’s a good half.

It isn't as though the USA had no examples of how badly this could go.
Additional paperwork due to Brexit caused so much trouble a few years back, it was worldwide news. The costs incurred for that are still being sorted out.

 Skinnereal wrote:
It isn't as though the USA had no examples of how badly this could go.
Additional paperwork due to Brexit caused so much trouble a few years back, it was worldwide news. The costs incurred for that are still being sorted out.

You clearly underestimate American arrogance.

When it rains - it pours:

More than 30 nations have suspended some parcel shipments to the United States.

A UN agency responsible for the postal sector said Aug. 26 more than two dozen of its member states had suspended goods consignments to the United States, citing uncertainties over new tariff policies.

They include:

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
India
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Malta
Moldova
Montenegro
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand