Shipping to US (from UK or anywhere else) after 29 August...?

[HerbertTarkel]

Despite my joking around, I am personally aware of at least a couple of companies that have used the 'gift' system as personal correspondence between a member of staff and a customer to deliver small orders and have done for several years on international orders. I'm not advocating it as a way to do business but it is being done.

“Fraud” is a serious offence - mail, or otherwise. Homey don’t play that game!

[HerbertTarkel]

I watched a video about Japanese car imports. It appears that Japanese exporters not only eat the tariffs, but have also lowered the price of their cars in the US to remain competitive.

I also read that GW is going through a round of cost cutting and reducing staff. If I were to guess, I would say they are preparing to eat the tariffs IOT at least maintain their price point in the US.

Of course, these are large companies and having varying options for handling the situation. Smaller miniature companies in the UK may just stop shipping to the US. If that happens, American miniature companies will have the opportunity to expand their ranges as they will no longer have to compete with British ones. This is the whole point of the tariffs... to expand US manufacturing.

It's a sad situation, nevertheless.

Perhaps someone with the knowledge and time should create a Commercial thread of US hobby resources like I did for the EU following BREXIT.

Some of the Japanese car makers are now cancelling anything coming to Canada as a result - the Pathfinder SUV is the biggest most visible loss.

I genuinely wondered how GW, being in Memphis for North America, was going to resolve this. As a Canadian, I have seen no difference - so far. If the costs increase enough, maybe we’ll see GW back in Canada?

When I started this hobby, GW was in Toronto area. That was the Canadian office. In fact, I almost took a position with them, about a year before they collapsed to Maryland, and then to Memphis - Memphis for their absolutely horrid labour laws. So many good people disappeared at that time.

[Rick]

“Fraud” is a serious offence - mail, or otherwise. Homey don’t play that game!

Like I said, I'm aware of it but I don't practice it myself, nor do I advocate it's use - I thought I'd made that perfectly clear earlier in the conversation.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

@Jon of GZG - Northstar put out an email today saying that they’ll be adding 10% on at the front end to pay for tariffs (which will be done through the cart) to the US.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Cat]

Got an email today from Ral Partha Europe, they'll be adjusting their flat rates by weight class costs to include the tariffs.

[Fighting15s]

Fighting 15s ended shipping to the US yesterday. Existing orders will be dispatched shortly to meet the deadline. I know I'm a special case as I'm winding down for retirement, but the hassle of collecting and prepaying tax to US customs before an order ships isn't worth it.

Etsy doesn't seem to have a mechanism for dealing with this either, even though it does charge US sales tax for some states, so there doesn't appear to be a way round this using marketplaces.

[Inkpaduta]

I have noticed about half a dozen UK dealers that say they are not shipping to the US at this time waiting
to see what happens. Not good times for a US gamer or a wargames business. Sigh.

[zemjw]

Mantic are suggesting to buy now if you're in the US, although some of their stuff is shipped from the US.

The last blog post I can find from them on the subject is mid May - https://www.manticgames.com/news/u-s-tariffs-halo-flashpoint-may-update/

From an email just now

NOTE FOR U.S. CUSTOMERS
Want to beat the upcoming changes to the de minimis exemption for your global shopping? Order your next hobby projects now and we'll prioritise getting them shipped before the exemption ends!

Have you pre-ordered 'Feet First into Hell', or one of the new Halo bundles containing it? Don't worry - those will ship from within the US so you're covered!

[BeneathALeadMountain]

I did see one companies update email (sorry can’t remember who’s - maybe even Northstar) say that DHL deliveries will be continuing to U.S.A. as they (DHL) have the ability to charge the tariffs at the front end.


Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Phillius]

The tariff placed on New Zealand is 15%, so I guess that means I will have to add 15% to every order.

Unfortunately, finding out exactly how to pay that tariff from here is not easy. I'm hopeful that NZ Post will incorporate it into the existing online tool somehow, but it won't be done for a while, so I'm not really sure what the impact is going to be on my USA customer. Who account for three out of every four orders.

Slow sales for a while I guess.

[pixelgeek]

Just read this in a post from Pendraken

The trouble for us as a business, is that there is currently no information available to explain how this new system is going to work.  We have spoken to our contact in the UK Trade Department, but they also don't have any information and are scrambling around to try and find out what UK businesses are supposed to be doing.

https://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,23851.0.html

[zemjw]

Modiphius have US and UK stores, so buyers should be mostly insulated. However, from their latest newsletter

From August 29, 2025, the United States will end its longstanding de minimis exemption for low-value packages entering the US from anywhere else in the world. This means that all orders shipped from our UK store (modiphius.net) to US addresses will be subject to duties, taxes, and/or an $80 flat fee.

Be careful where you order from

[mikedemana]

That's one heck of a flat fee when their books usually don't cost THAT much...!

But like you said, there is the Modiphius USA you should be able to order from. If they're printed abroad and shipped to the U.S. for resale, though, prices could be going up!

Mike Demana

[Rick]

That's one heck of a flat fee when their books usually don't cost THAT much...!

But like you said, there is the Modiphius USA you should be able to order from. If they're printed abroad and shipped to the U.S. for resale, though, prices could be going up!

Mike Demana

That's from the original tariff information - either a flat fee, worked out from the % tariff, or a tariff percentage - but it's not clear how or why they might be charged. So in addition to not knowing how to pay, nobody really knows what they'll be paying; least of all the US customs service themselves!

[Martello Towers]

From what I heard (didn't watch myself) there was a Royal Mail webinar where they said they'd be implementing a flat rate £60 fee per parcel sent to the US.

Then a day later they said they'd been misinformed and that there would be a 10% charge instead.

All fees paid before the parcel ends up entering the US.

Can see this causing lots of issues, or at least delays in shipping.