Toys and Tariffs (US customers)

[RobinGoodfellow]

Given the temporary shutdown of the US market, PNSO and HLG can normally continue to sell their products throughout the rest of the world without any problems..

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These companies have lost not just the largest consumer market on the planet in the USA, they also just lost the second largest in their own domestic market. People in the middle of an economic collapse probably aren't buying toy dinosaurs.

Yes, they can sell everywhere else in the world, but I doubt that's enough.

Economy in China is still strong.
I cannot discuss about that here because politic' themes are not allowed.
But you can just type " china economy 2025 " into Google to see that.

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[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Lana told me that if  i continued to order they would cover any fees incurred. 

Honestly I would be very careful about posting these details here that Lana sent you as private communication. There may be people reading this here which may report Lana to US customs authorities for potential evasion of tariffs and then there will be even more problems and costs for everybody. I suggest to delete this post. I truncated your original message for this very reason.

I don't see they are doing anything wrong if offering to cover the fees? Lots of other businesses are looking for the same ways to get product to consumers.

[DinoToyForum]

Lana told me that if  i continued to order they would cover any fees incurred. 

I don't understand how this would be viable for any amount of time - surely if the tariff for the customer is more than 100%, and the seller chooses to cover that cost, they will be making a loss on every dinosaur they sell?

I'll post the quotes up from the messages. I'm not sure myself, all I know is what he told me. I initially messaged to ask if he could ship me anything before May 2nd from my current orders.

I read the messages. Were they were sent before the proposed tariffs exceeded 100%? If so, they may regret having offered to cover any costs sight unseen.

[Over9K]

Economy in China is still strong.
I cannot discuss about that here because politic' themes are not allowed.
But you can just type " china economy 2025 " into Google to see that.

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No politics, these are the facts as I see them.

The situation is fluid and GDP estimates compiled during the earliest part of the conflict are not going to reflect the current landscape, where the tariffs aren't 50%, they're 245%, trade to the US has all but stopped, the Chinese stock markets are falling on the possibility of Chinese stocks being delisted in the US stock markets. Factories are being shuttered. Foxxconn is moving manufacturing equipment as we speak, moving production. Apple is already moving iPhone production to India. This is not to mention the humanitarian crisis looming, as millions of workers are unemployed.

China will of course puff out their chest and make claims of strength, they are in a fight, they have to give themselves the best position to negotiate.

[thomasw100]

Economy in China is still strong.
I cannot discuss about that here because politic' themes are not allowed.
But you can just type " china economy 2025 " into Google to see that.

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No politics, these are the facts as I see them.

The situation is fluid and GDP estimates compiled during the earliest part of the conflict are not going to reflect the current landscape, where the tariffs aren't 50%, they're 245%, trade to the US has all but stopped, the Chinese stock markets are falling on the possibility of Chinese stocks being delisted in the US stock markets. Factories are being shuttered. Foxxconn is moving manufacturing equipment as we speak, moving production. Apple is already moving iPhone production to India. This is not to mention the humanitarian crisis looming, as millions of workers are unemployed.

China will of course puff out their chest and make claims of strength, they are in a fight, they have to give themselves the best position to negotiate.

I think this is an entirely political post now that I cannot consider as someone just venting frustration about the impact that the tariffs have on their dinosaur figure collecting.

[Over9K]

Economy in China is still strong.
I cannot discuss about that here because politic' themes are not allowed.
But you can just type " china economy 2025 " into Google to see that.

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No politics, these are the facts as I see them.

The situation is fluid and GDP estimates compiled during the earliest part of the conflict are not going to reflect the current landscape, where the tariffs aren't 50%, they're 245%, trade to the US has all but stopped, the Chinese stock markets are falling on the possibility of Chinese stocks being delisted in the US stock markets. Factories are being shuttered. Foxxconn is moving manufacturing equipment as we speak, moving production. Apple is already moving iPhone production to India. This is not to mention the humanitarian crisis looming, as millions of workers are unemployed.

China will of course puff out their chest and make claims of strength, they are in a fight, they have to give themselves the best position to negotiate.

I think this is an entirely political post now that I cannot consider as someone just venting frustration about the impact that the tariffs have on their dinosaur figure collecting.

I am noting the results of the conflict, not the reasons for it. My post does not land on either side of the issue, I'm merely stating the facts as they stand. If the current course remains, this will affect the companies making the dinosaur toys we discuss here.

[stargatedalek]

China has not had as strong an economy as it's been projecting for years, Tofu-dreg anyone? China has been caught lying about GDP before, we shouldn't take the claims of authoritarian governments about the state of their country at face value. This applies to India as well, for the record.

[DinoToyForum]

China has not had as strong an economy as it's been projecting for years, Tofu-dreg anyone? China has been caught lying about GDP before, we shouldn't take the claims of authoritarian governments about the state of their country at face value. This applies to India as well, for the record.

This is pure politics through and through, and has nothing to do with the tariffs on toy collecting and how they effect collectors, which is – as I have stated multiple times - what this topic is about. So, members are now at risk of violating forum rule rule 4. "Respect...moderator requests."

I want to keep this thread open to allow ongoing relevant discussion of the tariffs and how they effect us as collectors, but this is not an excuse to talk about politics more generally, whether it be opinions or facts. So, I will just delete any future general political posts in this thread that I decide violate forum rule 6. "Topics concerning politics and religion are discouraged", and this is also a warning that, going forward, I will also consider whether posts are purposefully disrespecting my request to stay on topic.

I'm trying to be pragmatic here, rather than locking the thread which would be the easy option, and I hope everyone can work with me on this by staying focussed on what matters to us as a community of toy collectors on a forum for toy collectors.

[Trenchcoated Rebbachisaur]

I'm afraid closing a topic as potentially/likely vital as this would probably be a bad idea. Especially if it happens because people can't help but snipe at tangentially related entities xP
Is banning some people from posting in a thread possible?
Because despite the politic-adjacent-ness, we have gotten multiple pages in with many people largely behaving themselves.

Furthermore, dogmatically opposing political topics is in and off itself political, and I do worry a bit that we maybe should be able to discuss the reasons the guy causing this^TM is doing the things he does, and what that could mean for further developments in the tariff topic.

...Maybe we could also have a list of topics we're allowed to address in here that don't count as "too political"? Are we allowed to talk about the likely trade war and Depression that could result from this before it happens, or do we have to wait until it hits, for example? Would make all the eggshell walking a little bit less bothersome, especially for someone like me, who isn't an American, and isn't used to American Centrist sensibilities.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm afraid closing a topic as potentially/likely vital as this would probably be a bad idea. Especially if it happens because people can't help but snipe at tangentially related entities xP
Is banning some people from posting in a thread possible?
Because despite the politic-adjacent-ness, we have gotten multiple pages in with many people largely behaving themselves.

Furthermore, dogmatically opposing political topics is in and off itself political, and I do worry a bit that we maybe should be able to discuss the reasons the guy causing this^TM is doing the things he does, and what that could mean for further developments in the tariff topic.

...Maybe we could also have a list of topics we're allowed to address in here that don't count as "too political"? Are we allowed to talk about the likely trade war and Depression that could result from this before it happens, or do we have to wait until it hits, for example? Would make all the eggshell walking a little bit less bothersome, especially for someone like me, who isn't an American, and isn't used to American Centrist sensibilities.

At this stage I regard your post as trolling. Final warning to stay on topic - toys and tariffs.

[Trenchcoated Rebbachisaur]

Was not meant to be trolling, sorry. I'll be quiet here unless I see something immediately relevant to collecting and on-topic in the future.

[Primeval12]

Honestly, I am ok complaining about the politics surrounding this in DMs / PMs. BUt not on the public forum

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Lana told me that if  i continued to order they would cover any fees incurred. 

I don't understand how this would be viable for any amount of time - surely if the tariff for the customer is more than 100%, and the seller chooses to cover that cost, they will be making a loss on every dinosaur they sell?

I'll post the quotes up from the messages. I'm not sure myself, all I know is what he told me. I initially messaged to ask if he could ship me anything before May 2nd from my current orders.

I read the messages. Were they were sent before the proposed tariffs exceeded 100%? If so, they may regret having offered to cover any costs sight unseen.

I think it was about the time it was 145%?  I asked about the removal of the minimum in May as well.

[stargatedalek]

I'm sorry, but I'm also feeling a little targeted here. How was my post any more political than RobinGoodfellow's post that we were responding to (genuinely asking)? I agree this has strayed off topic and quite frankly I admit I fell for that bait and have a bad habit of being unable to leave misinformation be when a topic should just be moved on from, but the bait was there before I took it.

Regardless, apologies for my part in escalating this.


My biggest worry up here is retail parity. Even if stores here can get products directly without them going through the US first and theoretically avoid most of the tariffs that way, they might choose (or be forced under threat of suite by US based stores) to charge the increased price here too. This happens a lot with for example video games, where digital storefronts will be forced to charge more to keep the price the same as physical, I'm wondering if that would happen here too with international prices being forced to remain "competitive" with tariff inflated US prices.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm sorry, but I'm also feeling a little targeted here. How was my post any more political than RobinGoodfellow's post that we were responding to (genuinely asking)? I agree this has strayed off topic and quite frankly I admit I fell for that bait and have a bad habit of being unable to leave misinformation be when a topic should just be moved on from, but the bait was there before I took it.

Regardless, apologies for my part in escalating this.


My biggest worry up here is retail parity. Even if stores here can get products directly without them going through the US first and theoretically avoid most of the tariffs that way, they might choose (or be forced under threat of suite by US based stores) to charge the increased price here too. This happens a lot with for example video games, where digital storefronts will be forced to charge more to keep the price the same as physical, I'm wondering if that would happen here too with international prices being forced to remain "competitive" with tariff inflated US prices.

A few posts before yours, including the one you responded to, had indeed also crossed the line. I was hoping, given my multiple polite requests earlier, that the overt politics would run its course and dissipate without me having to step in yet again. Moderating this thread is becoming a day job for me! Thanks for apologising anyway, and thanks also to Rebbachisaur. It makes it so much simpler to moderate and I appreciate when members are introspective and hold their hands up.

[DinoToyForum]

Lana told me that if  i continued to order they would cover any fees incurred. 

I don't understand how this would be viable for any amount of time - surely if the tariff for the customer is more than 100%, and the seller chooses to cover that cost, they will be making a loss on every dinosaur they sell?

I'll post the quotes up from the messages. I'm not sure myself, all I know is what he told me. I initially messaged to ask if he could ship me anything before May 2nd from my current orders.

I read the messages. Were they were sent before the proposed tariffs exceeded 100%? If so, they may regret having offered to cover any costs sight unseen.

I think it was about the time it was 145%?  I asked about the removal of the minimum in May as well.

Well, if it's only a temporary measure, they may feel it is worth absorbing the costs now to keep customers for the future. But that would only work as a short-term strategy.

[Totoro]

I have to say, given the almost criminal price gouging many corporations engage in under the guise of this or that (covid is limiting material availability so we're having to charge more - while remarkably making record profits, or ...the avian flu is limiting egg production, so we have to charge more - while, amazingly, making record profits...) I am really gratified to see some of these dino toy sellers doing as much as they can to limit costs and provide good communication.  I've mostly purchased stuff from LanaTime and just love that shop, having nothing but outstanding communication and flexibility.  I really applaud and appreciate the way they do business with us in these increasingly challenging times.   

[Over9K]

A few posts before yours, including the one you responded to, had indeed also crossed the line. I was hoping, given my multiple polite requests earlier, that the overt politics would run its course and dissipate without me having to step in yet again. Moderating this thread is becoming a day job for me! Thanks for apologising anyway, and thanks also to Rebbachisaur. It makes it so much simpler to moderate and I appreciate when members are introspective and hold their hands up.

Conversation seemed over when I returned to it several hours later, thread had appeared to move on and IMO by then an apology would have seemed disingenuous, or trolling.

I'm not perfect, but I'm also not an intentional a*****e. It is purely unintentional.

[Halichoeres]

Obviously it's hard to know what the specific consequences of any of this will be, but it's worth pointing out that despite being less than one twentieth of the world's population, the US is more than a third of the global consumer market. For goods as frivolous as dinosaur toys, that fraction is likely even higher. While the EU (even without the UK) and China combine for a larger market than the US in PPP terms, it's easy to imagine that some of the toys that might have been planned could get canceled due to diminished sales, or that some upstart companies whose capital is stretched thin might even be in jeopardy.

I'm basing this on the numbers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_consumer_markets

[RobinGoodfellow]

Obviously it's hard to know what the specific consequences of any of this will be, but it's worth pointing out that despite being less than one twentieth of the world's population, the US is more than a third of the global consumer market. For goods as frivolous as dinosaur toys, that fraction is likely even higher. While the EU (even without the UK) and China combine for a larger market than the US in PPP terms, it's easy to imagine that some of the toys that might have been planned could get canceled due to diminished sales, or that some upstart companies whose capital is stretched thin might even be in jeopardy.

I'm basing this on the numbers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_consumer_markets

.. due to the very thin line between "economy" and "politic" , personally I'll stay away from this thread ..

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