How will the recently implemented tariffs affect your doll collecting?

After the BBB update:

The de minimis exemption will be eliminated in two years after President Donald Trump signed a sweeping policy bill into law on Friday.

As part of the package introduced as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the U.S. will repeal the exemption allowing imports under $800 to enter the country duty and tax free, effective July 1, 2027. Exemptions will remain in place for eligible items bought during travel and bona fide gifts from foreign citizens to U.S. residents.

source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/minimis-exemption-slated-end-2027-174800443.html

Hong Kong and China does not apply here since de minimis was removed for them already so regardless of under $800 or not, for a shipment if the country of origins is Hong Kong or China, you will pay tariff.

 

I've been holding off on buying any new dolly stuff as I have a monthly budget of expenses that I usually adhere to. Dolly stuff and other hobbies are in the "Fun Money" category. Especially now that I have more medical appointments to make and attend (and not so surprisingly medical insurance isn't paying for these appointments), my hobbies are taking a hit pretty hard this year. It's going to be a waiting game for me for a while at least.

 

Thought I'd share my first tariff experience. I bought some parts directly from Ringdoll in early January (pre-tariff shenanigans), a 1/3 sized mask and a pair of special hands, invoice was $100 USD with about $45 shipping. Just paid the tariff of $41.99 so they sent it CIF, meaning they include the shipping cost in the amount use to calculate the tariff. Total transit costs nearly equal to cost of goods by the end of it, but not much to be done about it since all the rules went into effect after my purchase.

it took some creative work to pay it on the phone than click the spammy looking links sent via text since the waybill originating in HK wasn't meshing with USA system.
total PITA.
DHL remains my least favourite carrier for a multitude of reasons (mostly surrounding tracking, lost packages and no customer service) and this also certainly didn't help improve my opinion.

 

I ordered a $110 item (not including shipping) from Ringdoll pre-tariff. Ringdoll sent the item DHL. I just got a notice that the item shipped and would not be delivered unless a $25.33 tariff was paid within 5 days.

 

wow, that is crazy how different what we both paid for around the same invoice price. what the math!

 

What I see is: There is a great opportunity for scams here.

 

looking at the posts that share that purchase amounts were similar pre tariffs but the tariffs were c0mpletely different, is a bit unnerving. It seems you can't be sure what the heck will be charged or even if it's a scam being pulled somewhere.


How was it that @Grimalkin purchase amount was less but they paid almost double for tariff than @Cat ^..^? it makes no sense and it doesn't seem fair. wow.

 

not only that, but they both purchased from the same company, had the same shipping carrier, etc. Nothing explains why the charges were so vastly different

 

Yes, Exactly. Forgot to add that. we are not talking pennies here. I swear the world has turned upside down.

 

I went and pulled the actual receipt off DHL's site, bit the bullet and clicked the scammy link since I got my receipt texted to the same message thread, and since DHL gives no other way to get a copy. plus now i'm a little salty about it... so I want the receipt.

here's how they broke it down:
I was off by a few cents, the payment was 41.24, all is in USD.
regulatory Charges = 1.31
import export duties = 22.93
duty tax processing = 17.00

they gave a description of "Ringdoll resin doll" - my package was a mask and a pair of hands, not a whole doll.

my invoice from Ringdoll was:
71.10 for the mask
27 for the hands (I sure hope it's a pair LOL)
= 98.10 + 47.00 shipping/insurance (no choices for me) = 145.10
then the tariff was + 41.24

@Cat ^..^ - do you mind me asking, was your order for clothes and/or wigs and no resin by any chance?

I wonder if certain categories of harmonics have different add on fees. I noticed this with tariff from Canada recently, if I called it a sculpture instead of a doll, it was the 25% + 5.33% more tax for instance.

I import stuff at work, and there's a formula, it shouldn't change arbitrarily, and this type of random behaviour that you cannot fight, even more so than the tariff itself will make me more apt to avoid origin countries with no de-minimus.

Remains to be seen for other countries if the tariff is only certain harmonics or will catch everything over $800.
the ever changing rules make it hard to tell what exactly to expect, and this is the part that is exploitable by the carriers.

 

Grimalkin, I purchased only the ram skull hat "mask" from Ringdoll. I tried to find a picture of the original product on Ringdoll's site to check the price, but I could not find it. The mask is resin and looks like the Chalco mask from Soom.

 

that's the same mask I bought I just managed to get it during the sale period. Wish I could have gotten the whole boy.
I got hopefully both of his skeleton hands too
but might just be the one, perhaps the other you had to get with the full set to hold the staff?

but wow, even weirder about that difference in cost.
thanks so much for everyone's input on this, I really appreciate hearing about other's experiences as it evolves.

 

Hmmm. So I got a little bit less than you. No hands in my order. And shipping for me was to Rocwall, Texas (directly to the painter). And he was a cool boy. I would not have minded getting all of him. I really liked him.

 

Category might have an effect, I've heard that most toys are exempt?

There was a doll I bought from a seller on here from Canada, arrived on 5 July, and there was no tariff fee. The package was marked as containing a doll worth $240 CAD. It was shipped with Canada Post, processed in customs on the west coast, and then passed along to USPS.

 

ah, I should have clarified a little more about the Canada one, the tariff I mentioned there would be charged if the invoice was over the $800 threshold. Agree that under $800, no tariff would be assessed on dolls or even the sculpture, but maybe on other stuff like agriculture, steel, car parts etc.

Postal service seems better at this under threshold bit from Canada, still a chance the big boys like DHL, UPS, FedEx will charge a fee.

 

Kind of stressing now that the tariffs on Korea have been announced...if they happen... I just placed several large orders for clothes from Nine9 Style, Tree Design and TTYA right before the announcement, and was waiting on two heads from Migidoll. The orders from Migidoll and Nine9 Style arrived two days ago, no tariffs, via USPS, but still waiting on Tree Design and TTYA. I'm hoping they get here before tariffs hit. My Migidoll heads did get held up in customs for about 3 days. Also still waiting on a few AliExpress non-doll items that have been lagging for awhile.

 

How did you receive the invoice? Was it a mailed letter or email?

I recently bought from Mandarake with no problems, but my purchase was well under the $800 threshold. However, I’ve been window shopping on Etsy for doll shoes and basically everything is shipping out of China. I can’t decide if I want to chance high dollar tariffs or just continue to have barefooted dolls.

 

@muffin

if you’re fine with shopping on eBay, the shipping service out of China called SpeedPAK has prepaid tariffs. The shipping carrier processes the customs stuff.

EBay and Etsy seem to have a lot of overlap with clothing and shoes, with most coming out of China. Etsy does not seem to have SpeedPAK unfortunately

 

I am fine with eBay. I just bought a cosplay for myself actually, and though it came from China originally it went through Mexico first to avoid the tariff I suppose. I will definitely go check out doll stuff on eBay though. Thanks for the heads up on that!

 

They mailed it to me as a letter invoice with break down of how the tariffs were implemented.

 

So far nothing from Aliexpress has had a tariff.
I also bought eyelashes from Dollmore on EBay with no sign of tariffs.
I got a doll head from Doll Sphere in China with no tariff.
And a white turtleneck from Legend Doll with no tariff.

 

I’m thinking of ordering something and they have two shipping methods (both DDP):
- Fedex (they said the first part is handled by another company, which handles customs too, and then Fedex delivers locally)
- USPS
Funny enough Fedex is a little cheaper (and supposedly I shouldn’t have to handle any

 

My order from Resinsoul just arrived in United States. As soon as it was picked up by DHL, they sent me a text asking for an import duty payment of ~$23 (not as bad as I was expecting, considering it was a ~$300 order), otherwise my package would be returned in five days. Just paid the duty, and now my package is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.

 

@slight out of curiosity, were you able to pay at the DHL website, or did you have to click the link?

 

I didn’t bother clicking the link because I don’t trust random links sent to me through text (I know now it was a legitimate link, but can’t be too careful nowadays). I went straight to the DHL delivery website, signed into my account, saw the pending delivery, and was given a link to pay the fee for the delivery there.

 

wow i think i might call DHL and have it out... if a $300 order was $23 tariff why would they charge me $42 on a $100 order.
seems like they might need to justify that hot garbage to me. DHL is just the worst.
what pirates they be.

on another note, received a floating head from origin S. KR, no tariff when under the de minimus ($800) into US so far.

 

I think folks will want to know: as of today's news, de minimis for ALL countries will end, effective August 29. So the tariff will be charged on any order, regardless of value. Happy to share sources as well, technically still at my job (shh).

I have some "de minimis" value packages on the way from South Korean companies because I was worried about lack of a deal, AND this possibility. Bit of a last hurrah :P Guess I'd better ponder that for Japan now as well... will obviously update here on how those are handled, too, since things have been rocky already.

 

For what it's worth, I received a doll today from South Korea who was shipped on July 26th and was delivered via UPS with no tariff charge. Whether I get charged at a later date remains to be seen and I'll update if I do get a bill. The doll was marked at full value on the custom forms and he was labeled as a barbie doll. (biggest barbie doll ever lmao...he's a 65cm doll!)

As is, I'm going to continue keeping my head down and not purchasing overseas unless I have to. I have a doll body coming from Legend doll hopefully soon but they told me to not worry about tariff charges so we'll see.

 

I forgot to update - got packages from Nine9 Style and Tree Design (both S. Korea) the other day, totally normal. No customs slowdown (via JFK, if curious), packages weren't opened for inspection, no tariffs or additional charges. I think they went through customs July 31. But de minimis should be in place for South Korea and Japan til August 29 (currently). I might do a "last hurrah" order with Japan also... sooner feels wiser than later, since... well, things can change.

But I'm relieved I was able to get some cute items without problems or anything unexpected, and support some small businesses.

 

Hopefully it’s okay to post this here. It’s not BJD specific, they’re talking about Smart Dolls and tariffs after the de minimum exemption ends, but really the same applies to any doll collecting, including BJDs. They are primarily using Japan as the example.

Not sure why I can’t embed the vid, link here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/2sWPmkuz1lc?si=csS391XI7wFSiFEl

In case you don’t want to watch the vid, the summary:

Tariff on Japanese goods is currently 15%. However, it is not just the tariff percentage, but a whole lot of other fees as well that will inflate the cost of whatever you’re buying. This will make small items like clothes, shoes, wigs, etc egregiously expensive to purchase from anywhere outside of the USA. Some of the charts they show for $100 purchases have tariffs and fees that could make up 60-80% of the cost of the good. For larger purchases (such as dolls), the rate of tariffs/fees goes down to about 26% and lower as the cost of the parcel goes up. Again, these numbers are specifically what the fees from importing something from Japan would be like. Countries with a different tariff rate could change this somewhat.

They talk a fair bit about how group orders would be better when ordering smaller items, to reduce the fees per person. They also talk about how pretty much everything doll related, even if it’s handmade and purchased within the USA, is going to go up because all of the supplies come from outside of the country.

They also point out how the shipping carriers are responsible to processing the fees on absolutely everything that comes in. The government doesn’t have the resources to have customs do this so they are requiring the carriers to handle it from the customers.

Needless to say, I hope that the executive order gets struck down, saying that for both doll and off topic goods.

 

As of now, I'm only waiting on one international package and it's a large accessory order from LegendDoll, who says not to worry about tariffs, they take care of it. I hope that's true, as it contains a custom wig that is probably going to be another month before it's ready, and who knows what will be going on then.

I did receive several Korean packages early last month from Tree Design, TTYA, Nine9 Style and Migidoll. I still have not received any notification of fees due at all, nor have I for anything else I've bought from anywhere all year. (Which includes several Chinese things from AliExpress and eBay, and a few small dolls from Europe.) From reading this thread, it really seems to be a complete gamble as to whether you'll get fees, when you'll get them, and how much you'll pay. I've really cut back on my spending this year, and am trying to focus now on streamlining my crew and spoiling the ones I have. And learning to sew more complicated things now! So...buying tons of patterns I can just download and print, no shipping, no fees.

 

131.14 DHL tarrif on Volks DD Alphinaud.....
༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽
No info on Alisae.
Like how could I have predicted this when I preordered them in Jun 2024... Trump wasn't even president....

this is really making me rethink about trying to get the upcoming frieren dolls or the Harajuku memories SD Luna....

 

I would like to have more details and will share if/when I get them, but heard via an artist Kickstarter that it may be worse than feared... he says his DHL rep told him USPS says they'll be suspending ALL DHL packages, plus "other shippers" (no specifics) into the US, as there is no mechanism in place to customs process so many packages. I want to believe maybe he got inaccurate info, but he's a solid source and it's both very concerning and believable. A friend also said they had a package turned back without explanation. They were supposed to have two years, as the de minimis global repeal was set for 2027.

There has to be some way this will change and it's temporary, surely? But that's the word right now... everyone in the arts community is very distraught. So I'm genuinely so sorry, it's very scary particularly if you have preorders. But if you were planning to buy from outside the US and it would come fast... do it now? No telling how long a suspension will last.

 

I got a 75cm body from Legend Doll yesterday. No tariff so far. Shipped SF Express. The shipping number didn’t change after customs in NYC so I couldn’t track it, then a few days later I was told it was 20 minutes away where UPS is located. It arrived later that day with no paperwork or origin address. It was weird.

I unfortunately have another 75 body preordered and an outfit as well. Not sure how soon my head from Rainman in SK will ship. My head from France has shipped and hopefully will arrive 5-10 days from now as they predict. We will all be nervous until we find out how this garbage will play out. Maddening to put it mildly. My dolls are my greatest pleasure, darn it.

 

Add me to the list of a package being mysteriously sent back (I'm located in the US). In my case, it was an EMS package from a Japanese shopping service. The shopping service was not provided an explanation of why the package was sent back to them, only that it was US custom's call. Thinking it was a fluke, I requested them to re-ship (at my cost, not cheap, but it wasn't the shopping service's fault).

Also awaiting a different doll from S. Korea (EMS). According to tracking, "The item is currently in transit to the destination," but I my Japanese package had that too until it was sent back to Japan, so I'm really at a loss. Stressful and frustrating--two things hobbies definitely shouldn't be. I don't want to gamble again, so purchasing overseas isn't something I'm going to do until things go back to "normal" again (whatever that means).

I'll report back what I experience on these pending packages.

 

Fingers crossed for your reshipped package to arrive safe and sound.

 

Likewise!

 

So. I asked my friend, Google Gemini, the following:

Is this true: the de minimis global repeal was set for 2027

Here is his response:

Yes, that statement is true in a literal sense, but the situation is more complex due to more recent actions.

A law, often referred to as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," was signed that sets a statutory repeal of the de minimis exemption for all commercial shipments, effective July 1, 2027. This means that starting on that date, all imports into the U.S., regardless of their value (even under the current $800 threshold), will be subject to duties and taxes.

However, the effective repeal date for some countries has been accelerated. On July 30, 2025, an executive order was signed to suspend the de minimis exemption for all countries starting August 29, 2025.



In summary:

• Statutory Repeal Date: July 1, 2027 (established by law).
  
  
  
  
• Accelerated Executive Order Date: August 29, 2025 (suspending the exemption for all countries).
  
  

This means that while the formal, global repeal is set for 2027 by law, the practical end of the de minimis exemption for many imports is happening much sooner due to executive action.

 

I have a package of some accessories ordered from Legenddoll that just shipped SF Express. I'm hoping it will get here before the 29th and there won't be any sort of tarriffs on it :/

 

Crossing my fingers for you, on both packages! And everyone else with things in transit.

I have a Japanese shopping service package that hasn't shipped yet; seems like it's going to be a real nail-biter, AND down to whatever customs... feels is the vibe that day. At least my final package from S. Korea has already cleared customs (no fees yet, there shouldn't be any, but there have been flukes with friends).

 

I would really not trust any LLM/AI responses on what is actually true, especially for this situation but also for anything in general. It only pulls what it finds on the internet, which can include sources with misinfo, and even things like reddit threads which are often just people making speculations or posting joke statements. AI is often wrong or only partially correct. Even if the response you got this time is correct, it may not be next time.

 

Come here to confirm that this does happen to me too! I'm reside in Japan and had shipped a package to US recently.

The package proceed smoothly to US like usual until the delivery day and then they suddenly said : address not found, return to sender. When I check the label after they return, it show the correct address! (My buyer also confirm this )

I resent it to a different address in the same town and the same thing still happen, but this time I monitored it and let my buyer know asap when the status change to 'return to sender'. They went to their local post office and got the box.

I don't know if they were charged tariffs or not and why does this happen though... From the sender pov, it just tell you that package went to prepare for delivery and'then suddenly return to sender

 

My order from Stacy's Pink Ocean was shipped last week and today I had to pay a tariff fee.
SPO offered me three shipping options: DHL ($43.00), UPS ($43.00), and FedEx ($46.00). I chose UPS. Today I received an email from UPS with a bill for $39.00 to prepay my "fees and taxes". I ordered two heads, and before the heads were shipped I asked for the package to be declared at around $100.00.

So in total I paid $82.00 for both shipping and tariff fees.

 

I just got my TTYA package today, so it was not turned back for no reason, which is good! I was also not charged any unexpected fees or tariff. They very kindly were cautious about the customs label, even though by all rights it shouldn't have had a customs fee anyway, as it's below de minimis (which we still have a LITTLE longer with). But mentioning since I can't say that had no impact on it going smoothly. I have small temptation to order some more stuff from them right now in the hopes it would make it in, with so much uncertainty around any packages from outside the US... I will simply say I continue to be frustrated about this escalation of these policies and what it may do to small companies, even though they have substantial other markets.

 

A sigh-of-relief update: my EMS package from S. Korea was hand delivered to me today by my postal carrier. Not a word about fees...let it stay that way. Anyhow, at least I don't have to worry about this fella anymore.

Will post again about other doll coming from Japan, same shipping method as the first attempt: EMS. If it doesn't work again, I will have to come up with another strategy, after screaming into a pillow for a few minutes. Will let y'all know!

 

I'm still waiting on an accessory package from LegendDoll that I don't expect to ship until next month. I contacted Erica about it and she assured me that she has taken care of everything, and not to worry, there will be no extra fees, even if shipped after de minimis ends. So....I'm hoping she's right!

 

Whew, I'm glad I got my shoe order in from Alice's... I didn't get any fees or anything, but it arrived on the 9th FWIW.

I'm not planning on making doll purchases, which also puts me out of the market for eyes and wigs, but even if I go into focusing on my own sewing and such, I'm concerned about what prices will look like when I inevitably run out of my small snaps, which I think are from China. Not to mention other notions like needles, zippers, thread... heck, if I want new fabric or yarn, that, too. And I'm just sewing for me! I don't sell the clothes I make. And my dolls better be happy with the shoes they've got!

 

I was just charged nearly $250 tariffs on a doll from buyee. So it is happening, no matter how sporadic. Mercari sent out a warning email about it yesterday too.

 

If you don’t mind me asking, where did it ship from and what was the value of the purchase?

So sorry to hear that you got slammed with a charge like that

 

It shipped from Japan, Volks SDGR Shampoo, so an expensive doll but still. From what I was hearing online, UPS is charging people tarrifs pretty consistently, while other shipping companies are more sporadic. UPS is who charged me so I recommend avoiding them.

 

Thanks for sharing. That doll would have been higher than the de minimis exemption. Still, I have pretty much never seen anyone from the USA talk about fees for dolls from Japan, even when they are over $800.

Seems like they are cracking down on this already for smaller packages.

I could be wrong about this, but I am pretty sure that de minimus was raised from $150 to $800 in 2015? Still, I pretty much never saw Americans mention custom fees before that. Tariffs seemed to be a thing that were targeted at very large overseas purchases (usually business/industrial purchases). Now they are going after smaller individual purchases. :/

Edit: congrats on Shampoo though! She is a cutie!

 

Has anyone ordered anything directly from Volks Japan, and if so, which shipping service was used, and did you get charged any fees?

 

I recently received an outfit set and sweater from Volks Japan via EMS and was not charged anything on it.

 

If you get anything that *arrives* after August 29, you will definitely be charged tariffs. Earlier packages valued under $800 have not because de minimis is still in place until then. (With some exceptions, based on shipping carrier. Some have charged it anyway, for some reason.)

 

I've seen some BJD crafters on instagram say that all packages and registered letters with a declared value sent to the US are being suspended until further notice.
Does anyone know if this is true?

I have US buyers paying things on layaway with me (I'm Australian) and would hate to send their packages into the void or be meaninglessly returned to sender...

 

I've seen some people not in the BJD community saying their countries are suspending mail to the US until they can sort out processes, but they're in the EU. Things like UPS, Fed Ex, and DHL are still available from what they've said, but there are higher costs associated.

 

DHL is paused as of today. It's incredibly hard to find a list, and it just changed today apparently... plus some packages have been randomly sent back, as well. Most complete list currently, though BBC says Royal Mail, too: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/business/dhl-us-shipments-de-minimis-intl

If you've got things on layaway, personally, I'd suggest the customers wait, and see how things shake out. Right at the start (end of next week) will be the most chaotic.

 

@quilleth and @Ayaka Thanks for the information. My buyer still has another 2 months to go, so hopefully things calm down a bit on the parcel front by then

 

Hi folks, I’m in the UK and have just popped in to confirm that according to BBC News Royal Mail is one of the companies that have suspended US delivery. What a nightmare!

 

I'm in Germany and have also come to confirm the news are correct - it's currently only possible to send gifts (and documents) with value under 100 USD (85 EUR) from DE to USA with DHL (aka the USPS or Royal Mail equivalent of Germany) - so small stuff will still be possible but it will also be subject to more strict customs checks on both sides it seems. UPS seems to be the only courier still offering full operations to the US for the moment.