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Chinese pen sellers.


drakolord

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Not on the up and up. But what will Chinese pen sellers from sites like AliExpress, eBay, amazon, and Etsy going to do come February 1st 2025? 

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2 hours ago, drakolord said:

come February 1st 2025? 

 

Nothing much, I guess, since they'll most probably still be ‘away’ on account on Chinese New Year.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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I suspect that they'll continue to ship pens to the US, and use the usual methods to skirt around tariffs. In Canada, de minimis is CA$10, and you are supposed to pay a high percentage on all imports. You almost never actually get charged these fees when you order from China, because they use multiple kinds of international mail black magic (including, but not limited to lieing about the value on customs forms). I think fountain pens are well suited to this because pens are small, and most people are extremely surprised to learn that you can spend more than US$10 on a pen.

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If the OP's question was posed implicitly or tacitly in relation to any changes in the US market due the new Trump administration — which I would have completely missed, since FPN is an international forum and based out of the Netherlands, and I myself am Australian (from a Chinese background) — the answer would be that the Chinese sellers on those platforms would do nothing different come February, since they take a one-size-fits-all approach towards outward-facing (in relation to China) sales, and the US market is just a minority among those who order pens and such internationally from them. (Then again, inside the US market itself, those who would seek to order ‘grey imports’ themselves from China outside of official distributors and ‘local’ stockists of goods would be in the minority among US-based consumers who buy pens and inks.)

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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On 1/25/2025 at 11:01 PM, A Smug Dill said:

If the OP's question was posed implicitly or tacitly in relation to any changes in the US market due the new Trump administration — which I would have completely missed, since FPN is an international forum and based out of the Netherlands, and I myself am Australian (from a Chinese background) — the answer would be that the Chinese sellers on those platforms would do nothing different come February, since they take a one-size-fits-all approach towards outward-facing (in relation to China) sales, and the US market is just a minority among those who order pens and such internationally from them. (Then again, inside the US market itself, those who would seek to order ‘grey imports’ themselves from China outside of official distributors and ‘local’ stockists of goods would be in the minority among US-based consumers who buy pens and inks.)

Welp we will see in 12 hours est. All I know is I got all the Chinese pens for now that I need.

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2 hours ago, drakolord said:

I need

 

Has "need" something to do with pen buying? 😁

I had all the pens I need years ago. And I am still buying. 🙄

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Well outside of the n10 hongdian that is being delivered. I got the hongdian m2. Hero 329, 616 jumbo, 100, and 1k. Jinhao 10 and 80. Majohn a1 - a3, c5, and v1. Penbbs 355 improved. Asvine C2000. Nahvaurl original.

 

Right now I want to focus on Americana. 

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16 hours ago, drakolord said:

Welp we will see in 12 hours est. All I know is I got all the Chinese pens for now that I need.

Apparently the exemption on tariffs for items under $800 has ended for Canadian and Chinese goods. So 10% added to pens purchased from China. This will hit AliExpress, Temu, and eBay pretty hard. 

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Here’s a link to an article in NY Magazine that talks about the de minimus exception for items under $800. It mentions that Trump does intend to eliminate it, but with some tariffs on hold and no clear direction from above, this hasn’t been addressed yet. The article mentions the Biden admin was also

preparing to eliminate this exemption as well. I’m not surprised, most countries apply duties, the US is, or soon will have been, an exception. It’s an easy revenue stream to tap, especially as it coincides with the current trade war mentality. 
 

No paywall:

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/how-tariffs-and-ending-de-minimis-could-kill-temu-and-shein.html

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4 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

Here’s a link to an article in NY Magazine that talks about the de minimus exception for items under $800.

 

Just to be clear, that has nothing to do with the OP's question of,

On 1/26/2025 at 5:01 AM, drakolord said:

But what will Chinese pen sellers from sites like AliExpress, eBay, amazon, and Etsy going to do

 

because they aren't doing anything different, irrespective of what the marketplace platforms have to implement in order to account for tariffs before finalising the transaction, much less any impacts in costs and delays felt by US-based consumers. Separation of concerns rules! There is no need and no pressure for the sellers to do anything in response to changes in policy in the US (i.e. one regional market overseas) “at the border” with regard to personal imports from China.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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22 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Just to be clear, that has nothing to do with the OP's question of,

 

because they aren't doing anything different, irrespective of what the marketplace platforms have to implement in order to account for tariffs before finalising the transaction, much less any impacts in costs and delays felt by US-based consumers. Separation of concerns rules! There is no need and no pressure for the sellers to do anything in response to changes in policy in the US (i.e. one regional market overseas) “at the border” with regard to personal imports from China.

True, but it’s important background information for us in the US who are struggling to understand what’s going on. 
 

Your early comment on this thread mentioned US buyers being just a slice of the international pen market made me curious if you have a sense of whether US sales are a large fraction of the international market or relatively minor? Certainly Chinese pens in recent years have made a significant impact on the US pen community, so it’s interesting to consider the reverse hasn’t happened, apparently. You don’t think 365Days or similar AliExpress stores would suffer much if US sales dropped 50%?
 

Anyway, I came to the forum to start a new thread, not because it doesn’t relate to the original query but because I thought it was big enough news to merit its own thread. Come look!

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35 minutes ago, Dan Carmell said:

You don’t think 365Days or similar AliExpress stores would suffer much if US sales dropped 50%?

 

The individual seller who has a particular marketing focus and targeted clientele might. On the whole, across sellers on such marketplace platforms based in China, of which the ones “you” prefer and/or trust to deal with is a minority by sheer numbers (of orders, total dollars transacted, distinct customers, etc.)? No, not really. They might “suffer” some setback financially upfront, and then they'd turn their focus elsewhere to (shoppers from) countries that are “easier” for them to deal with.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Import into Japan is taxed above $70, import into Europe is even taxed from far below this amount, as far as I heard.

Still, sellers from China make good business with Japan and Europe - or am I wrong?

 

It is just you who will have to pay taxes. If you continue to buy, nothing will really change for the sellers.

 

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