I know. I know. We are still talking about the tariffs. And I do apologize for that and promise that this will be the last time I write to you about the tariffs until they go away. When that happens I will return with the exciting news that tariffs are going away and prices are going back down. I am cautiously optimistic that they will go away at some point but when that happens I am afraid is a huge unknown.
While traveling in Africa I managed to live in a bubble and avoid much of the news but there was of course one story that I could not avoid and that was the pre-mature elimination of the de minimis, a minimum amount of products that can be imported into the US without being charged a tariff. Most of you may not have known what the term de minimis meant as I myself did not know until I owned this little shop. In my first year of business I got a tariff bill from UPS because I did import an order that was over $800. That is how I learned what this term meant and I just made sure moving forward to stay under that amount on all imported orders. It made sense to me that there would be a cap on what could be imported but I also wanted to avoid accruing any extra expenses.
Once this tariff madness started earlier this year I continued with my normal practice of keeping my orders well under the de minimis and had been able to avoid most tariffs with the exception of the few items in my shop that are manufactured in China. So my heart absolutely sank when I saw that the de minimis was going away by the end of August for all imports. Everything imported from another country moving forward, no matter how small or big, will be tariffed.
What does this mean for our little shop and small businesses everywhere in the country? Sadly, it means that we must raise our prices to maintain some semblance of realistic profit margins while also finding ways to lessen the blow for consumers by sharing in the cost by lowering some profit margins. As you can see from these images it's a complicated thing to assess. I think I deliberated for about 20 minutes with my staff the other day to decide just how much to increase the price of a product that is now being tariffed. I really want everyone out there to know that I take price increases very seriously and put a lot of thought into how to manage the increased expenses this little shop is now facing.
To make things more complicated there have been shipping increases as well. Many national postal systems in the world are currently refusing to delivery mail to the US because they are either confused on how to implement and collect tariffs or possibly confused on whether or not they actually are responsible for doing so. The process of clarifying information and putting a collection process in place is apparently confusing and burdensome for other countries. Where I once had 6-7 different options for shipping from Japan there are now three and those three are quite a bit more expensive than the currently unavailable options. This image below reveals the shipping cost for 68 towels was $120 where a month ago it would have been only half of that.
Nothing aggravates me more than those scenarios that unfold where consumers are forced to pay higher prices because of a temporary situation that once resolved does not result in a return to the previous lower prices. Remember years ago when gas got really really expensive and airlines decided they would add a surcharge to luggage in order to compensate for the higher gas prices? Notice how we are still paying to check our luggage? I want to be clear that my incoming price increases are truly only being put in place as a reaction to having to pay tariffs, not as a means to increase our profit margins. If the tariffs go away and lower cost shipping options return the prices will return to their former lower price. 
In order to keep track of the price increases, be completely transparent, and help educate consumers on the effects of this administrations actions I have decided to include a note in the product description for any product that experiences a price increase. It will look just like this image above and be located at the bottom of the product description before the "details" area of each page.
Our best case scenario will be to increase as few prices as possible, maintain our average profit margins, and pass on as little of the cost of the tariffs to you as we can manage. I have been overwhelmed by the support that the Pink Moon Goods community has provided not only in your continued purchases but also in your kind words and your continued interest in the well being of our shop.
This is one moment in the history of this adorable shop and I feel confident that we can push through and find ways to remain vibrant and successful. But darn, it sure feels heavy. Thanks for being here to experience it with us and thanks again for your support.