In another universe, I am opening up social media to see post after post about cosplay, with artists all around the world sharing their sewing, fabrication, make-up, wigs, performances, special effects, the list goes on. I am scrolling and smiling and reposting and saving things. I am inspired. There's interesting techniques. There's characters I've never seen before, and characters I have done in whole new ways. People are making things. A good start to the week. It would be lovely to write a blog about something exciting we're doing, too –– new kits, new digital files, anything new and exciting that makes us feel like we're living in a world where artists can thrive, create, and share our work with each other.
Unfortunately, the world is very complicated right now, so instead this is another update on shipping and global politics.
Here we go.
To our American clients:
As I'm sure you're all aware by now, a month ago, Donald Trump threatened Canada with another round of illegal 50% tariffs on a variety of products being imported into the United States, including goods that are currently covered by CUSMA, the trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico. These are called the Section 338 tariffs. Despite a solid attempt at negotiations, no trade deal was reached between Canada and the US, as the US administration made requests that would undermine Canada’s sovereignty. This is very painful for everyone and has been recognized by experts to be a highly destructive move on the US’s part; it will impact Canadian businesses hard, and increase costs for Americans dramatically, as these tariffs are paid by the American people.
This is why Americans will now see on our site that some of our products now have unexpectedly high shipping costs. That is now what it costs to send a package across the border. It varies by product, but we are devastated to say that’s just what the cost is.
The situation could change very quickly. We don’t know what will happen in the next few days, whether that’s both countries returning to the table or the United States walking this back. It’s a very serious situation for everyone, and in light of that, it feels a little wild to be worried about COSPLAY, and yet… here we are! Doing our art, our hobbies, our passions, our business. We have to keep on going.
On our end, here’s what it’s looking like right now:
The following are completely unaffected by tariffs:
- 3D print files
- Digital pattern files
- Embroidery files
- Basically any digital file
The following are nothing out of the ordinary from the past year; duties are all paid up front, you won’t be billed at the door:
- Fabrics
- Jewelry
- Tattoos
The following are presently screwed by the current Section 338 tariffs; the cost to ship them shows up in your cart, duties included, which is why it’s heinous to look at:
- 3D printed kits
- Resin kits
- Sewn garments
- Finished prop
This is an example of a kit right now in a cart bound for the USA;
Today, that last category is still available on the site, as our business ships internationally. But we hope Americans can understand that the shipping costs they’ll see on the checkout page are that way because that is what it costs to move these items into the United States right now. Eighteen months ago, before the US government gutted de minimus and started dropping bombs on critical trade routes, it was possible to ship the kit above for about $15 total. Trust that we are aware of how disturbing and punishing it is to be charged 5-6x more than it was just eighteen months ago, a time we all remember very clearly, and how rapidly it makes the kits we strive to make affordable completely unaffordable, to zero benefit to us.
If our products are out of your budget now, we totally understand. I can’t in good conscience ask anyone to pay those inflated prices, especially not when this economy is already causing hardships. But if there anything we can do for you and your cosplay, we appreciate your support, and we are ready to work. This is so hurtful to us in particular because of everything we’ve done, our kits have been our stand-outs; while access to 3D printing has improved, it’s still expensive machinery to own and operate, and very few people can justify the cost of moulding accessories to make resin kits. The cost of developing a resin kit really isn’t attainable for the vast majority of cosplayers, but as a business, we’ve been able to do it, and keep it as affordable as possible. It’s been really rewarding to us to be able to put so many accessories into people’s hands over the years, and we’re hoping this is just a brief period of unviability before we can get right back to it.
If you are an American with a 3D printer, please know that you are allowed to print and sell printed kits from our files! Our only requests are that you buy a copy of the file for each kit sold, and that you attribute us in any social media posts/listings. (The latter is part courtesy, and part because when you don’t, we get emails from good neighbours worried that it’s been stolen and looking out for us!)
Otherwise: through all this, we’re committed to being as transparent and open as we can. It’s the least we can do considering all of the times you’ve trusted us, supported us, and thought of us over the years; it means the world to be able to do this for cosplayers all over the globe. We’ve been so, so fortunate to be able to do this full-time, with a team of 6-8, for as long as we have –– and ideally for many years to come. We’re grateful for your continued support through our files, our fabrics, our tattoos, our jewelry, and, for some of you… still our kits.
To our Canadian clients:
What a week, huh?
All of us here stand in support of our government’s choice to walk away from the negotiating table. The deal being offered to Canada was not fair, would have stripped us of our culture and opportunities, and was a prelude to a full economic takeover. It's scary to say that, not only because we don’t really know what the future holds, but also because we are one of the businesses poised to feel the brunt of this. I know many of you are also scared for your jobs, for cost of living, and for whatever the US administration has planned next. But at least in times like these, we have national unity –– Canadians are very, very good at banding together in moments like these, and we're going to do it again and get by.
That said, if there is anything at all we can do for you –– whether that’s files, kits, finished props, full costumes, photo sets, or even space to craft in –– we’re here, we’re ready to work. We're hoping to see a lot of you at Blood Pool over the next few months, and we're not going to give up creating.
Love you all and let's keep our chins up.
To our European clients:
As we said last week, there has been a lot of chaos lately about shipping to Europe with the new regulations around packaging and packaging waste regulation. As a result, a lot of small businesses have stopped shipping to Europe, and a lot of shipping companies have changed the services they’re offering. But as far as we’ve seen, UPS, FedEx and other companies are still shipping normally, with no requirements for packaging changes, further documentation, or other such things.
The panic across small arts-based businesses right now is a little difficult to parse; many small businesses continue to ship despite the new regulations, in particular because it does not seem that almost any country has actually set up a way to be compliant, and shipping has not halted overall. It’s not uncommon for small arts and crafts based businesses to panic at this –– they did with Germany in 2022 with the implementation of VerpackG, and again across Europe with changes to product safety requirements in 2024, but both times shipping largely bounced back as it became possible to reasonably comply (Germany costs us $12 a year!) or countries realized it was economically unfeasible to enforce what they were proposing. We expect the same to happen here, especially with carveouts for small businesses coming very soon, and also given… so many of these countries seem to have had no plan for implementation, even well after the August 12th date.
So as before, we are shipping to Europe as normal. DDP is on, meaning there should be no additional charges after checkout. It is obviously higher than it was a year ago given Europe has suspended de minimus, as the US has, but otherwise things seem pretty normal. We are currently making some tweaks to get better rates and are keeping an eye on the situation, but at present, we continue!
Thank you so much for your support, especially in the last few years; there was a time where 95% of our business went to the United States, but we’re happy to say that Europe has collectively knocked that down to 65%. You guys have all really shown up for us, and we want to continue to support your cosplay projects in all the ways that we can. We really can’t thank you enough, and some of us are hoping to get over there again sometime to visit!
In conclusion:
If governments could all just simmer down, that would be great, we just want to make cosplay, please!!
Love and my eternal gratitude,
Jenn
Owner
PS. This morning, CBC radio approached us to ask if Jenn would like to speak about the impact of tariffs on small, Canadian business. If you'd like to tune in, we're estimating the show will air around 8am EST tomorrow (Aug 25th). Listen here.
