Update on shipping to US, de minimis & more - 23/04/2025

Hey everyone, it’s Pat.

There’s been a lot of news going around about the US’ reciprocal tariffs and how that’s affecting pricing of the products being sold around the world, so I’d like to share our side of the story and what’s going to happen at least while the 90-day pause is still in effect. After that, who knows what will happen?

First, we will not be raising the prices of our products because of the tariffs, so you don’t have to worry about that in the meantime. Luckily for us, our raw material costs have not increased because our suppliers are not directly affected by the US reciprocal tariffs. Plus, all of our products are handmade in Malaysia.

We will continue to offer free worldwide shipping for orders that qualify, so that you can continue to use the savings to reduce the burden of import taxes (these savings average to about USD50) imposed in certain countries--nothing’s changing there.

Next, I want to talk about something called the de minimis rule in relation to importing products from foreign countries (eg: buying one of our bags when you’re from the US). This is a condition in many countries whereby import tax will only apply if the value of the import is above a certain amount. The amount consists of the cost of the shipment + transportation (courier) charges. 

For the US, this amount is USD800 (around RM3,500, or about 3 Rainmakers + 1 Metromonger). In the past, the general rule was that if you don’t import more than USD800, you won’t have to pay import taxes. Today though, this is changing.

DHL has just informed us that they will refuse to accept any shipments to the US valued at above USD800, to avoid complications during US customs clearance. The good news for you, our customers, is that we’ve never shipped any order to the US that has been above USD800 in a single shipment...unless you plan to bulk buy Rainmakers for your family or friends. So, for the most part, this new change shouldn’t affect your orders.

However, if there does happen to be a particularly large order that exceeds this amount, what we will do on our end is split this order into two different shipments. These shipments will be shipped on different days so that you can still receive our products in the US without the complications of hitting the de minimis threshold.

As far as our understanding of the situation right now, these shipments that are below the USD800 de minimis rule will not be subjected to the reciprocal tariffs that the current US administration has subjected Malaysia to–and we have verified this fact with our delivery partner DHL. 

I guess all those years of keeping our products as fairly priced and affordable as possible is paying off. You could buy a whole lot of stuff from our store and still not come anywhere near the de minimis limit.

Of course, a lot of things are still up in the air at the moment, and there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding what will happen after the 90-day pause. And I’m also not an expert when it comes to import taxes and global trade, I’m just a guy who’s trying to make the best bags for you to carry all your hopes and dreams.

So, for now, this is our plan. We don’t know what will happen in the future, but we’ll definitely update you as soon as anything changes on our side, especially after the 90-day reciprocal tariff pause expires. 

I understand that this is a tough time for all of us, and it’s gonna get tougher to enjoy this hobby of ours if things continue to get worse. But we’ll do what we can for you, our community, and I thank you for all the amazing support you’ve shown Greenroom136 over the years.

–Pat