Ordering From Overseas Still?

[oldcarfan]

Please don't take this as political as I'm genuinely wondering. As of yesterday I saw a notice that many EU and Asian countries will no longer take packages bound for the US until the issues are worked out. However, and this is what I'm wondering, I also saw that mail and packages valued at less than $100 would still be accepted. Over the last year I've been ordering a lot of things from SpotModel and various Japanese shops.

It sounds like that means that we can keep orders under $100 and still get stuff. My last order came in from Japan about a month ago with no problems. 

If this is too off topic, please delete. I'm not trying to start any arguments. 

[The Junkman]

The Quick and Dirty?  Nobody knows, including those implementing the changes.  All we can do is wait for it to shake out.

[BKF]

I've got a list of ProScale paints im wanting to order soon so i too was wondering how that will go.

[iamsuperdan]

I'm very tempted to do a pre-emptive lock. 

However, I too have noticed on my IG, that almost all of the companies I follow from Europe, Canada, Australia, etc have posted that either they are choosing not to ship to the US, or their postal service has suspended all parcel shipping to the US. This is for model stuff, guitars, vehicle parts.

Tough situation.

 

 

I'm guessing this thread will get locked by end of day today.

 

 

[Bainford]

53 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

I'm very tempted to do a pre-emptive lock. 

However, I too have noticed on my IG, that almost all of the companies I follow from Europe, Canada, Australia, etc have posted that either they are choosing not to ship to the US, or their postal service has suspended all parcel shipping to the US. This is for model stuff, guitars, vehicle parts.

Tough situation.

 

 

I'm guessing this thread will get locked by end of day today.

 

 

Because of its potential political bent, or because of perceived negativity?

I do think this is a valid topic. It is an international issue that discusses significant problems that effects almost everyone on this board, whether we are in the US and ordering from abroad, or we are from anywhere else ordering from the US. This problem may be politically generated, but personally, I have no interest in political discussion. I do, however, have a great interest in discussion on this topic as it is having a huge effect on our community, trying to figure out how and where we will obtain our kits and supplies. Politics aside, this topic, and its impact, is foremost in the minds of very many on this forum. The discussion does not have to include any politics, just the reality that we are all living with at this time.

I do hope you will allow this discussion to continue. I also hope that this reply will not push it over the top.

[stitchdup]

23 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Because of its potential political bent, or because of perceived negativity?

I do think this is a valid topic. It is an international issue that discusses significant problems that effects almost everyone on this board, whether we are in the US and ordering from abroad, or we are from anywhere else ordering from the US. This problem may be politically generated, but personally, I have no interest in political discussion. I do, however, have a great interest in discussion on this topic as it is having a huge effect on our community, trying to figure out how and where we will obtain our kits and supplies. Politics aside, this topic, and its impact, is foremost in the minds of very many on this forum. The discussion does not have to include any politics, just the reality that we are all living with at this time.

I do hope you will allow this discussion to continue. I also hope that this reply will not push it over the top.

purely because it tends to end up political, and then people end up on moderation or worse. none of us want that. i'll leave it for now but any politics and it gets locked. 

[iamsuperdan]

2 hours ago, Bainford said:

Because of its potential political bent, or because of perceived negativity?

I do think this is a valid topic. It is an international issue that discusses significant problems that effects almost everyone on this board, whether we are in the US and ordering from abroad, or we are from anywhere else ordering from the US. This problem may be politically generated, but personally, I have no interest in political discussion. I do, however, have a great interest in discussion on this topic as it is having a huge effect on our community, trying to figure out how and where we will obtain our kits and supplies. Politics aside, this topic, and its impact, is foremost in the minds of very many on this forum. The discussion does not have to include any politics, just the reality that we are all living with at this time.

I do hope you will allow this discussion to continue. I also hope that this reply will not push it over the top.

100% because politics will eventually enter the chat. 

[oldcarfan]

I can delete if necessary, let me know.

[iamsuperdan]

Nah, people are either behaving or just staying away because they know they wouldn't be able to contain themselves.

 

So for now, we all good. 

[oldcarfan]

I'm kind of tempted to place an order from Hobby Search/1999.co.jp or SpotModel and keep it under $100 just to see what happens. Maybe that's tempting fate.

[meechum68]

I have a single kit coming from Japan, but the worst is, it's been in the "preship" stage for a good bit, and expected Sept 22. It is one of my Initial D cars. I will see how this goes once Sept hits, if it doesn't look good, I will cancel, and see what I can find locally. 

Definitely interesting times for so many of the hobby things we get from abroad. 

 

[1930fordpickup]

The biggest problem with this topic is even some of the facts may be taken as political. 

My stash is large enough anyway. 

 

[Mike 1017]

E-Mail the vendors to get the facts

[stitchdup]

17 minutes ago, Mike 1017 said:

E-Mail the vendors to get the facts

its not vendors thats the problem, shipping companies wont accept usa parcels currently as they dont have storage space. on top of that, royal mail require every item in a box listed exactly with a value. they would not accept 45 piece scale model engine in 3d resin so i ended up writting a boring novel for the stuff i sent. an hour to post one parcel

[bobthehobbyguy]

I believe the biggest issue is that in the past items less than $800 did not have to be handled by customs. That threshold has changed and the system does not have the resources to handle the new volumes. Hopefully the issues will be addressed.

[iamsuperdan]

2 hours ago, stitchdup said:

its not vendors thats the problem, shipping companies wont accept usa parcels currently as they dont have storage space. on top of that, royal mail require every item in a box listed exactly with a value. they would not accept 45 piece scale model engine in 3d resin so i ended up writting a boring novel for the stuff i sent. an hour to post one parcel

You're right. It's actually a lot of the postal services. I've used a company in Switzerland before for guitar parts. He has recently posted that Swiss Post is no longer sending parcels to the US.

 US customs regulations hamper the shipping of goods to the USA

 

 

 

[Mike 1017]

On 8/28/2025 at 8:14 AM, Mike 1017 said:

E-Mail the vendors to get the facts

 

23 hours ago, stitchdup said:

its not vendors thats the problem, shipping companies wont accept usa parcels currently as they dont have storage space. on top of that, royal mail require every item in a box listed exactly with a value. they would not accept 45 piece scale model engine in 3d resin so i ended up writting a boring novel for the stuff i sent. an hour to post one parcel

The vendors will explain that fact

[papajohn97]

Initially, like many here I figured I'm safe because of my extensive stash of unbuilt kits (cars, planes, tanks, ships) that I've accumulated over the years. Then it occurred to me....Oh No! ....Paint! Supplies! Decals! AM stuff! Many of these items are foreign sourced (Tamiya, Gunze, Zero, Cartograph, AK, MiG, Eduards,....). I guess US dealers will still be ordering big orders (> $800) from any foreign manufacturers and selling to us domestically but I can also imagine a possible supply chain slow-down due to bureaucratic issues/ customs process chaos over the coming weeks (months?).....

We may all want to take inventory on our paint & building supplies and order a safety stock as required from US dealers soon???? God forbid we all run out of paint & glue!
 

[Luc Janssens]

The business model of HLJ (and the like) is going to take a hit with this.

In Europe we are used to this, we always had to pay duties on commercial packages comming in from outside the EU.

[LDO]

This is a bummer. I bought an old motorcycle magazine from a seller in Japan. It sat in Japan for about 15 days, now it will arrive with a tariff charge. 

I ordered a paper model from Germany about two months ago. Due to a glitch from their supplier, it hasn’t shipped yet. Germany is not shipping to the United States. 
 

I’m waiting for replacement parts for a model from Slovenia. Also not shipping to the United States. 

[DJMar]

The UK and Japan stopped parcel delivery to the US as of Wednesday. As of today (08/28) South Korea and Australia, along with a list of 25+ other countries, have suspended all package delivery to the US until further notice. Most postal services in Europe and Asia say they are working on short term solutions, but the situation is definitely in flux.

On the commercial side, DHL Europe is not delivering to the US at this point either.

 

 

[oldcarfan]

10 hours ago, papajohn97 said:

Initially, like many here I figured I'm safe because of my extensive stash of unbuilt kits (cars, planes, tanks, ships) that I've accumulated over the years. Then it occurred to me....Oh No! ....Paint! Supplies! Decals! AM stuff! Many of these items are foreign sourced (Tamiya, Gunze, Zero, Cartograph, AK, MiG, Eduards,....). I guess US dealers will still be ordering big orders (> $800) from any foreign manufacturers and selling to us domestically but I can also imagine a possible supply chain slow-down due to bureaucratic issues/ customs process chaos over the coming weeks (months?).....

We may all want to take inventory on our paint & building supplies and order a safety stock as required from US dealers soon???? God forbid we all run out of paint & glue!
 

Being cautious, these last couple of months I've been stopping at the closest hobby shop to stock up on Tamiya primers and paints when I'm in town. It's a 2 hour drive, but better safe than sorry. If nothing else, I'll go back to Duplicolor primers. As for kits I'm one of those guys who has hoarded kits for years in anticipation of retiring.

[SpeedAndViolence]

I ordered several items from overseas via feebay, and although it's still early in the game, I may be hosed on one of the five orders. The one that's 'hung up' was ordered from Taiwan on the 20th. It made it to Taipei on the 22nd, and hasn't moved since.  

I have an order from Spotmodel, placed on the 20th, and another feebay order that I placed on the 21st originating from Australia, and both appear to be moving, albeit slowly, but thankfully still moving.  But yeah..the other day I found something on feeebay that I had never seen before, that a gentlemen in the UK was selling. I paid for it as soon as I seen it, but the gentlemen immediately refunded me and refused to allow me to purchase it. I've looked for 3 days trying to find an identical item here in the US and I'm not having any luck at all.  

[oldcarfan]

31 minutes ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

I ordered several items from overseas via feebay, and although it's still early in the game, I may be hosed on one of the five orders. The one that's 'hung up' was ordered from Taiwan on the 20th. It made it to Taipei on the 22nd, and hasn't moved since.  

I have an order from Spotmodel, placed on the 20th, and another feebay order that I placed on the 21st originating from Australia, and both appear to be moving, albeit slowly, but thankfully still moving.  But yeah..the other day I found something on feeebay that I had never seen before, that a gentlemen in the UK was selling. I paid for it as soon as I seen it, but the gentlemen immediately refunded me and refused to allow me to purchase it. I've looked for 3 days trying to find an identical item here in the US and I'm not having any luck at all.  

I was wondering if SpotModel was still shipping. I need some parts from them and emailed last night about shipping but haven't heard anything yet. 

[SpeedAndViolence]

7 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

I was wondering if SpotModel was still shipping. I need some parts from them and emailed last night about shipping but haven't heard anything yet. 

Proceed with caution.

Back in February of this year, I placed an order and one of the items I ordered is 'on demand'. I think I had to wait about month for it to be delivered to Spotmodel. In the meantime, I added many additional items to my order. The order in its entirety shipped the week of April 22nd and was due to be delivered within 10 days. I was tracking my order and one day before it was to be delivered I received an email from UPS stating that I owed UPS an additional $395 for Tariffs, and Customs fees. The amount I was getting billed was 110% more than I paid for everything.So I declined delivery and immediately requested my package be returned to Spotmodel. Conveniently, UPS has misplaced my package and although Spotmodel filed a claim and appears on the surface to be working on my behalf for a refund, I still have not received it. In regards to communication with Spotmodel, I am having to continuously email them for updates. The more this drags on, the less and less (it seems) they are interested in helping me.