Tariffs & Model Airliner Prices

[CalAviator]

Recently saw an Instagram story from West Coast Diecasts and it got me thinking: what do the new tariffs mean now, specifically for US collectors? I am aware that tariffs will likely jack up prices by at least 10%, but I am interested to see what this community thinks. It's also sad to see that models even purchased from Canadian retailers will be affected.

 

[keji833]

just about to raise this as well, and I actually currently have an order stuck at customs from them.

I usually source my models from the two Canadian stores, westcoastdiecast and mv400, due to their better prices: MSRP+10%off plus free shipping, this usually gets you NG/PH widebody for about $50 flat, compared to US retailers which is around $55 at least (and these small differences add up). I buy relatively a good amount, like around 20 models a month.

I don't know what's gonna happen with my order, but if I'm forced to pay any extra it will be my last order from them unfortunately. Sadly US retailers will raise as well which means NG/PH will be in the $60 range which is just unnecessary so unfortunately my plan from now on is forced to be sourcing models entirely from China and have myself/my friends bring them over.

 

[OscarBravo992]

Well, some of you Americans did vote for this.

Without getting any more political, these are probably really annoying, especially for US collectors who buy large numbers of models each month. That 5 dollars or so on every model really adds up. I feel for the Candian retailers, they're probably going to lose a decent amount of business from the States. Maybe you'll get lucky and the orange man will remove the Canadian tariffs but somehow I don't see the Chinese ones getting lifted anytime soon.

 

[Tropicalista]

I agree in toto with OB992

 

[Airplane Wizard]

There are no Canadian tariffs..

 

[British Airways fan]

There are no Canadian tariffs..

It’s any product made in China that is effected that is why customers from the states ordering from Canada are getting affected

 

[Jazajia]

just about to raise this as well, and I actually currently have an order stuck at customs from them.

I usually source my models from the two Canadian stores, westcoastdiecast and mv400, due to their better prices: MSRP+10%off plus free shipping, this usually gets you NG/PH widebody for about $50 flat, compared to US retailers which is around $55 at least (and these small differences add up). I buy relatively a good amount, like around 20 models a month.

I don't know what's gonna happen with my order, but if I'm forced to pay any extra it will be my last order from them unfortunately. Sadly US retailers will raise as well which means NG/PH will be in the $60 range which is just unnecessary so unfortunately my plan from now on is forced to be sourcing models entirely from China and have myself/my friends bring them over.

The whole point of tariffs is to support domestic businesses.

Of course, nothing is that simple as in this case U.S. retailers could also be affected due to the China tariffs, and a lot of us are actually importing stock from Canada (3D Design Deck).

The tariffs on Chinese products could benefit U.S. model manufacturers, if there were any of course. But even in that hypothetical scenario, the advantage of Chinese tariffs would be negated, at least partially, with higher labor costs associated with stringent immigration policies.

It will be interesting to watch for sure, but as usual with politics, I think there will be a whole lot more talking than actions.

Having said all that, I don’t think models are cheaper in Canada anyway.

I do buy a lot from Canada, but that is because circumstances allowed me to build a couple of good relationships with store owners in that country and those relationships came with certain benefits.

But barring those good business relationships, prices are more competitive in the U.S.

There are currently two stores in the U.S. that offer free shipping on all orders (one also offers a 5% discount another one does a lot of promotions offering 15%). One that offers free shipping on orders above $149 (with a 10% discount) One that offers free shipping on orders above $120 (with a 13% discount).

Then you have another two big stores, one of which is particularly known for lower prices, that while don’t offer free shipping, do offer very competitive shipping and both offer 10% discounts also.

Many of the good prices I found in Canada came as a result of price matching from US stores.

I can’t speak for MV400, but sounds like you could do a bit more research on U.S. retailers. Many of us don’t do the amount of social media advertising that MV400 does. Glad to hear it is paying off for them.

 

[YesterAirlines]

The whole point of tariffs is to support domestic businesses.

Tariffs are a throwback to the 1930s and the Great Depression! A ludicrous outdated concept that in a modern globalised world can only damage everyone. The concept that they can or will improve domestic business is insane. The prosperity of the postwar world is built largely on free trade. Additionally, the lack of war between major trading nations can also largely be laid at the door of free trade.

It pains me that the rest of the world is so much at the mercy of the prejudice and ignorance of US voters. Since the rest of us have to suffer the moronic nonsense coming out of the US for the next 4 years I can only hope that US citizens feel the pain and the rest of us get off lightly. As several have said on here you get what you vote for and ultimately Americans have to take responsibilty for the imbecilic leadership that has been put in place.

Several distributors have stated that prices in the US will definitely go up by 10% very soon. In no way are there any positives for 400 scale.

 

[Irish]

Definitely agree with a lot of you guys, regardless of who did it and pushing politics to the side (no politics were really a problem here simply want to be unbiased as possible as that’s one of the quickest way to start something here aside from GJ/NG) we can all agree tariffs are nothing but harmful to the US economy and any argument that suggests they are you need to rethink that argument. Model planes are just a small scratch into the huge problem this will be for a lot of people in and outside the US. And certainly will be hell for all of our addictive hobbies here.

 

[Jazajia]

Tariffs are a throwback to the 1930s and the Great Depression! A ludicrous outdated concept that in a modern globalised world can only damage everyone. The concept that they can or will improve domestic business is insane. The prosperity of the postwar world is built largely on free trade. Additionally, the lack of war between major trading nations can also largely be laid at the door of free trade.

It pains me that the rest of the world is so much at the mercy of the prejudice and ignorance of US voters. Since the rest of us have to suffer the moronic nonsense coming out of the US for the next 4 years I can only hope that US citizens feel the pain and the rest of us get off lightly. As several have said on here you get what you vote for and ultimately Americans have to take responsibilty for the imbecilic leadership that has been put in place.

Several distributors have stated that prices in the US will definitely go up by 10% very soon. In no way are there any positives for 400 scale.

I am far from an economic or political expert, but how I understand it is that tariffs are a protectionist tool. In the post I quoted the author was complaining because he thought the price of models purchased from Canada while residing in the U.S were going to increase due to U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports. If we look at that scenario in isolation, tariffs would have served their purpose by incentivizing the post's author to buy models from retailers in the U.S.

In the rest of my post I explain why I think most of the trade [and immigration] policies being implemented in the U.S. will likely not serve their theoretical purpose, and might even conflict with each other.

I'm not sure why you got so passionate replying to my post. I was talking more about models not being cheaper in Canada, which is irrelevant to the whole tariff discussion.

 

[YesterAirlines]

I am far from an economic or political expert, but how I understand it is that tariffs are a protectionist tool. In the post I quoted the author was complaining because he thought the price of models purchased from Canada while residing in the U.S were going to increase due to U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports. If we look at that scenario in isolation, tariffs would have served their purpose by incentivizing the post's author to buy models from retailers in the U.S.

In the rest of my post I explain why I think most of the trade [and immigration] policies being implemented in the U.S. will likely not serve their theoretical purpose, and might even conflict with each other.

I'm not sure why you got so passionate replying to my post. I was talking more about models not being cheaper in Canada, which is irrelevant to the whole tariff discussion.

Not aimed at you Jorge at all! Just at the general annoyance of the US at the moment

 

[keji833]

I can’t speak for MV400, but sounds like you could do a bit more research on U.S. retailers. Many of us don’t do the amount of social media advertising that MV400 does. Glad to hear it is paying off for them.

Interesting and I will explore a bit. Funny thing is to me MV400 first appeared like a scam as it's like this thing that suddenly started popping off my ins EVERY 2,3 posts. I thought they can't be serious but that eventually prompted me to take a look and I was surprised they were legit lmao.

but anyway I'm no political at all, just want to enjoy the hobby and keep it economical.

 

[Jazajia]

Interesting and I will explore a bit. Funny thing is to me MV400 first appeared like a scam as it's like this thing that suddenly started popping off my ins EVERY 2,3 posts. I thought they can't be serious but that eventually prompted me to take a look and I was surprised they were legit lmao.

but anyway I'm no political at all, just want to enjoy the hobby and keep it economical.

No problem. Your post just happened to highlight one of the reasons tariff exist (to get you to look at retailers inside your country of residence).

If you have a good thing going with WCD and MV400 that’s fine, building good relationships with retailers is more important than saving a buck or two. I know Dan at WCD is a very trustworthy guy and sounds like the MV400 folks are good people to deal with.

But if we are talking strictly about getting models for the absolute lowest price, I think we are better off staying within U.S. borders.

 

[JJ Skippy]

I saw these tariffs coming. I had gotten the heads up from a few friends who saw it coming once our new President was sworn in. We’ll see how bad these price increases are, but once they do go into effect, I hate to say this, we might lose some collectors as a result. Price increases aren’t new to this hobby, but with this affecting all brands and not just one or two brands it’s going to be tough for some to justify purchasing new models at all.

I personally won’t change my buying habits, but if the price increases are that substantial then I’ll have to take more time to think about a purchase before paying up.

 

[Mikeymag]

I'll stick to my purchases to about 1 or 2 planes a month.

 

[UALFan1994]

Well, some of you Americans did vote for this.

Without getting any more political, these are probably really annoying, especially for US collectors who buy large numbers of models each month. That 5 dollars or so on every model really adds up. I feel for the Candian retailers, they're probably going to lose a decent amount of business from the States. Maybe you'll get lucky and the orange man will remove the Canadian tariffs but somehow I don't see the Chinese ones getting lifted anytime soon.

Border security and illegal drug operations are bigger national priorities than model airplane collecting in the grand scheme of things. Lol.

 

[ghqv2988]

Interesting and I will explore a bit. Funny thing is to me MV400 first appeared like a scam as it's like this thing that suddenly started popping off my ins EVERY 2,3 posts. I thought they can't be serious but that eventually prompted me to take a look and I was surprised they were legit lmao.

but anyway I'm no political at all, just want to enjoy the hobby and keep it economical.

I'm actually in a situation where I received a defective model from MV400. Contacted them to initiate an exchange or return/refund. They told me they would reorder the model from the factory (from which I presume it is now sold out from), and once it arrived, to have it shipped to me with a return label for the defective model.

In theory, this sounds great. My concerns are:
-This is a model that is now sold out at most retailers. It was announced by Phoenix back in October. Can retailers really just contact the factory for extra pieces?
-This model had been on pre-order for over 3 months. MV400 did not give me any estimated ETA for the replacement. I would rather not wait indefinitely for a replacement after having already waited over 3 months.

Ultimately, I requested to return the model for a refund with a label that he said he could provide. I have not received any response after raising my initial concerns. It's my first time buying from them. Not so sure about their customer service after this experience so far.

 

[ChairFlyer101]

The whole point of tariffs is to support domestic businesses.

Of course, nothing is that simple as in this case U.S. retailers could also be affected due to the China tariffs, and a lot of us are actually importing stock from Canada (3D Design Deck).

The tariffs on Chinese products could benefit U.S. model manufacturers, if there were any of course. But even in that hypothetical scenario, the advantage of Chinese tariffs would be negated, at least partially, with higher labor costs associated with stringent immigration policies.

It will be interesting to watch for sure, but as usual with politics, I think there will be a whole lot more talking than actions.

Having said all that, I don’t think models are cheaper in Canada anyway.

I do buy a lot from Canada, but that is because circumstances allowed me to build a couple of good relationships with store owners in that country and those relationships came with certain benefits.

But barring those good business relationships, prices are more competitive in the U.S.

There are currently two stores in the U.S. that offer free shipping on all orders (one also offers a 5% discount another one does a lot of promotions offering 15%). One that offers free shipping on orders above $149 (with a 10% discount) One that offers free shipping on orders above $120 (with a 13% discount).

Then you have another two big stores, one of which is particularly known for lower prices, that while don’t offer free shipping, do offer very competitive shipping and both offer 10% discounts also.

Many of the good prices I found in Canada came as a result of price matching from US stores.

I can’t speak for MV400, but sounds like you could do a bit more research on U.S. retailers. Many of us don’t do the amount of social media advertising that MV400 does. Glad to hear it is paying off for them.

What are the stores that offer free shipping? I know of PandaFox I now need to diversify from mv400 and WCD because of the tariffs.

 

[British Airways fan]

I'm actually in a situation where I received a defective model from MV400. Contacted them to initiate an exchange or return/refund. They told me they would reorder the model from the factory (from which I presume it is now sold out from), and once it arrived, to have it shipped to me with a return label for the defective model.

In theory, this sounds great. My concerns are:
-This is a model that is now sold out at most retailers. It was announced by Phoenix back in October. Can retailers really just contact the factory for extra pieces?
-This model had been on pre-order for over 3 months. MV400 did not give me any estimated ETA for the replacement. I would rather not wait indefinitely for a replacement after having already waited over 3 months.

Ultimately, I requested to return the model for a refund with a label that he said he could provide. I have not received any response after raising my initial concerns. It's my first time buying from them. Not so sure about their customer service after this experience so far.

Which model was it?

 

[bakejobb_23]

The whole point of tariffs is to support domestic businesses.

Of course, nothing is that simple as in this case U.S. retailers could also be affected due to the China tariffs, and a lot of us are actually importing stock from Canada (3D Design Deck).

The tariffs on Chinese products could benefit U.S. model manufacturers, if there were any of course. But even in that hypothetical scenario, the advantage of Chinese tariffs would be negated, at least partially, with higher labor costs associated with stringent immigration policies.

It will be interesting to watch for sure, but as usual with politics, I think there will be a whole lot more talking than actions.

Having said all that, I don’t think models are cheaper in Canada anyway.

I do buy a lot from Canada, but that is because circumstances allowed me to build a couple of good relationships with store owners in that country and those relationships came with certain benefits.

But barring those good business relationships, prices are more competitive in the U.S.

There are currently two stores in the U.S. that offer free shipping on all orders (one also offers a 5% discount another one does a lot of promotions offering 15%). One that offers free shipping on orders above $149 (with a 10% discount) One that offers free shipping on orders above $120 (with a 13% discount).

Then you have another two big stores, one of which is particularly known for lower prices, that while don’t offer free shipping, do offer very competitive shipping and both offer 10% discounts also.

Many of the good prices I found in Canada came as a result of price matching from US stores.

I can’t speak for MV400, but sounds like you could do a bit more research on U.S. retailers. Many of us don’t do the amount of social media advertising that MV400 does. Glad to hear it is paying off for them.

Can you give the list of US retailers for those of us in the US that might be looking for new retailers soon? I’m always looking to diversify my retailer lists to check values and deals Might help keep some people in the hobby the more they become known in the community.

Looking at the box for my 2009 release US Airways A321 and the original retail price of 29.95 just hits different man… I could buy so many models per month if everything was still those prices….