Has the U.S vs China trade war seen a price rise in steam items, like for instance the Chinese Hit & Miss engines and items from Jins etc ?
I haven't noticed anything yet based on the usual eBay listings, though admittedly I'm not currently in the market, so have not been following them any too closely. I would think the majority of impacts would occur in mainstream items of trade, and not so much in the small business models like Jin is working in. I have made a couple of purchases from HobbyKing recently, but didn't really notice any price increases on ESCs, servos, receivers or transmitters, over last years prices.
I wondered the same thing. Many of us are small time importers!
I saw a piece on Bloomberg a while back that charted US imports of $3 Billion in toys from China annually. Toys are on the tariff list beginning in September.
Unless that is the group moved back to December. At any rate, yes our China built toys are going to be taxed soon.
I have noticed a delivery charge on Chinese imports, it was very common just over a year ago to see FREE SHIPPING on nearly everything coming in from China ,not anymore for most things, the M91 I'm watching on E-bay has a $45.00 shipping fee.
Bonjour,
Good remark, I used to buy several accessories and steam plants to Jin without paying any fee and for my M91, I paid 35,00 € for a toy declared value of 50,00 €
As I am in France, I think its is not linked to US-China discussions but perhaps new rules from China ?
I have noticed a delivery charge on Chinese imports, it was very common just over a year ago to see FREE SHIPPING on nearly everything coming in from China ,not anymore for most things, the M91 I'm watching on E-bay has a $45.00 shipping fee.
Bruce, I still see quite a few of Jin's eBay listings offering free shipping. As far back as I can remember he has always had some listings that had shipping added on as well, so I don't see that much has changed .... yet!
I think what is currently going on in Hong Kong may bode poorly for our hobby items however, as that may not simply up total prices as tariffs can, but could actually cut off access completely.
Let us hope that cooler heads prevail, but history does have a tendency to repeat itself in an ever escalating spiral, so I'll not be surprised if it turns out badly for all concerned.
It seems that the same items from China are often listed on Ebay with several different purchasing options, some will have free shipping, others charge for shipping but the price is lower and then some have a higher price and also a shipping charge so one has to be diligent to get the best deal.