Under the "What if the tariff situation changes?" section on https://store.repebble.com/
I was excited and about to purchase one until I saw this "We might not ship the device unless you pay us more" thing. I get that the economy is very up in the air right now in the US, but sucks that seemingly ordinary businesses are losing international business because of it.
Better to just wait until the whole drama blows over I suppose.
Sometimes I'll do it anyway for one of two reasons: to lock in a price that may increase later, or to receive an item earlier than I would otherwise, due to excessive demand.
But I recognize that everyone's a snowflake, so you do you.
Sadly the damage these people are causing by their implicit support for the end of the modern world won’t fix the problem when America realises it’s making itself poorer, history shows countries double down.
Why do you think I haven't been calling my representatives to complain about tariffs? What leads you to believe I'm not on the street protesting?
It doesn't change how I choose to spend my money.
I find what they’re doing very transparent from top to bottom. If you’re worried about it, don’t buy one. But if you’re worried they’re going to pull the rug out from under you, I don’t think you need to.
But regardless, they're not saying they would increase the "price" (whatever that means), but just that if the tariff situation changes, then the customer will need to pay the additional tariff. This is the same as what would happen if a state increased the sales tax rate and they had to collect and remit additional sales tax. It just so happens that it's unlikely any state is going to sharply increase its sales tax in the next year, but there's a decent chance the tariff rate will jump. If the sales tax went up, I wouldn't consider that to be the company raising the price. Same for tariffs, in my book.
Which means that in high-profile cases where the VAT rate is disputed, it's the retailer who is on the hook for the disputed amount. Recent examples being Greggs (a baker, who won their case, so no tax payable) and Uber (where I'm not actually sure whether it's finalised yet? But if they end up needing to pay VAT then it's going to be expensive).
In the past tariffs were implemented or modified with a long notice period so businesses could plan ahead.
Now they are being added or changed at the whim of a tantrum with no notice, so of course prices might need to also reflect that at short notice.
Prices changing after a preorder is completely different and not anything US specific.
I think it may even be illegal for consumer prices. What they display or list in the contract is what you pay.
But on the other hand I'm used to paying import taxes separately when ordering something from outside the EU.
But that doesn't have much to do with a price increasing weeks or months after paying for a preorder.
Tax policies change from the Truth Social post to the press conference.
FWIW, I'm in south-Europe, maybe that's why I got surprised I wouldn't have known the final price until the device would land in my hand?
Large stores can afford to precalculate this and use a service that will handle taxes for you, small stores not so much so you may end paying it personally on receiving the package. But they can afford to precalculate it if the taxes are known in advance (usually starts at whatever your country's VAT rate is).
Now in this case, shipping to the US looks like it will be randomly taxed depending on the phase of the moon and how well Trump has slept last night, so this warning is fair. You can't expect them to absorb a 50% import tax if it's established tomorrow.
Sure, and as you also seem familiar with, you know it's pretty trivial to calculate yourself when you place your order :)
So far, I've never bought something internationally, then before shipping the tax laws changed enough that the toll and/or tax payment was different than I expected.