Item — HN Reader

One example:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3462759/article/45682877#45...

> we will work with Splotter to bring these in direct and if it costs us more money than originally intended we will just eat that cost. Hopefully this leads to new relationship for us and one that can be more transparent and beneficial for both parties.

One more:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/18wood/18royalgorge/pos...

> We’ve said from the beginning that we wouldn’t pass any tariffs on to our backers. And unless something truly catastrophic happens in the next couple days (knock on wood), that promise still holds. You will not be paying extra tariffs on your copy of the game.

These are just two examples that I’ve encountered personally.

Again, not claiming that it’s normal, but just saying that there are definitely exceptions to “customer pays 100% of tariffs”.

2 comments

Those are for goods already sold to customers at a certain price. Their next product will include the price hike. Retail does not have the same restriction that preorders have.

> One example:

Oh, it's a great example. You only have to read on a bit to see this:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3462759/article/45685404#45...

--- start quote ---

The cost for sure will be greater than expected but it's not anything we would ask of our preorder customers. We did have to make a minor adjustment in price moving forward.

--- end quote ---

We don't know how much of a loss they are taking on those pre-orders.

> One more:

Another great example if you only understand what's written, emphasis mine:

--- start quote ---

We’ve said from the beginning that we wouldn’t pass any tariffs on to our backers.

But that doesn’t mean we’re not getting hit by them. We are. Hard. And the costs aren’t small.

So instead of a tip jar, we made something for you.

Introducing the Tariff Buster Promo Pack: a small thank-you gift to help us absorb the hit

While that obviously doesn’t cover the full cost of tariffs on each game, it helps us a little

--- end quote ---

Companies absorbing a hit and losing money on a one-off product is somehow "examples of retailers with 30%+ margins".

> just saying that there are definitely exceptions to “customer pays 100% of tariffs”.

These exceptions show that the only way to do that is to lose significant amounts of money to keep a promise on one-off products.

None of these exceptions show that they have 30%+ margins (quite the opposite), or that they absorb them happily (quite the opposite).

And yes, after pre-orders and backing have been fulfilled, if the companies don't fold after losing money, the product that hits the shelves will cost more.