JUNE 7 UPDATE:
We are now shipping all orders to the U.S. without charging any tariff fees including the previously tariff-affected items. It turns out that there is a loophole that allows shipments from postal service to postal service such as Canada Post to USPS to be shipped and delivered tariff-free even if a product was made in China, at least for now. We were previously using ChitChats for all shipments, which had a much lower shipping cost but was unfortunately affected by tariff fees. We will continue to mostly use ChitChats for Canadian and other international orders, and all U.S. orders will now be shipped through Canada Post. The shipping fee for U.S. will increase very slightly, but at least there will no longer be any tariff fees.
Of course, everything is still subject to change at any moment due to the constantly changing news surrounding tariffs. There is still a risk of the 30% tariff fee being suddenly collected if they randomly feel like it. By placing an order with us for any tariff-affected items, you acknowledge this risk. Canada Post is also still currently undergoing negotiations with their union due to a labour dispute and a strike could still happen at any moment, which was the whole reason we switched to using ChitChats in the first place when the first strike happened last November. But until then we should be safe for now and we'll keep folks updated if anything changes again.
If you're in the U.S. and have been wanting to get our pins, patches, or other accessories but couldn't due to the tariffs, NOW IS THE TIME! There is still time to stock up for Pride, and we'll try to be as fast as possible with getting your orders out!
We have been really frustrated with this confusing mess and we really wished that all of this tariff information could have been presented more clearly by the governments and shipping companies to everyone, because literally everyone has been saying something different since this began. We are so sorry that our customers had to deal with this too. If you had recently placed a tariff-affected order that was already shipped, reach out to us and we'll send a discount code for your next order!
Thank you again everyone for sticking with us and supporting us through these extremely chaotic times. May your Pride month (or Wrath month) be gayer than ever!
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MAY 14 UPDATE:
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR US CUSTOMERS, PLEASE READ FULLY:
As of May 14, the 145% tariff fee on products manufactured in China regardless of where it's shipped from has been temporarily reduced to 30% until at least August 12, but the de minimis exemption sadly still remains removed. However, we have decided to resume shipping of our tariff affected items to the US so that folks would at least still have the option to purchase and support us if they don't mind paying the 30% tariff.
We have added the 30% fee on affected items at checkout, this means that you will be paying for the tariff fees in advance through DDP shipping (Delivery Duties Paid), instead of paying the fees upon delivery to your postal carrier/customs. This helps make it clearer which items are subjected to tariffs and removes any surprises during delivery.
IMPORTANT:
Unfortunately because absolutely nothing makes sense with US customs at the moment, if you have both tariff affected items and tariff-free items in your cart, your entire shipment will be subjected to the 30% China tariffs (yes, even if it's just one China manufactured item like an enamel pin and 10 Canadian made items in the same shipment). To prevent this, please make 2 separate orders so that they will be shipped separately and not subject every item to the same tariffs. Unfortunately this does mean you will have to pay for shipping twice. We will have to send an invoice for additional fees or remove items if you do not separate your cart as the app we are using to add tariff fees to checkout cannot account for the blanket tariff situation.
**SHOP APP: The app we are using to add tariff fees is also not compatible with the Shop App. If you are using Shop App to shop or pay for your order, we might have to send you an updated invoice with the missing tariff fees. Please avoid placing orders using the Shop App for tariff-impacted items if possible.
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APRIL 30 UPDATE:
Dear ghouls, girls, gays, and theys, starting today we will unfortunately no longer be shipping many of our products to the United States due to the new tariffs taking effect on May 2nd. The de minimis exemption which allows orders under $800 to be delivered tariff-free to US customers is being removed. This means US customers receiving any orders with products manufactured in China will face a ridiculous 145% tariff fee upon delivery, regardless of where they’re being shipped from, and that is sadly a lot of our stuff. We will still be able to ship our locally or non-China manufactured goods to the US such as our t-shirts (except Trans Futures), art prints, zines, and tote bags, but unfortunately all of our pins, patches, and a few other accessories will no longer be available to the states.
This is a truly devastating loss for us as despite being a Canadian business, the majority of our customers have been from the states. We’re not sure how well we’ll be able to hold up moving forward with less sales from our US friends, on top of being a BIPOC owned queer & trans business in these chaotic times.
ABOUT THE QUEERNESS IS CELESTIAL KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN:
We have already started the manufacturing process for our Kickstarter campaign that ran a couple months ago. The denim vests and the majority of the rewards are also being manufactured in China. We know this is really frustrating for something you pledged for months ago to now be subject to absurd tariffs if you’re from the US.
However, we aren’t scheduled to start shipping any pledges until July. We are keeping all our fingers and toes crossed that the de minimis exemption comes back by then. It has already been taken away and put back once in March which caused a giant mess at the border, so hopefully once the inevitable mess starts yet again that they’ll stop this tariff nonsense, again.
The news surrounding tariffs has changed approximately 8237 times over the past few months, so we’re just gonna hold our breath and try not to panic until we’re closer to fulfilling pledges in July. We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as much as possible and we really hope we’ll be able to safely get you your gay goods!
ABOUT THE TRANS GIFT BOX GIFTING PROGRAM:
We started our “Trans Gift Box Gifting Program” last November in response to the Trump administration and how hard things have been for everyone especially trans folks. We received so much support and were able to ship out 60+ trans gift boxes to trans folks so far which we are eternally grateful for! Unfortunately because the Trans Futures shirts from Target were made in China as well as our pins and patches that we included in the box, we will also no longer be able to ship trans gift boxes to folks in the US eventhough these are technically free gifts. Any further gift box donations moving forward will be shipped to the Canadian folks who signed up until the tariffs are removed. We are so sorry to our American trans friends, but we’ll keep thinking of alternative ways we can show our support. Until then, we are sending all of you our love and the biggest hug on earth as I know we all need one right now.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Since November last year, it feels like we’ve had to constantly adapt to some new horrible situation every month. First an orange parasite got elected, then it was the Canada Post strike (which might happen again in May), then the GPSR rule stopping our shipments to the EU (we’re still working on it!), then it was the tariffs over and over.
In response we launched the Trans Gift Box Gifting Program, as well as our very first Kickstarter campaign! We could not have kept going without everyone’s amazing support and we want to thank all of you for being with us throughout this chaotic ride.We are going to focus on adding more new non-China manufactured goods such as more t-shirts and art prints. We’ve already got 3 new t-shirt designs in the works, and we just got a heat press so we can print on t-shirts and tote bags ourselves! This also allows us to offer a larger size range more reliably as t-shirts will now be made to order by us. We’re so excited to share our new stuff soon despite these times, and we really hope that we’ll have enough support for our next collection so that we can keep going.
OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT US:
BECOME A STOCKIST:
Do you know of or own a queer friendly gift shop, bookstore, or spooky, gothic, or witchy goods store based in Canada or UK? Help us spread the word of GRRRL Spells and get our spooky gay goods stocked in more physical stores! Tag them in our posts if you know of a business that would love our stuff, and if that’s you we are available on Faire! Please use our Faire direct link on our site, or you can also reach out to us to place a wholesale order directly.
DONATE TO TRANS GIFT BOX GIFTING PROGRAM:
You can still donate to our Trans Gift Box Gifting Program regardless of where you’re from! It helps support our business, as well as sends a box of trans themed goods by us to a trans person in Canada!
SHOP CANADIAN:
Come visit us at the various markets and events that we’ll be vending at in Toronto and across Canada or shop at our online store!
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!