Price Johnson here with an update primarily for our U.S. Backers of Gloomhaven 2nd Edition and those interested in U.S. tariff impact. Please be sure to read through today's Q&A in its entirety as there are multiple important pieces of information including information on incoming U.S. tariff surcharges.
International orders are still on water/road and heading smoothly towards their respective fulfillment warehouses:
Australia/New Zealand: Your boat is the PUSAN C, can be tracked here.
Canada: Your boat is the YM MUTUALITY, it can be tracked here.
Thanks to the hard work of our Cephalofair team and logistics partners, all U.S. backer orders for Gloomhaven (2nd Edition) have been booked for ocean freight starting this week—in fact the first containers are heading towards Shanghai's port TONIGHT!
"It's (almost!) on a boat!"
I can’t stress enough how overwhelming and time consuming the last two weeks have been as we continue navigating a 7th tariff pricing adjustment over the course of just 3 months. A huge THANK YOU to the entirety of the Cephalofair Team who have continued working hard to pivot operations, priorities, and resource considerations as we focus on how to best (and quickly) get your orders to you. And of course another THANK YOU to our incredibly supportive community who have been patient and encouraging all the while.
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-Some Q&A on U.S. Gloomhaven 2nd Edition Orders & Tariff Surcharges:
Q. What’s the abridged update on the current tariff situation?
There is a 90 day reduction in the tariff rates from 145% → 30% until August 10th. While different interpretations of this deadline are circulating, we’re being advised to most confidently benefit from the reduced rate, the goods may need to be customs-declared by around August 10th, which actually means getting booked and on the water well sooner than that.
Q. What happens after the 90 day tariff reduction?
At this point, we honestly don’t know what to expect from this administration and can’t make any assumptions, but are building multiple contingencies for our rest-of-year business and operations in the event tariffs raise, remain at 30%, or are removed entirely (a best case scenario despite the damage done already). Trump has previously stated he thinks 80% "seems right", so it’s hard to know.
This is the 7th tariff pricing adjustment we’ve had to navigate in just the last 3 months alone, so we hope you can understand how difficult that is to continue pivoting our business models around. We’ll of course keep all backers posted on this subject as we proceed and finalize development on our outstanding projects and approach manufacturing readiness.
Q. But U.S. freight IS booked right? RIGHT?
We booked freight immediately following the U.S. tariff reduction from 145% to 30% went into effect, taking the soonest available options, which are scheduled for pickup from our factory on the 21st and 25th (ocean freight channels are spiking in price while being limited in supply as most China → US shipments had ceased entirely).
Additionally, Folded Space addons have also been scheduled and begin their journey this week as well.
Q. A tariff reduction is good, right? 30% is less than 145%!
Absolutely. But it’s still 30% higher than our industry has seen in over a decade, and more than we collected from U.S. Backers. There is one thing repeated by each of our industry vendors that remains a throughline: this is an unprecedented and impossible trade policy to navigate in terms of freight, accounting, manufacturing, etc. While this sentiment doesn’t make the situation necessarily easier to navigate, it tells us we’re far from the only industry being impacted and there is an unpredictable amount of chaos that’s been thrown at us all this year. That’s not an excuse for anything, that’s just the reality of the current situation.
To summarize: All U.S. orders now cost an additional 30% to produce, eliminating critical margins and necessitating additional tax costs for U.S. orders.
"Paused" in fact means 30% tariffs under current U.S. trade policy. A +30% increase since January, 2025.
Q. What can U.S. Backers expect a 30% tariff to mean on their orders?
Our goal is as little as possible, but that will be assessed more confidently when product is secured on boats and our tariff rate is “locked in” (pending any unexpected changes this week). The reality is this is really no different than import/sales VAT/GST we collect for international backer orders so we’d need to for U.S. orders as well now that tariffs apply. As this is calculated on “cost of goods” rather than your purchase price, this will NOT be +30% more than you paid, but much less.
Even with a U.S. tariff surcharge, the reality is Cephalofair is still anticipating subsidizing several price increases inflicted by tariffs (as well as operating on delayed/loss revenue due to the disruption). These include, but are not limited to: increased freight costs, port congestion fees/forced yard storage fees, broker fees, extended warehousing fees, etc.
Q. How does the Backerkit U.S. Tariff Surcharge Work?
U.S. Backers & Backerkit Preorders can expect to see a new tax line (similar to shipping & taxes) with the calculated amount once the final impact is assessed (a combination of tariffs, sales tax requirements, Backerkit pledge management fees, and card processing fees). This will coalesce into a flat fee calculated across a few select products that pose the most detrimental cost impact to the project as a whole.
Sample Visual:
A visual example of Backerkit's tariff surcharge, as found in the Backerkit Pledge Manager.
Q. Is sales tax charged/collected on U.S. tariff surcharges?
Yes, we have been advised that U.S. sales tax is applicable on U.S. tariff surcharges. This sales tax will vary by state based on this year's tax rates and be included in your Backerkit charge.
Q. When will the Backerkit U.S. Tariff Surcharge go into effect?
We will provide an update in the coming week(s) once this amount is validated, and provide at minimum a 1-2 week notice before your card on file is charged.
Q. Is payment of this fee required before my order is fulfilled?
Yes. Any pledges with outstanding balances on shipping, taxes, and/or tariff surcharges will be held until outstanding amounts are resolved. At that point your order will be cleared for shipping with our fulfillment warehouse once it is in their possession.
Q. Which products contribute to the U.S. tariff fee on Wave 3 - Gloomhaven (Second Edition)?
Currently, if all goes according to plan the soonest U.S. pledges will hit U.S. ports would be ~June 28th. Once we are confidently on the water, we will be finalizing estimated receiving times and readiness/availability of our fulfillment partner to provide you with our planned fulfillment kickoff dates. There are several factors that will keep this in flux such as ocean conditions, port/yard congestion, and delivery timing to our warehouse. We will continue providing updates as we make progress.
Q. Are U.S. orders locked?
As U.S. orders have been pre-packaged at our factory for fulfillment, we are currently unable to make individual product changes to your orders and they are “locked” in that sense.
Q. Can I still request a refund?
As always and per our campaign terms, we still offer pledge refunds (less a 10% processing/restocking fee). Please contact us at [email protected].
A few important reminders:
- Refunds are not a “now or never” situation, don’t feel you must make this decision immediately. You can cancel your pledge up until we start US fulfillment.
- Our hope is the U.S. tariff surcharge is close to/less than the 10% refund/processing fee, so you may wish to hold for more information.
- Pledge items were sold at discounts and many of these products may be seeing price increases on top of their previously marketing MSRP’s if tariffs persist.
- In the current state of U.S. tariffs, we can’t speak fully yet to the immediate future of retail/distribution availability of Gloomhaven 2nd Edition products (beyond U.S. Retail Backer orders still en route). While we have produced additional originally intended for U.S. distribution and retail, we can’t guarantee what that availability and final pricing will look like at this time and with trade policy negotiations still unfolding.
These are reminders we give in full transparency and good faith, not to instill “fear of missing out”. Please contact us if you require a refund at [email protected].
Q. Are U.S. Retailer Backer orders also impacted by tariff surcharges?
Yes, we will be needing to make an assessment on tariff impact here, especially at the wholesale pricing we offered during crowdfunding. We will be communicating this fee to retail partners directly due to these higher volume orders, and will collaborate to collect those additional surcharges directly as we know this has a more immediate cash-flow impact on your business.
All other requirements above apply, including surcharge payment prior to fulfillment.
-Q&A END-
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That’s our big update for today, we’ll be back in two weeks with more regular “creative” project updates including Miniatures of Gloomhaven and the RPG, and even sooner with the next update for U.S. Backers in regards to tariff surcharges.
Thank you all for your patience as this has dominated a large amount of our bandwidth and operations on the U.S. side - we look forward to getting back to more enjoyable topics that impact all backers and outstanding projects. Fingers crossed this 90 day tariff reduction leads to some longer term relief and stability on the “other side”.
