I have been completely locked into the current Trump administration's moves regarding international trade to a level no man should endure.
There was an attempt to join a class action lawsuit to fight these illegal tariffs, though that case had already gotten enough businesses signed on to make their case.
As a student of history, it's only a little 'funny' that a country founded quite directly because of a $0.01 tax on paper sheets is now claiming it's Good, Actually (TM) to not have free trade.
I'm sure nothing bad will happen and no one will be mad. 🤪
The Stamp Act of 1765
While I digress, the current stage we're in regarding the campaign is now as follows;
🐉🐉Wittle Wonders are 100% complete in their production and boxed ✨✨ Warmable Wonders are 100% complete, but are in the process of being individually bagged due to a barcode requirement from our Guangdong-based fulfillment center for international backers 🐉🐉 Additional tapestries needed to fulfill orders are 100% finished production and already in transit to me to join the inventory I already had in-stock. ✨✨Weighted Wonders are 100% complete in their production with only some getting minor revisions to their tag placements before they are all boxed up and ready to go.
The Current Gameplan
With the Labour Day holiday going on from May 1st to the 5th in much of China, that will minorly delay the Wittle Wonders, Warmable Wonders, and Weighted Wonders from going out to the fulfillment center in Guangdong.
Once that holiday is over, it will take about 2-4 business days for the dragons to arrive at the Guangdong facility. From there, it will take about 48 hours to fulfill the approximately 1,488 International orders.
For USA-based backers, it gets a little tricker.
We are watching the agonizing landscape of international trade and expecting, based on a number of signs, tariffs to be eliminated entirely or to significantly drop in the coming weeks.
We are essentially "holding" until the fog of trade war lifts some and we understand our shipping options, which are rapidly changing as we transition into May and logistics at ports is a version of chaos.
This could delay domestic fulfillment by a few weeks to a month or two, by my current estimate.
Every day feels like it goes on forever as we wait out this frustrating and illegal situation. I promise to update the moment we get the dragons on the ship and heading to us. I hope that is sooner rather than later with, potentially, at least the Wittles heading out before everyone else so that the approximately 600 Wittle-only domestic orders can be fulfilled immediately as we wait on the bulk of the order to make it's way to the USA
I thank everyone for their patience and understanding in this extremely unprecedented and wild matter!
For 1x or 2x Warmable/Weighted orders, we hope to have our custom packaging done in time for domestic fulfillment! Exciting! :D
At this time, custom packaging will NOT be available for international orders to ease the shipping process + time crunch issues. Wittles will also have fancy packaging!!!! These polymailers will be used for shipping out individual orders that only contain a Wittle, but are made of recycled LDPE (#4, low-density polyethylene) plastics with Change Plastic For Good™ BDP® technology which means they are made of 100% recycled plastics, made in the USA, printed with eco-friendly ink, as well as designed to biodegrade int the proper soft film plastics drop-offs located in many grocery stores across the USA!
We will be using paper fill inside packages as well as recycled kraft tape for our boxes. The only plastic used in packaging will be that used to keep clean any White version of a Warmable/Weighted so they are not unduly exposed to dust, dirt, etc while in transit.
As always, I am committed to using the most eco-friendly options possible in all parts of fulfillment and production as humanly possible for a business of our scale. 🌍♻️
