@intimewithmusic wrote:
snipped due to length
I agree with some of your post, but feel I should clarify a few things about my original post (and replies).
To start with, the "dense" person I interacted with was a person in a forum who sold online (and lived in the US). They professed very loudly that as an American they aren't the ones paying the tariffs. I took the time to explain how tariffs work and got the response that they are paid by other countries. I could think of many insults, but I thought saying they were "dense" was being somewhat polite, instead of calling them ignorant.
I figure where there's one, there's more, and wondered if I would run across any of them while selling (if not me, maybe someone else in this forum). I've gotten loud angry messages from buyers about sales tax, like they don't know merchandise is taxed when you buy online? Demanded I refund the tax even though I don't have their taxes, eBay took them. If I run across this with sales tax (and it has been a few times), I expect even more protest with tariffs.
Hatred is not the correct emotion to describe how I feel. It would be correct to say I'm very angry at the situation, and can do nothing about it. I'm not just angry at the administration in power right now, but all the supporters who let the wool be pulled over their eyes and believe these lies (which would lead to them getting angry at a Canadian seller if their item arrives with tariffs, because hey, they were told foreign countries paid them). There are numerous people who regret the vote they made, I get that, and numerous people who never voted the administration in, in the first place, and don't approve of what's going on. I get that too.
So here I am, very angry, and can do absolutely nothing about it except come here to vent my frustration about what I'm going to have to deal with as a result. I've been trying to do something about it (as a matter of trying to make my online business survive with the tariffs). There's other things going on that have made it difficult this year, but the Aug 29 deadline feels like the final straw. I've been spending the last couple of months thinking about how de minimis is ending in July 2027 and planning what I will do between now and then until that kicks in, before adapting to the new changes. The Aug 29 announcement is like a kick in the face for all of us here in this forum and I'd like to think when I vent I'm speaking on behalf of many others who are in the same situation as me (but I'm outspoken and mouthy, it's how I communciate).
I do value my customers and do my best to keep my cool even under trying situations since I know how I handle a customer reflects on me as a person and as a business. When I recount a story I'm a lot more blunt and say what I think which makes me come off as being rude. I blog online and use my blogging style to post in forums.
Anyway it sounds like you handled your customers concerns about the tariffs well, especially if it resulted in a sale and all worked out. I'm still working out how I'm going to tell buyers that I used to ship their items from New York with Stallion and now have to use Canada Post in Canada (and that there may be tariffs).
I've taken three weeks off eBay to go away and think about this problem and create a solution that will work well for my business. But to top it all off, I'm travelling on Sunday and they just announced a possible Air Canada work stoppage. I don't feel as though I can catch a break and my frustration is coming across as hatred. (For the record I agree with the Air Canada employees who are striking and don't blame them one bit, I just wish every trip I take doesn't result in some kind of crisis... last year I was stranded in Africa without enough medication because Lufthansa went on strike the day I was scheduled to fly home). Anyway that's an aside, just wanted to explain better why I feel the way I do right now.
C.
