This week982 Archives President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary trade deal between the U.S. and China. For 90 days while negotiations continue, U.S. tariffs on China will be slashed from 145 percent to 30 percent, while China's reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods will go down from 125 to 10 percent.
For many industries that rely on China to manufacture goods, this is an (interim) relief. As Mashable previously reported, the vast majority of vibrators sold in the U.S. are made in China, so the trade war could kill their buzz.
SEE ALSO: Should I panic buy vibrators right now?In April, the sex toy company Dame announced a "Trump tariff surcharge" for its customers: $5 when Trump set the tariff rate at 54 percent and $15 when the rate surged to 145 percent. Now, Dame has removed the surcharge due to the deal.
"We made the point," Dame co-founder and CEO Alexandra Fine told Mashable. "[The tariffs are] not as high, and the surcharge is a terrible customer experience and confusing. People were kind of confused by it." Fine also posted on LinkedIn about the change.
The surcharge initially showed up when customers checked out.
"I was giving people the experience that I was having," Fine continued. When shipping products from China, she received a higher bill than expected, and she passed that on to customers. She compared it to telling employees they weren't getting Columbus Day (now sometimes known as Indigenous Peoples' Day) off.
"Then I realized, 'Oh, now I'm like Columbus, because I'm making everybody work on a day that everybody else has off," Fine said.
So Dame stopped charging people the surcharge but said the product was $15 more (though the customer wasn't paying it) to be transparent about how tariffs are impacting the company. But that was still confusing.
With the surcharge now removed, Dame will absorb the additional costs of the 30 percent tariff rate. "In this case, it doesn't make sense to drop your prices all the way back down, because it's still 30 percent," she said. "That being said, we are going to be dropping our prices pretty much back to normal. So that's really exciting."
Asked whether she foresees Dame increasing prices, Fine said, "Mostly no…We're going to eat most of it." Dame wants to be competitive in the market and offer quality products at reasonable prices.
When preparing for the 145 percent tariffs, Dame decided to aggressively plan. The company held more inventory in China ("splitting" orders) and opened a warehouse there, too. Now that tariffs are down, Dame isn't doing the former — instead bringing all of the orders to the U.S. — but it'll keep the warehouse.
While the online customer reaction to the surcharge was overall positive due to the company's transparency, it didn't translate into sales. The rate of completing a charge on Dame's checkout page dropped 33 percent on the first day it implemented the surcharge compared to the week before, Fine said.
The tariffs also caused instability when selling to retailers who distribute Dame products. Shifting prices is more complicated when selling through third-party companies than when selling only on the company's own website.
Even though the surcharge is removed, Fine plans on continuing to advocate for freer trade agreements. "I am definitely relieved from a cash perspective, but from an operational perspective, or a general [perspective], am I happy? No," said Fine. "This is still not ideal."
Topics Sex Toys Tariffs
Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
'World of Warcraft' gold is worth 7 times more than Venezuela's currency
What happens when you ignore emails and Slack messages after work
Windows 10 is getting a great new screenshot tool
Best robot vacuum deal: Save $200 on Eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum
Céline Dion has a restraining order against Deadpool in this behind
Yes, you can really slip on a banana peel. Let this woman show you how.
Here's what the apartments from 'Friends' might look like today
Waitin’ on the Student Debt Jubilee
Some suggestions for new Boy Scout Badges now that girls can join
10 Tech Predictions for 2017
Jeffrey Tambor confirmed for 'Arrested Development' Season 5
'Destiny 2: Warmind' exotics from 'Destiny 1,' ranked
'God of War' sales break records for the PlayStation 4
Big-League Bluster
Noted badass Ava DuVernay invites her haters in Hollywood to sue her
Doesn't a long list of kids dressing up as old people sound great right now?
Lego and Amazon Alexa launch roleplaying Echo game for young builders
Big-League Bluster
The 10 best 3D printers for beginners
March Madness explained using 'Game of Thrones' charactersFans get more insight on Luke in crucial 'Last Jedi' deleted sceneOcean acidification could hit the base of the marine food chainPeople aren't thrilled with Gal Gadot's tribute to Stephen HawkingStar Wars Battlefront 2 progressionThe best signs from the National School WalkoutFans get more insight on Luke in crucial 'Last Jedi' deleted sceneBiohacker with travel card chip in his arm fined for not having ticketThese images from the National School Walkout are powerful beyond beliefFacebook's search is autocompleting sexually explicit suggestions'Avengers: Infinity War': Where and what is the Soul Stone?Ocean acidification could hit the base of the marine food chainNASA's tribute to Stephen Hawking will make you smile like he did in microgravityThis video claiming ink cartridges are a scam is going massively viral5 RSS apps to use now that Digg Reader is deadYou can now create a shareable dating resume so anyone can apply to date youHTC's new flagship phone leaks two months early5 Stephen Hawking clips that'll make you just a little bit smarterStephen Hawking hosted a party for time travelers, but no one came'The Walking Dead' is shuffling to theaters for one night only Microsoft teases HoloLens 2 in new video More than 26 million people have added their DNA to four leading ancestry databases: report Teen protested Trump rally with a 'grab my p*ssy' shirt Finally, a jack This moment from Lady Gaga's Grammys performance has become a glorious meme Google's augmented reality Maps are live for some users This is probably the very real and very grim reason why polar bears have invaded a Russian island Grammys 2019 red carpet fashion: Odd and wonderful, as per usual The government won't require people to fax their consent forms anymore Burning Man nixes 'Fyre Festival Lady Gaga performs 'Shallow' at the 2019 Grammys: Watch Google Assistant now lets you play HQ Trivia on demand March For Our Lives activists go dark on social media to mark Parkland anniversary Kylie Jenner thought lying about lip injections was the noble thing to do Cate Blanchett's BAFTAs dress looks suspiciously like the Infinity Stones Welp, we now know almost everything about Samsung's Galaxy S10 lineup 'Pokémon Go' adds the AR photos feature you've been waiting for British rock band sends shade to Nickelback, they give it right back 7 women inspiring Twitter on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science People are shook by a very blue Will Smith as Genie in the upcoming 'Aladdin' film
2.4247s , 10131.4765625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【1982 Archives】,Warmth Information Network