The end of the hobby.

I worry about what this means for our favorite model sources like ToyCarGeek, etc.  This will be a huge blow to them and demand will definitely drop.  I'll try to support them but will have to cut back on new purchases.

I suspect that ultimately trade between the USA and Canada will settle down to something fairly reasonable but the N. American market for models made in China is IMHO much more subject to major tariff change.  That aside, I wonder what effect tariff application will have, if any, on secondary market model sales?  Is it reasonable that someone selling some models as a result of downsizing his collection should have those items subject to tariff; same as a toy/model retailer?  Interesting subject at this early point in time.

@jack-dodds It's simple - when the model crosses the inbound US border, it is a subject to the tariff based on the original country of manufacturer. It doesn't matter whether it's new or old. So, if I ship to a US buyer a Canadian-made Durham, a British-made SMTS, an IXO made in Bangladesh and a Chinese-made Goldvarg, they will all be suject to different tariff calculation. In case of Goldvarg, it's even more interesting - Sergio would have already paid the tariff when he received his container from China, then he sold me a bunch, and then the model gets back to the USA and the tariff gets paid again.

@albert-kopans UGH!

I'm sure that sellers and buyers will get very creative in figuring out ways to circumvent tariffs once they understand how these tariffs work and the how it is assessed and what country tariff percentages are. This will take time. After all sellers will do just about anything within their power to stay afloat and buyers will do all the research they can to find the lowest price in the world. One positive out of this is the internet is a great tool to source out the best price. Unfortunately there will be winners and losers.This is just part of normal business practise.

@jcarnutz John, for what it's worth, I went through a downsizing of several hundred models (mostly 1:24 and 1:18) and ultimately found it liberating. Knowing I was finding new homes for models that had been sitting in boxes in my basement for years brought me some unexpected happiness, as well as the reality of lightening the load. I was beginning to feel that my models owned me instead of the other way around. Selling some off felt better than expected. Best wishes in your journey!

@randyrusk 

Thanks Randy, what you said is encouraging. I too have models sitting in boxes, mainly 1:24 & 1:18 and yes, my collection seems to own me right now. I am hoping that trimming it down my will help to change that. My model room has gotten out of hand with boxes everywhere.  

@randyrusk I went to this process 3 times. At some point, collecting became more a burden than a pleasure because I was buying everything from DM and FM plus the very expensive 1/18 CMC and Exoto models. I was up to 1/12 scale buying up the most expensive Bauer models at mostly $2K a pup. Fortunately, they were all displayed in cabinets and I enjoyed them for many years. I will always remember the labor to put them back in their packaging.

The 3rd sell-out was more pain full as I was moving by choice for retirement out of state. I sold everything. i never considered my collection as an asset but just disposable income with mostly no residual value. I don't even want to know what I netted after all.

Now ......... I just have about 60 models in my displays. I discovered the high quality of resin models and this meets my perspective about collecting. 

See this note on Dave's website.  Not good news:

https://toycargeek.com/pages/tariffs

I noticed that the GLM 67 Chrysler and 64 Continental are not on the site anymore, undoubtedly because of the tariff issues.