Hasbr-uh-oh - Business and Tariffs Discussion

Princess Viola

Dumbass Asexual
Citizen
Tariffs for Chinese goods have been lowered to 30% for the next 90 days.

Will Hasbro lower prices now that the (still fucked) tariffs are no longer absolutely batshit insane level?

No
 

Shadewing

Well-known member
Citizen
Tariffs for Chinese goods have been lowered to 30% for the next 90 days.

Will Hasbro lower prices now that the (still fucked) tariffs are no longer absolutely batshit insane level?

No

tbf they've not offically raised prices either yet, and 90 days just means delaying it atm; and with how jive is going we don't know the tarrifs wont triple or something after that 90 days. This is a yo-yo for everyone, and I can't entirely blame corporations for not really knowing what to do or if/when they should do it becuase this practically has everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
That’s my take as well, any price increases are going to happen because nobody knows what is actually going to happen. At some point ”corporate greed” has to be called out, but I think we’re still at the “prepare for the worst we know of” stage for most companies.
And even if the broad rate from China is reduced (again, temporarily at the moment), the rate from Vietnam is STILL three times what it was just a few months ago.

That’s assuming Trump doesn’t get a hair up his butt and try to do more targeted tariffs like he’s threatened to Mattel…
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
While I agree, the kind of goodwill to expect them not to do something like that has yet to be earned in my eyes.
 

Shadewing

Well-known member
Citizen
While I agree, the kind of goodwill to expect them not to do something like that has yet to be earned in my eyes.

I'm not saying it won't happen, just that its not and there is no point to pre-blaming them for something that might not happen, or might not be as bad as some predict. We literally can't know as TPTB change their opinions more often then Transformers change modes. I'll fully call it out when it happens, just not before. I have little faith in things getting better, but right now holding on to the 'now' that's not currently completely terrible is one of the few things I can do to preserve my current mental health.
 

The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
Tariffs for Chinese goods have been lowered to 30% for the next 90 days.

Will Hasbro lower prices now that the (still fucked) tariffs are no longer absolutely batshit insane level?

No

Hasbro's price increases don't reflect the Chinese tariffs, they reflect the Vietnamese ones since those are where Transformers are made.

A 10% tariff on the wholesale cost has a lot of second order effects.

I think Hasbro's costcutting has been problematic for years, but I think it's pretty unlikely that Hasbro's EBIT is going up this year rather than down.
 

Platypus Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
It's not even that clear cut, there are still plenty of Hasbro products made in China, even when they did outsource a lot to Vietnam. And a 90 day pause isn't going to help much, production and planning times are made in YEARS, not weeks, due to the time delays in production and shipping. Today's in-production product won't even be in the US by the time the 90 day window closes. This uncertainty is not helping anyone plan ahead at all.
 

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
Hasbro's price increases don't reflect the Chinese tariffs, they reflect the Vietnamese ones since those are where Transformers are made.

A 10% tariff on the wholesale cost has a lot of second order effects.

I think Hasbro's costcutting has been problematic for years, but I think it's pretty unlikely that Hasbro's EBIT is going up this year rather than down.
The "China tariffs don't affect Vietnam-produced Transformers" is one of the biggest misconceptions around this issue in this fandom.

Companies have already been slowly shifting production to Vietnam for years now, and heavy tariffs on China will only push more US company production to Vietnam. That means the demand- and therefore price of- for Vietnamese labour and factories will go up.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I'm not saying it won't happen, just that its not and there is no point to pre-blaming them for something that might not happen, or might not be as bad as some predict. We literally can't know as TPTB change their opinions more often then Transformers change modes. I'll fully call it out when it happens, just not before. I have little faith in things getting better, but right now holding on to the 'now' that's not currently completely terrible is one of the few things I can do to preserve my current mental health.
Yeah, that's fair. I'm usually a pretty strong advocate for not blaming people for things they haven't done when there's already so much that they have, so I should really be better about that here.

On that note, anyone hear about Hasbro cancelling pre-orders or something back around the start of the month? I've seen talk about it around a little bit, but it might just be Hasbro Pulse? And maybe just Ghostbusters? And Star Wars?

I can't find much about it except this, which only says they were suspended. Naturally, that focuses more on Ghostbusters...

I don't have a lot pre-ordered, and nothing from them directly -- just Heatwave in August from Amazon.ca and the SS Perceptor/Ramborn/Ratbat set from EB Games (suck it, GameStop), and I'm wondering if those will be affected.
 

Dekafox

Fabulously Foxy Dragon
Citizen
My Pulse preorders are all still there, but they were all Transformers anyways. And it looks like all the preorders they marked as "temporary unavailable" are available again, with unchanged prices for the first two I looked at.
 

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Broke the Matrix
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Okay, I guess maybe it's a non-story by now, then. Thanks!
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
Yeah, Pulse yanked a bunch of preorder listings, and most of us assumed it was a “back end thing” so that they could adjust the pricing, while still maintaining the original price for those that had preordered earlier.


Business Insider (paywalled) had a talk with Hasbro’s CFO/COO Gina Goetter. She basically outright said they were planning to kick up pricing and even opt to stop production on some products, or limit the availability of said products to international markets. Following the abrupt change this week down to a 30% tariff, Hasbro has held off on widespread price increases…for now.
ToyNewsI has a brief rundown since Business Insider is paywalled

I’m still placing even odds on SOME price increases within the next few months, but I think the brunt will be felt by collector lines (Marvel Legends, STar Wars Black/Vintage, GI Joe Classified), since most of those ended up being produced in China due to the more advanced abilities of the Chinese manufacturing base (like the fancy digital face printing). I‘m not expecting Transformers Deluxe or Voyager to see any bumps, but I can see Leader, Commander and Titan to see some bumps just to offset hits elsewhere.
 

Princess Viola

Dumbass Asexual
Citizen

so hasbro was literally considering outright stopping US distribution and sale for some of their stuff because of the tariffs

damn
 

Platypus Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
Well, that explains both the multiple-tariff confusion, as they're importing from everywhere, and also puts to rest the concept that Hasbro wouldn't abandon the American market, or would somehow globally distribute prices to support it. They will, and they won't. If American markets are unprofitable they will drop them, and won't look to anywhere else to offset or prevent it.
 

Rhinox

too old for this
Citizen
True. as much as it would pain us, it would be the sound business decision. And it would put more pressure on the Trump administration to unfuck themselves. The big box stores would not like having empty aisle space. Especially if this came close to christmas time when those sales spike.

That would hurt.
 


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