Tariffs will have an impact on many gift items this year. Items will be more expensive, and items that used to be drop-shipped from overseas with about a week turn-around may be delayed by Customs inspections, in addition to the cost increases.
Merchandise ordered from a POD site (Print on Demand) will be created or assembled domestically- how much foreign raw material is included, and so what added tariffs, varies by company and item
I use POD site Production Partners as I don’t have the resources to order anywhere near the range of products, sizes, styles, colours, etc that those companies have. Nor the space to store them all. I’m supporting US manufacturing while they also handle billing, shipping and sales taxes.
Because they don’t build up stock of finished items they can’t ship orders out as quickly as the warehouses filled with inventory brought in from overseas. A single item costs more to produce than if I imported caselots from Asia; without the risk of dumping tons of unsold items into landfill or the environmental costs of global shipping. And the high interest costs I’d have to pay to front such order.
PRODUCTION TIMES
How much time it takes to produce, inspect and package orders varies by company. My main production partners, and their posted production times (as of Nov.13, 20205), are:
Fine Art America:
Fine Art Photography and Digital Imagery as Wall Art- canvas, metal, acrylic, wood and fine art papers. Over 150 images/ designs in 9 galleries. Selected images are available on Pillows, Totes, Journals and other great gift ideas.
Their website states “Products require 2 – 8 business days to print and manufacture before shipping, depending on the product. You can see the specific lead time for each product when viewing the product on our website. Products will ship from the manufacturing facility located nearest to your destination address.” Note this is production time; regardless of shipping method.
Threadless:
My primary general merchandise shop is DigitalGryphon.Threadless.com. This also includes the Official Romanovsky & Phillips Merchandise Shoppe offering mugs, apparel and more under license.
“All Threadless products are custom-printed, made just for you right when you order. Because of this, processing time is typically 2 – 5 business days. Keep in mind, processing time may vary depending on sales and promotions. You’ll see the processing time noted at checkout and in your email confirmation.”
Blurb:
My current offering of trade paperback and glorious full-colour photo books are available from Blurb.com.
“Printing and binding requires 4-5 business days.”
My 2 most recent orders were 3 and 4 day production- delivery depends on method chosen.
The GameCrafter:
The current range of Digital Gryphon Oracle Decks (as well as the Tarot of Sister Who) is printed to order at TheGameCrafter.com.
Their website features a “Current Production Status” page which includes very generous allowances. They produce a wide range of items; oracle decks and card games through to complex board games with a large number of custom parts. I’ve found they almost always ship faster. An order someone placed Nov.3rd was finished Nov.11 – although the current ‘standard production’ allowance is 19 days.
Their production schedule can change if there’s a game contest or gaming convention; I don’t imagine we’ll see that in the next few months.
SHIPPING TIMES
I have no idea how well prepared the USPS or commercial delivery services are for the season. Take every estimate, regardless of source, as an aspirational one. And don’t forget most companies will mark an order SHIPPED as soon as they create the shipping label. Often the order is nearly ready to ship, but not always. And if an order is actually finished late on a Friday the package may not leave there until Monday pm.