I cannot emphasize enough that if there ends up being a 20+% tariff for the end user in the United States, many of us will not be able to complete the transaction when they ship. My suggestion is that you make a statement now indicating that you will notify U.S. backers of any expected tariffs to be charged to consumers a week or two before shipping and offer to issue cancellations and full refunds to those who pre-ordered through Kickstarter at this early bird discounted $7499 price and are unable or unwilling to pay thousands more in tariffs. The current administration’s tariff policy is extremely volatile and it’s not unthinkable to imagine a 100+% tariff by January if negotiations between China and the U.S. break down. We obviously can’t expect Pixboom to absorb a major tariff change, but also may not be able to absorb it as creators. Offering consumers an unqualified refund in the event of high tariffs would certainly encourage more investment from the U.S. at these early stages.
100% agree with this! This is my main concern as well. Trump and his tariffs are very volatile and we won’t know what the situation will be again in January when the Spark is estimated to be shipping. I’m hoping they can just ship to a USA warehouse to help avoid tariffs for the consumer’s end. 
But like you said I don’t know how Pixboom would be able to absorb that tariff especially with them being a new company. I am really itching to get the Spark though to replace my Chronos 1.4 slowmotion camera from Krontech.
Exactly! I already purchased a Freefly Ember 18 months ago and would not even be considering an additional high speed camera were the features not so compelling at $7499. If the backlit sensor truly does require 75% less light and attains 13 stops of dynamic range, it would be a game changer as the Ember’s front side illuminated sensor just DEVOURS light and has a dynamic range that is just barely useable for certain situations. However, I just don’t have it in my budget to pay 10-15k (with tariffs) to find out whether or not the Pixboom lives up to the marketing hype. $7499 is about as much as I’m able to risk on an unknown and untested brand.
Honestly, if it was $7499 shipping directly from the USA, I would’ve been on this so fast. The other option is just to wait till next year for used Sparks to sell in the market. But knowing how this is a VIP price at $7499, scalpers will probably resell it for a lot more. Lol
I’ve put down the $100 today since I think I read an admin message saying it’s refundable until the Kickstarter begins… hoping they give us some clarification by then. It said I was number 2600 and something so I’m guessing that even if Pixboom stays on schedule I wouldn’t get one in a first batch. I’ll sit tight now and wait for admin response on this, but announcing a tariff cancellation off-ramp for us would make me at least follow through and back the Kickstarter.
Yes, from what I read it’s refundable until the Kickstarter. Well from my experience, Pixboom does a pretty good job answering questions in a timely manner. Good luck!
That’s a very valid concern, and we appreciate you bringing it up. We’ve put a policy in place to solve this exact issue for our U.S. backers.
For the duration of the Kickstarter campaign, we have a fixed fee of $75 that covers both shipping and any/all tariffs to the United States. No matter how much the tariffs might fluctuate, you will not pay a penny more than that $75 for duties and shipping. We will cover any excess costs.
This way, you can lock in your final price right now without worrying about any future policy changes or surprise fees. We hope this helps！
That’s an extremely fair solution! I applaud you guys for taking a proactive approach to this problem caused by our government. I don’t see how any buyers in the US could possibly find fault with this solution. Bravo!
That’s an incredibly generous solution, thank you so much for putting that in place. I don’t think anyone should have any complaints about that.
I appreciate the clarity on this issue, speaks highly of the company. I can’t wait to let all the ideas I have in mind to come out with the camera!
May I ask if this will be similar to other countries that faces import duties? If not, is there a pickup solution in perhaps Hong Kong or Shenzhen? I have staff there.
Really want to shoot bird wildlife with it!
That’s a great question, and we’ve tried to make the process as simple as possible for our backers.
We will cover all import duties.
While the actual shipping costs will vary by country, we will only charge a single flat-rate shipping fee to our customers. We will bear the remaining shipping costs and all associated import duties. So, you won’t need to worry about any unexpected customs charges.
The full list of shippable countries and regions will be available when our Kickstarter campaign goes live.
With the new call from the U.S. for Europe to put a 100% tariff on Chinese goods and that the U.S. will meet it (as part of sanctions on countries buying Russian oil) this is injecting so much uncertainty into a very expensive Kickstarter. Europe hasn’t replied yet, but if this were to come to pass between now and January as the war in Ukraine escalates, I just don’t see how Pixboom (or any company) could cover tariffs equal to the camera price for U.S. and/or EU backers. A 100% tariff means Pixboom would be paying the U.S. government $7500 in tariff and essentially giving them everything we paid you aside from the $75 tariff insurance you’re offering the u.s. customers.
Clearly, this is not your fault and the $75 tariff fee is a nice thought but in that scenario there is no way you could honor that agreement, it would put you out of business. Which for those of us stuck in the United States suddenly makes this a huge $7500 gamble. The volatility and unpredictability are so frustrating. I really want to replace my Ember, but it’s getting harder to take this big of a Kickstarter risk. I’m so sorry the launch of Pixboom Spark coincides with such a terrible moment of instability. You guys have built a really great product from what we can see so far.
Yeah, this is definitely a risk, but honestly, a lot of companies have ways to work around these kinds of situations. Moving production to countries with lower tariffs is a pretty common solution nowadays—plenty of businesses already do this.
Most definitely! the tariffs will impact the sell on this camera to America. I recently made a purchase on an optical and got hit with a $3k customs clearance! the item already was sold to me for $5k! So, it is a real thing! I almost did the same thing with Pixboom until I saw this in FAQ. I need to cancel my pre-order until there is an customer assurance statement by PIXboom that the tariffs won’t interfere with sell.
Hi Rick,Thanks for flagging this—and I’m really sorry about your previous customs experience. That’s frustrating.
Please rest assured: for orders shipping to the United States, we will cover all applicable import duties and customs charges. You won’t be asked to pay additional tariffs on delivery.
Hello and thank you for that information, but unfortunately, I still need to cancel the pre-order I made on your site. How can I do so? Thank you for your response.
May I ask why you decided to cancel your preorder and were you able to?
Hello and sorry for the late response. The reason why I’m cancelling is hindsight thought. No purpose for me to buy now until I know they fully won’t have issue shipping. I just recently made a purchase from S. Korea and to pay $3K to customs because of a tariff for a drone! So it’s my fault to not think the tariffs are real and definitely not cheap. As you’ve seen in the response from admin, I appreciate the assurance but I still haven’t received information on how to cancel the pre-order. I’m hoping the admin sees this and I obtain that information next. Thanks for asking!