Saxophones How will Tariffs affect Sax Prices?

[Woodpad]

And vice-versa, if you sell goods to the US for example, your customer will pay the tariffs to the US Customs via the US Postal Service who will collect from a bonded warehouse, pay the charge, recharge and to deliver you on payment. So, the Postal Service are recharging their cost you. They will hold the goods at a post office until you collect and pay.

With 145% tariffs they need a larger warehouse.

 

[CliveMA]

Hong Kong will suspend service from 27 April, so anything currently in transit should be OK

Suspends "air" from 27 April.

 

[Ivan]

Suspends "air" from 27 April.

So you're saying, 'What goes up doesn't come down'?

 

[Pete Thomas]

I just heard from a US customer who bought 4x TTS books last week. They did not have to pay a tariff.

 

[CliveMA]

Trump tariffs: DHL suspends high value US deliveries

The postal giant will stop shipping packages to American consumers after a rise in red tape at customs.

www.bbc.com

DHL has suspended high-value (>$US800) shipments to the US.

 

[mizmar]

DHL has suspended high-value (>$US800) shipments to the US.

Yeah

But, with the removal of the de minimis, the pony express is probably swamped with admin...

 

[ESJohn]

[ADMIN EDIT: formatting removed to make the copied text more legible in dark mode]

This is Mike, the owner and manufacturer at Wood & Winds.

I know you - like me - have probably been concerned or even confused about how these tariffs could impact your Wood & Winds orders and pricing. So I wanted to be clear about the effects of these tariffs so far.

The effects so far:

First and foremost: there are currently no US tariffs that apply to Canada on this category of products. The only tariffs so far seem to be on the automotive industry.

A secondary protection (if tariffs are enforced later), is that there is also a "de minimis" rule that allows shipments valued under $800 to enter the US without import duties or taxes which covers most orders shipping from Wood & Winds.

The bottom line is, the tariffs have no effect on Wood & Winds at this time.​

We have not had to change prices and there are no changes to the ordering process. Wood & Winds is proud to continue offering in house manufacturing using local lumber yards and Canadian consumable tools/supplies with few exceptions.

As we've all seen, this situation can change very quickly, so I am keeping a close eye on it, and will update you if anything changes regarding shipping or pricing.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me.


Thank you,
Mike Borkovic

Wood & Winds
Magnetones

Wood & Winds, 1904 Rue Gauthier Montréal, Quebec H2K 1A3

(This from a quality Canadian vendor that I have dealt with in the past. I thought you might want to see a perspective from the distribution channel. )

 

[Ghr9204]

Hey,

This is Mike, the owner and manufacturer at Wood & Winds.

I know you - like me - have probably been concerned or even confused about how these tariffs could impact your Wood & Winds orders and pricing. So I wanted to be clear about the effects of these tariffs so far.

The effects so far:

First and foremost: there are currently no US tariffs that apply to Canada on this category of products. The only tariffs so far seem to be on the automotive industry.

A secondary protection (if tariffs are enforced later), is that there is also a "de minimis" rule that allows shipments valued under $800 to enter the US without import duties or taxes which covers most orders shipping from Wood & Winds.

The bottom line is, the tariffs have no effect on Wood & Winds at this time.

We have not had to change prices and there are no changes to the ordering process. Wood & Winds is proud to continue offering in house manufacturing using local lumber yards and Canadian consumable tools/supplies with few exceptions.

As we've all seen, this situation can change very quickly, so I am keeping a close eye on it, and will update you if anything changes regarding shipping or pricing.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me.

Thank you,
Mike Borkovic

Wood & Winds
Magnetones

Wood & Winds, 1904 Rue Gauthier Montréal, Quebec H2K 1A3

(This from a quality Canadian vendor that I have dealt with in the past. I thought you might want to see a perspective from the distribution channel.)

@ESJohn ,

FYI, the message that you pasted

directly from Mr. Borkovic cannot be read if one is using the Café's dark screen setting. I had to switch to light in order to read your text. I found the culprit, text is set to RGB (red,green,blue) of 0,0,0 - devoid of any colour (black). This over-rode the Café's ability to automatically alter the colour to suite theme selected.

Plus in my reply to yours, I removed all HTML (BBCode - Café software converted the HTML) table formatting, which shortened the message considerably.

If next time you can paste this first into say, a plain text editor that removes all formatting then from there to Café's editing screen; or do a "paste as plain text only" or "paste without formatting" will then make it readable no matter the Café mode selected. Thanks.

Bernie of Cox International, Canada recently posted similarly in Cox Engine Forum that shipments to US thus far are unaffected. (He is the official distributor for Cox model aircraft engines and related.)

It appears thus far starting May 2, all shipments to US from China under the $800 deminimus will now pay tariffs. Deminimus no longer applies. I am just waiting for the "dust to settle" to see what the true impacts are.

Because shipping costs have increased considerably from overseas, I have not purchased anything from Europe since Covid. (Then, I sent a first class international air letter to a friend in New Zealand. It took 4 months to arrive at his door.)

I would have preferred a return to Sea Mail due to lower cost for packages like 40 years ago, (I did not mind the several week to 1 month wait), but will probably never happen.

 

[kelly]

I used to work for a saxophone brand, and honestly, most saxophones are made in China. Some well-known brands aren’t fully made there, but even they often source parts from China. In fact, once a brand gets more recognition, many start looking to cut costs and improve efficiency—so they turn to Chinese suppliers.


So yes, with the recent tariffs, price increases are definitely noticeable. The U.S. has a huge impact globally—it’s the biggest market, and almost every industry depends on it to some degree. But at the same time, the downstream effect is that the U.S. puts pressure on other countries, and since China is the largest manufacturing hub, it takes a big hit too.


In the end, it’s the consumers who suffer the most, no matter where we are.

 

[Woodpad]

I watch the price of a Jupiter JBS1000 bari and this is still 3555 euro at Thomann. Sweetwater sels the same product for $6149.
This is the first time I see such a difference in price over the pond. I didn't write down the original Sweetwater price, but this looks like a tariff reaction.

 

[Ghr9204]

I watch the price of a Jupiter JBS1000 bari and this is still 3555 euro at Thomann. Sweetwater sels the same product for $6149. This is the first time I see such a difference in price over the pond. I didn't write down the original Sweetwater price, but this looks like a tariff reaction.

Over the past 15 or so years, I have noticed that for some odd reason, the woodwind prices in US for decent brand names are considerably higher in US than in EU even with your VAT. We are easily paying a 3rd more here than there.

To me, it seems that prices are inflated over here for no really justifiable reasons I can think of. This is what has determined that I have purchased, and why I get by with you might say, less than stellar brands, stencils versus brand name, intermediate versus pro, etc.

I don't think that it is necesarily with the retailer, who IMO must pay a higher wholesale. But, it is what it is.

 

[Dr G]

I watch the price of a Jupiter JBS1000 bari and this is still 3555 euro at Thomann. Sweetwater sels the same product for $6149.
This is the first time I see such a difference in price over the pond. I didn't write down the original Sweetwater price, but this looks like a tariff reaction.

Keep watching. It should be entertaining for some.

Ships coming into the Port of Los Angeles, for instance, with reduced loads are trying to determine when to offload their wares. As numbers keep changing, the supply chain is at least disrupted, if not broken. Expect roller coaster conditions for some time.

 

[Woodpad]

Over the past 15 or so years, I have noticed that for some odd reason, the woodwind prices in US for decent brand names are considerably higher in US than in EU even with your VAT. We are easily paying a 3rd more here than there.

To me, it seems that prices are inflated over here for no really justifiable reasons I can think of. This is what has determined that I have purchased, and why I get by with you might say, less than stellar brands, stencils versus brand name, intermediate versus pro, etc.

I don't think that it is necesarily with the retailer, who IMO must pay a higher wholesale. But, it is what it is.

Whern I looked earlier the price of the Jupiter bari in the US was comparable to the european prices. In Europe Jupiter is regarded as a decent brand, butr it took a while. Doest it have the same recognition in the US?

 

[Woodpad]

Keep watching. It should be entertaining for some.

Ships coming into the Port of Los Angeles, for instance, with reduced loads are trying to determine when to offload their wares. As numbers keep changing, the supply chain is at least disrupted, if not broken. Expect roller coaster conditions for some time.

During the revolution in Poland in the time of Lech Walesa you could see such a process of a country slowing down and everuthing becoming scarce. It is not a pretty sight.

 

[Ghr9204]

Whern I looked earlier the price of the Jupiter bari in the US was comparable to the european prices. In Europe Jupiter is regarded as a decent brand, butr it took a while. Doest it have the same recognition in the US?

This I can't say. Based on availability with large on-line retailers, I may see one or two examples amongst the others. It does not have a large importation base in US, from what I gather.

Cost wise, I was referring to the mainline manufacturers like Selmer, Yamaha, Yanasigawa, etc. I didn't do any specific analysis, just from my occasionally checking prices between US and across the pond over the years.

 

[Dr G]

This I can't say. Based on availability with large on-line retailers, I may see one or two examples amongst the others. It does not have a large importation base in US, from what I gather.

Cost wise, I was referring to the mainline manufacturers like Selmer, Yamaha, Yanasigawa, etc. I didn't do any specific analysis, just from my occasionally checking prices between US and across the pond over the years.

Keep watching. The tariffs don’t apply to existing stock unless the distributors and retailers choose to gouge based on future pricing. Newly arriving products will experience whatever tariffs are active the day they are processed through customs. Prices will take even longer to lower (if the tariffs are lifted or adjusted down) because of the lag in supply chain and production. Don’t forget to express gratitude as you tighten your belt. It is good to recognize how good it has been. Remember the good ol’ days.

 

[Ivan]

It is good to recognize how good it has been. Remember the good ol’ days.

I suppose you could say that the good old days for saxophone prices far preceded the tariffs of this year... Weren't saxes pitched at a much more affordable price (relative to income) in the first half of the 20thC?

 

[jonf]

I suppose you could say that the good old days for saxophone prices far preceded the tariffs of this year... Weren't saxes pitched at a much more affordable price (relative to income) in the first half of the 20thC?

No, the opposite. In recent years, Selmer in particular have continued to apply a real cost multiplier to their products, but over time, all instruments are cheaper in terms of affordability. But the massive change comes at the lower end of the market. In real terms, student instruments are, by a huge margin, more affordable than ever. For example, a student sax from an established online retailer (Thomann, Gear4Music) comes in at about £380 for the cheapest models. A student stencil sax in the 1930s in the UK would have been about £100. £100 in 1935 is equivalent to about £6,000 today. A selmer alto in 1935 was £250, which works out at £15,000 in today's values. Although Selmer will happily sell you an (over-priced) alto for that amount, their premium models start at about £5,000.

In more recent years, the situation has been similar. My pretty poor student Buescher was bought for me by my incredibly supportive parents in 1980, second hand, for £290. That's about £1200 in today's values. Over three times the cost of a new student sax. Imported saxes, and other instruments, have democratised playing music and made it far, far more affordable in real terms. Whacking huge tarrifs on such goods will reverse that trend. If challenged on this point, those imposing tarriffs would claim the result will be an upsurge in domestic production. Anyone with the vaguest knowledge of economics will know that this is highly unlikely, and even if there is some re-start of domestic manufacture, the possibility of matching the price point of imports is nil.

 

[Ivan]

No, the opposite

Fairy nuff

I thought I'd probably got it wrong because in the back of my mind I was only thinking of high end models

 

[thomsax]

So hard to understand saxophone prices.

The list price for a 1977 a Conn "Director" (student sax) was aorund 5000. 00 s e k. A YTS 61 was around 4800.00 s e k. If it was possible to buy a new Conn Director today the price would be at least 28 717.00 s e k probably a lot more since the costs for selling saxes are higher today. The YTS 61 would cost 28 568.00 s e k.