Presidential Tariff's Impact on Topton Motherboard Pricing

I tinkered with my first Topton motherboard back when I built the DIY NAS: 2023 Edition and I had a lot of cocnerns about the motherboard. My concerns largely centered around the buying experience. I had questions like:

• What would the final cost turn out to be?
• How long would it take to actually get to me?
• What would the experience be if I needed any support?

In 2023 it took 2-3 to get the motherboard to me, the taxes and shipping had tacked quite a few dollars onto my transaction, and thankfully I didn’t need any kind of support.

My transaction in 2023 worked out great, but it didn’t eliminate my concerns about the uncertainty that surrounded buying from a website like AliExpress. I continued to be hesitant in recommending them due to the possible headaches between our two countries, so I decided to try and eliminate some of that uncertainty and started selling the motherboards on my eBay store.

Enter President Trump’s Trade War

My uncertainty in 2023 seems quite silly compared to what has unfolded in the past few months. Don’t mistake me as any kind of economic expert, but I have known that obtaining these Topton motherboards was going to become a lot more expensive for us here in the United States due to the President’s new trade policies.

Because of all of the President’s flip-flopping and constant moving of the goal posts, it’s been difficult to try and ascertain exactly what the impact of these tariffs were going to be.

As of the original publication of this blog these new tariffs have gone into effect. Despite doing my best to read and understand each iteration of the proposed tariffs, I was still unsure and curious what the experience of ordering the motherboard would be like under these new tariffs.

I figured I’d once again buy a Topton motherboard from AliExpress and share my firsthand experience in nearly real-time. I found the Topton Computer Store(Trader) store on AliExpress and located the product listing for the Topton N18 NAS Motherboard which had a sticker price of $133.09

I clicked the buy now button, entered my address, and was unsurprised to find the first cost of the tarriff, a line item for $70.88 (%53) worth of “Additional Charges.”

I paid using PayPal, got thanked for my purchase, and nearly instantaneously observed a matching transaction hit my Paypal account.

What Happens Next?!

I don’t know! I figured this would be an interesting experiment and a tiny bit of a gamble. I’m going to keep updating this blog as my order is processed. But given that our government hasn’t done anything to ramp up the staffing and infrastructure to enforce these new tariffs, here’s a few things I’m anticipating:

• I am going to need to be patient, I predict this will take awhile.
• I should be prepared to owe more money to the US Customs and Border Patrol for any unpaid tariffs.
• There is a a risk the package will never get delivered.

Order Progress

Update (5/19/2025): My doorbell rang and the Topton N18 motherboard was sitting on my doorstep. I didn’t have to make any additional payment

Final Thoughts

Here’s a final thought that I shared before all of my updates: Tariffs are a non-transparent form of taxation and consumers will bear the burden of these new taxes.

I intentionally ordered the Topton N18 motherboard from AliExpress the day tariff enforcement began. My intention was to order when I expected things to be the most chatoic. The motherboard was listed for $133.09 and wound up carrying $70.88 worth of “Additional Charges” which was 1% lower than the expected tariff of 54% that was negotiated ten days after I placed this order.

What does all of this mean?! I have no earthly idea! I hoped that this exercise would answer a few questions, but instead I have questions that I’m vainly:

Q: Were all all of the tariffs covered in the “Additional Charges” that I paid back on 5/2?

A: I don’t think so. The amount collected was far below the established tariff rate at the time of the order. And the amount collected was still a tiny bit less than what the current rate should be.

Q: Did AliExpress intentionally try to evade some of these tariffs with my delivery?

A: I don’t know that they did with my order, but I certainly think that they are trying to do this.

Q: Did the US Customs and Border Patrol drop the ball?

A: Maybe! I seriously doubt that the CBP have the people and processes in place to accurately check every incoming package from China, cross-reference the customs collected for that package, and then collect any missing customs. Assuming that 100% of the “Additional Charges” were for tariffs then that’s definitely a lower rate than should have been collected (53.25% collected vs 54%)

Q: Should others count on having an experience similar to mine?

A: No! My sample size of one order is microscopic. Nobody should be placing an order and counting on having a similar experience.

Q: Should you order Topton motherboards from AliExpress?

A: I don’t know! I continue to dislike all of the uncertainty. We’re in the midst of a 90-day pause on the trade war with China, nobody what will happen after. Moreover all of these tariffs have been implemented by the executive branch of the government. Given the instability and volatility of the person occupying that position, all of this could change at a moment’s notice.

If you’re wanting to build a DIY NAS and use one of the Topton motherboards that I’ve been championing, what should you do? I have a bunch in stock in my eBay store, but I’m not very keen on how they’re currently priced. I’ll be revisiting my pricing later this week. But it’s also worth pointing out that I’m uncertain whether I will be ordering more motherboards in the future due to these tariffs.

My advice to buyers–especially those of us in the United States–is to buy from a vendor who has inventory on hand and in your country. Hopefully that’d help eliminate some of the chaos that we’re being subjected to by all of this trade policy. But if you’re like me and you don’t mind the gamble, ordering from AliExpress might be an option.