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
| Date | Event | Delivery ETA |
|---|---|---|
| 5/02/2025 | AliExpress Order placed for N18 Motherboard | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/06/2025 | Received a shipment notification from AliExpress. | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/06/2025 | Package collected by carrier. | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/07/2025 | Package arrived at airport. | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/11/2025 | Awaiting flight. | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/12/2025 | Package leaving origin country/region. | 5/23/2025 |
| 5/12/2025 | Package arrived at local airport. | 5/23/2025 |
Update (5/13/2025): Since my last update the package was loaded on a plane and arrived at a “local airport”. Moreover the US and China agreed to slash some steep tariffs for at least 90 days. What does this mean for my package? I still have no idea! Yesterday’s agreement doesn’t reinstate the old “de minimis” loophole which would’ve exempted this package from tariffs. As I understand it, following yesterday’s agreement the executive branch also announced that packages up to $800 will see their tariffs reduced to 54% from 120%. While I’m not quite certain what will happen next with this package, I’m still expecting a lengthy stay in a customs warehouse and to be responsible for an outstanding balance thanks to these tariffs.
Final Thoughts
I’ll be making updates as my order gets fulfilled. When (if) I finally receive the package, I’ll share some actual final thoughts. Hopefully those final thoughts will shed some light on whether I choose to continue selling motherboards on eBay.
In the meantime, here’s a final thought that I can share while the order is in the process of being fulfilled. Tariffs are a non-transparent form of taxation and consumers will bear the ultimate burden of these new taxes.
