I have seen a LOT of small companies starting up offering, essentially, middle man servicing. For plush, other items, etc.

This is NOT an easy money scheme. There are very, very strict importing laws and if you do NOT follow these laws the products will be destroyed at customs

People ask me all the time about plush production. I reach out to people as well and make sure they're aware of legal importing requirements and help them start their research. I OFTEN recommend using a middle man company because the legal legwork required is a LOT & exhausting.

This means I'm ABSOLUTELY not going to take shit from a company offering these services if they proudly proclaim they do NOT follow legal requirements, or if they are unaware of it. My partner runs a company focusing on importing and manufacturing and I see how much work he does.

We have saved people who imported incorrectly and almost had their whole import destroyed. We have heard of friends who weren't able to be saved and had their whole import destroyed. No one got refunds. Lots and lots and LOTS of money and time is lost. Permanently.

Be extremely cautions when approaching middle manning services. Ask them questions about legal importing laws, and have them link you to their sources. And if you're unsure, speak to multiple sources, and run these by other people who also design and import products.

Sadly MOST small time people import illegally. Thousands of products are playing Russian roulette with Kickstarter money or pre-order money and most of these businesses could not survive having their stuff searched at customs. They also risk their place at cons, online, etc.

"But if they didn't do it, why can't I?"
Because if you are unlucky enough to be searched you could have to pay thousands in fines, product destroyed and be flagged forever. If the middle man you use doesn't do it, you may still be the sole person responsible.
Don't risk it.

I know about plush but thousands of products have very different requirements with importing. If you are contacting a random factory on Alibaba they don't care about YOUR legal import laws, and won't tell you. It's up to you to know in advance. They make product, and ship it.

People get tricked because enamel pins are pretty dang easy to do by comparison. They are the EXCEPTION and not the RULE. Manufacturing and importing is extremely murky and confusing and you take a lot of risks with it.

Anyway, I have had numerous friends messed up by unscrupulous middle men, which is a big reason Nik started up his own company focusing on uplifting artists and quality, vs treating them like pocket books (Often at the expense of factory workers) I also privately help individuals

This isn't a sub tweet of any one company, even though I had a discussion with one last night who basically wrote me loudly telling them they were risking their clients as "Furry Twitter Drama" of which IT IS NOT. I run my own company. I respect the laws of import.

They told me privately they plan to do better. I hope this is true. I do not have energy to be nice to COMPANIES taking on clients for this without doing their research. You are risking the livlihoods of artists by offering yourself as a middle man service without the leg work.

Like I said, I have seen this a lot. In the past 2 years I have seen a TON of pop up "I'll produce X product for you" companies. I want to just be overjoyed for more product, but I will also be very, very critical if they are not putting 120% energy into protecting the artists.

ESPECIALLY plush, because I have put hundreds of hours into research alongside Nik on producing these, importing, safety testing, etc. I am critical of how people treat their factory workers, too. But I'm also very, very open to people reaching out to me for advice.

One of the saddest things I have to admit is that I'm always the one reaching out to people making a plush and going "Are you legally importing this?" and giving them the information. I don't think anyone has ever reached out to me and gone "How can I legally import this?"

Just do better. Do research. Importing isn't easy, and you should never be taking other people's money and offering to import for them if you have not actively looked into legal importing laws, re-selling laws, etcetcetc. No way in hell I'd even try to myself, it's too hard.

I'm just annoyed because I woke up today to seeing in my inbox a COMPANY upset I didn't privately reach out to THEM to tell them how not to risk THEIR clients.

My DMs have been open since I got on Twitter and I have ALWAYS given this information out freely, and I still do.

Anyway, I actually think middle man companies are the BEST route for a lot of people on a lot of products because it's just EASIER for artists who just want to CREATE, & in theory that's precisely why you pay them extra. So I am extra annoyed when I have to make a post like this.

I had to do it for Gann Memorials who ripped off thousands of $$ from people, now have to warn about being very critical of all of the pop up manufacturing companies. Always ask questions, and do your own research. And never be afraid to cross reference what you're told.