Update - September 2025
We're back!
We've added the option to have your order shipped to the US again but there has been a change. We're still using the same tracked international package service through Royal Mail. Nothing changes there.
What has changed is that the tariff rate charged by the US government has now been added as an additional cost at the checkout.
Here's an example of what it looks like:
The tariff rate for Hera, for example, is 10%. This rate is also charged on your shipping cost but that's included in the listed shipping price. The total duty that will be paid in this example is £11 (£99.99 - product cost, £9.99 - shipping cost, £109.98 total, £11 duty paid).
The tariff cost will be paid by us when we process your package in the UK, so you won't have any extra duty or taxes to pay when you receive your order.
Original Post
We're in the peak of summer, the alluring change of the seasons means Locktober will be upon us before we know it once again, and we're facing ch-ch-changes.
Let's get right to it - From 3pm UK time on Monday 18th August (standard international tracked) or midday UK time on Tuesday 26th August (FedEx express) we will be suspending all shipments to the United States INDEFINITELY.
Why?
As you may have seen, on the 30th July the White House announced the end of the de minimis exemption where any packages sent to the United States with a value under $800 would be duty free and pass through customs with minimal to no delays.
From 29th August the de minimis exemption will be terminated (as of the time of writing this post) for all countries worldwide.
What does this mean?
If I'm quite honest, we don't know yet. We continue to monitor the situation daily to see if anything changes but it's not currently looking likely.
As it stands there will be a few options from August 29th:
- Customers would be required to pay a flat rate $80 duty fee on top of your product and postage costs to have the package clear customs and be delivered to you.
- We setup a method to calculate the taxes, duty and tariff fees at the checkout and the package is sent with full fees paid in advance.
We're not currently sure of how option 2 works yet (if it does at all) and will continue to monitor this throughout September. If we start to see positive news and we're able to set up a method of collecting all fees relating to your order we'll get that set up ASAP and let you all know.
What's going to happen in the future
Right now we don't have a time frame for when we'll be able to ship to the US again beyond the postage deadlines stated at the top of this post.
What we do know is that in the future all of our devices will be more expensive due to the extra taxes and tariffs. This is something that can't be avoided and we hope you understand that this is outside of our control.
As soon as we've found a working solution to this we'll keep you all updated.
Thank you so much to all of our wonderful and supportive US customers and we hope to offer our cages to you again ASAP.
If you'd like to avoid the extra fees please place your order before our shipping deadlines.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mistress K
Mistress K (she/her) is a queer kinky woman and in a long-term chastity-led relationship with Slave D, the other half of the dynamic duo who run House of Denial.
Thoughtfully dedicated to consent-led BDSM practices and interactions, Mistress K supports our community via our customer service channels (does that make her a service top domme?) by engaging with anyone interested, enthusiastic or curious about chastity.
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