Perhaps you've seen the headlines? It's real... Unexpected tariffs are having an enormous impact on our world, supply chains, and our business in particular. 
Many very high quality child safety seats and baby strollers are designed here in the US, or in Germany or elsewhere - but are manufactured in China. The supply chain links simply don't exist here. It would take years to build them from scratch, and if nearly all economists are to be believed, once in place it is a near-lock that prices would be significantly higher, presumably lowering our overall standard of living.
You can expect to see prices increasing in the very near future. As retailers who work on pretty small margins (much smaller than the manufacturer) we don't have the ability to absorb much if any of this price shock. And we are obligated by the manufacturer to sell gear at the new prices.
But there is a potentially more significant issue: product shortages. In our intelligence gathering with manufacturers, it's clear that product is shipping to the US in significantly reduced volumes. Until the tariff uncertainty is clarified, the boats and the container units are simply not coming. It's essentially a repeat of the Covid era. Products will be in short supply very soon. In fact some of our best sellers are unavailable for future orders right now.
During Covid, The Pump Station was second to none in our ability to obtain product when others were sold out. We attribute this to our veteran buying team, who brings big retail chain buying experience and relationships across the industry. We were there for you during Covid and survived; we plan on doing it again by buying as aggressively as possible to maintain our inventory, as we enter this uncertain time.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, thank you so very much for your support and patronage of The Pump Station, and of local small business.
Got questions? Reach out anytime to our customer service with any concerns—we’re here for you.
6-17-2025: GREAT NEWS !!! Due to effective buying and increasing of our inventory we are now returning to our FREE SHIPPING NATIONWIDE policy for car seats and baby gear!!! (Some exceptions for particularly heavy or bulky items, see our shipping policy. Previously, Baby Gear shipments to out-of-state customers were incurring temporary tariff-era shipping surcharges.)
