Tariff note

UPDATED: 23 February 2026

On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated many U.S. tariffs, including the 19% tariff we’ve been paying for every Playdate. That’s good news for small companies like us, generally speaking.

Unfortunately, what has not changed is that Panic has already paid tariffs on the Playdates in our warehouse. And there is currently no way for already-paid tariffs to be recovered — nor is it clear that there ever will be. Finally, by using a different method, President Trump has already initiated a 15% tariff on any item manufactured in any other country, starting now.

So, to quickly summarize:

We will need to continue charging a 19% tariff surcharge on the Playdates we have in inventory.
We currently have no way to recover the tariffs we’ve paid.
We may never be able to recover them.
Our tariff fee will potentially lower from 19% to 15% — at some point in the future.

As the tariff situation inevitably changes every few weeks or minutes or so, we will continually update this page, and the tariff percentage, as needed.

Our margin on Playdate is low. Manufacturing electronics as a small company is expensive, especially when using very high-end materials like stainless steel, glass, and a very unique high-resolution screen. We can’t afford to “absorb” these tariffs — effectively, taxes — and that’s why we’ve been adding it to our checkout subtotal.

(On the bright side, Playdate would cost way, way more if it were manufactured in the United States — assuming anyone would manufacture it at all, including all of the specialized sub-companies that make individual parts for Playdate, like that stainless steel crank — so, relatively speaking, it’s a small price to pay.)

Just so you know: we hate this. We know money is tight for everyone. We thank you for your patience and your kind understanding. Our deepest dream is that we can delete this line item, and this page, entirely, someday soon. We got close this time! But not close enough.