Let me be clear: I’m not complaining; it is what it is. And ultimately, it’s not even about me.
I am an independent writer and Tarot deck creator.
I created my first deck, the Unified Esoteric Tarot, in 2017, and I decided to self-publish it.
It won the best self-published deck category at the 2018 CARTA Awards, and it earned me the honour of serving on the judging panel in subsequent years, until I decided to resign after the 2024 competition.
Between 2018 and 2020, I created and self-published over 10 decks, and created a couple more, but kept them in my drawers. I submitted none of my work and preferred to keep my work “independent,” with all its ups and downs.
Likewise, I wrote and self-published several books using Lulu. One of the main reasons I have chosen Lulu is that they print locally. They don’t print in China, but use various printing companies near the customer who has submitted their order.
All my “products” are print-on-demand, making the manufacturing costs considerably higher.
I am also aware that most publishers would likely have rejected my work for its original, non-traditional content. I have no issue being the black sheep. As the song goes, “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.”
Coming back to the self-publishing of Tarot decks, after thorough research in 2016 and 2017, I opted for a printing company in Hong Kong. Although their prices were slightly higher than those of other similar printers from mainland China, the quality of their materials, printing, and services was also clearly superior.
It’s worth noting that at the time, there were no card-printing companies in Europe or the United States.
Printing cards requires special equipment, but more than anything, high-quality, special card stock. The company I have chosen to work with initially used high-quality German card stock.
Although Europe had a quite consistent card-printing tradition, that industry, like many other manufacturing activities, was slowly dismantled by unfavourable regulations and corporate greed, and has since been relocated to Asia. How much stupidity or how much corruption was involved is a matter that serious and independent researchers should study at some point.
Until the COVID pandemic, things were quite decent and manageable. Then the pandemic blew up shipping costs.
However, what is going on with the shipping costs to Europe now is unimaginable.
Standard shipping without tracking for Germany is 15,99 euros; express with tracking is 70,30 euros, and priority express is 112,48 euros. We’re talking about a small parcel containing nothing but a deck of cards! Shipping costs have become higher than manufacturing costs.
After that came the “tariff war.” Currently, there is a $3.57 US sales tax and a $3.81 import tariff on small parcels sent to the US, totalling $7.38 in additional costs. Things are even worse with Europe, where it’s a 10,03 euro “Europe charge.”
To make things worse for Europe, the manufacturer decided during the pandemic to convert USD to euros at a 1:1 rate. Thus, $55 has become 55 euros, instead of 47.36 euros, a consistent 7.67 euros difference in the manufacturer’s favour, but out of the creators’ and customers’ pockets.
I can understand import tariffs and taxes on merchandise that is also manufactured locally. Any government should protect its local manufacturers. However, when most of the things we own and use, from underwear to electronics, are manufactured in China, and there is no local alternative for them, taxing them is an abuse and a crime.
I still believe that publishers should be both encouraged by the government and constrained by the creators to print locally. What’s the point of manufacturing cheaper when people are losing their jobs and cannot afford to purchase all those goods anymore?
Manufacturing all our goods in China will ultimately cause the collapse of Western civilisation. Perhaps it’s already too late.
#attilakarpathy #selfpublishing #esoterc #tarot #EU #europe #economy #politics #tariffs #shipping
