I’m pretty new to the DIY esk8 world, but I’ve been doing a ton of research, math, and budgeting to build my very first custom board. Based on my calculations for a dual-motor setup, a pair of Flipsky 6374 motors (ideally around 170kv - 190kv) fits my project and tight budget perfectly.
Here is my situation and why I need your help for a ConUS deal:
The Custom Laws & Shipping Nightmare: I live in a country where importing parts is practically impossible due to brutal customs regulations and a $0 import limit. However, I have a friend traveling to the US soon, and they can bring the parts back to me in their luggage. They can receive domestic online orders at their US address or even pick them up in person if close by.
The Amazon Stock Crash: I was tracking the official Flipsky 6374 motors on Amazon US, just waiting for my friend’s travel dates to place the order. But bad luck struck, and they suddenly went completely out of stock.
The De Minimis Confusion: I’ve been reading that the US is cracking down on or changing the de minimis tax exemptions, making it much harder/riskier to order directly from AliExpress, Alibaba, or Chinese vendors to a US address right now. Is this true? Should I avoid ordering from Chinese warehouses to the US to prevent my friend from dealing with unexpected customs delays and taxes?
Since I’m a beginner, I’m wide open to advice. I’m looking for a reliable new channel to buy these motors (or very similar budget-friendly 6374 equivalents) within the US before my friend leaves around June 18.
If you are a US vendor with stock, please let me know.
If you are a forum member with a spare, BNIB (Brand New In Box), or lightly used set of 6374s (or equivalent) sitting on your shelf in the US, I’m happy to buy them. We can sort out the payment details over PMs.
Any advice on reliable US-based domestic shops that ship fast would be amazing.
Thanks a lot for welcoming a newbie into the community, appreciate any help!
I am not sure any of us know which items will or will not have fees added because of the de minimus exemption expiry.
It looks like the 7070 flipsky motor for 10$ more is available from Amazon Prime with free shipping delivery tomorrow, which means it is already inside the USA.
If the delivery says earliest delivery in 10 days then it is coming from China.
I have ordered several things from China expecting the orangeman tax/tarriff /ransom, but even when it arrived Fedex or UPS…. no additional fees, but no labelling on the package indicating it came from outside the USA either. It is like it is reboxed for delivery, or the shipping label removed and a new one added.
I’ve been trying to avoid Amazon in favor of Ebay when possible. NO experience with Alibaba/Aliexpress.
The ‘ships from China’ Ebay stuff takes no less than 10 days, to Florida, and can often arrive by some delivery company I have never heard of before, but these products usually say the import fees are included in the price shown.
I think there is all sorts of ways that sellers are trying to beat the system, or finding loopholes to get things past customs and the vile orangeman tax.
Thanks for checking! I actually noticed that right after I posted, but if you try to add it to the cart, there is only 1 single motor left in stock. Since I need a matching pair for a dual motor build, unfortunately, a single one won’t work for me.
I suspect that single unit popped back up as a customer return after the main stock completely sold out. Appreciate you sharing it, though!
Thanks for the breakdown on the customs stuff and the re-boxing loopholes, that’s super helpful to know!
Checking the delivery dates is exactly how I’ve been filtering my options. The person picking up the package is only visiting the US for a very short window, so I definitely can’t risk any shipping delays or backorder surprises. With that tight timeline and the unpredictable tariff fees, I’m staying away from anything shipping straight from China.
As for that Flipsky 7070, next-day Prime is awesome. Since I don’t actually have a finalized build yet and everything will be custom anyway, I could probably make the 70mm size work. But I’m worried 110KV might be way too slow for the wheel speed I want on this setup, so I’m not entirely sure about it.
I’ll keep hunting for those fast Prime tags on 63-sized motors too. Appreciate the solid advice, man!
I have 2 brand new in Serbia. I know you are looking for US but as far as I know there is some kind of free trade agreement between Serbia and Turkey. If you coud check it locally and let me know if I am hallucinating or not.
Hey EreTroN, you are definitely not hallucinating! That agreement is real, but unfortunately, it only applies to commercial B2B imports with official paperwork.
For regular person-to-person packages in the mail, Turkish customs is an absolute nightmare and they’ll still slap heavy taxes on it regardless. That’s why I have to stick to the luggage route.
