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UncleOxidant · 2026-10-28T19:01:46.000Z

I recently went through the exercise of asking one of the Chinese manufacturers how much it would cost to build me a board (a bit pirate adapter board for ESP3 that does all the voltage conversions to the GPIO pins so you don't burn something out). Board layout & BOM already exist on github. They do 5 boards minimum. Ok, so I figure I can sell the other 4 boards, probably not a big deal. Total's about $400. Then we get to the point where I'm about the pull the trigger and it goes to a page on tariffs and it looks like at least 45% + they want my SSN to give to CBP to collect the tariff. That's a hard "Nope" on sending my SSN to China. So I'm going to give this a look.

leptons · 2026-10-28T19:16:57.000Z

What company is asking for your SSN?

UncleOxidant · 2026-10-28T19:44:31.000Z

PCBWay, but I suspect all of the Chinese manufacturers have to do this now.

Ccecil · 2026-10-28T19:56:09.000Z

This is all very common practice. Has been for at least a decade. Some companies require this info for them to purchase from you as well.

This is one of the benefits of being a company. You use the tax ID instead of your social security number.

kevin42 · 2026-10-28T20:05:20.000Z

I've never had to provide an EIN or SSN when using DDP shipping, which is what you should be using unless you have a huge order.

Ccecil · 2026-10-28T20:24:10.000Z

I typically use DHL which has my EIN in my account. This has been true since at least 2016. They do not deliver unless you give the info and pay the fees.

Most of my international customers who order bulk require my EIN (and theirs) to be on every invoice.

Nothing new here... I suspect if there is any change it is due to the de minimus being removed. There was major fraud happening in this area...it is a shame it is gone though since I was hoping to be able to order small things without major costs.

UncleOxidant · 2026-10-28T20:33:18.000Z

> I suspect if there is any change it is due to the de minimus being removed.

Yep, I'm sure that's what's causing this. Prior to that you didn't need to worry if it was under like $700, IIRC.