Toys this Christmas are going to be more expensive, if in stock – London Toy Company

Sky News – The price of toys will spike this Christmas as the cost of delays and shortages hit shoppers’ pockets, according the boss of a British toy company.  As businesses try to recover some of the expense of shipping items to the UK, which has soared in the COVID-19 pandemic, parents might have to fork out even more for presents, warned Joel Berkowitz, founder of The London Toy Company.

“Toys this Christmas are going to be more expensive, and that’s if they’re even in stock,” Mr Berkowitz said. “We are massively affected by the shortages. We have clients wanting to place orders now and we just can’t deliver it.

“It’s killing our business. It’s a complete mess.”

The problem starts at the ports in manufacturing countries such as China, where there is a lack of empty shipping containers – an after effect of a global shutdown on trade during the height of the pandemic.

Companies must wait at least three weeks to get their hands on a container, and then stump up the cash for shipping rates as much as eight times the normal rate.

Sky News

Photo A file photo of a customer looking at ‘Star Wars’ toys in a store in New York, New York, USA. EPA/JUSTIN LANE