Hello Stargazers!

The last pre-order went perfectly; y’all showed up, and the pre-order arrived and was delivered without a hitch. We updated the Mini Tee neck hole to accommodate all the big brains in the Carmico community, delivered pre-orders 2 months ahead of schedule, and caught the attention of the Twitter art community (again) with @Kianamai.

And now you’re here, searching for your own stars because Starfall sold out once again.

We have an elephant in the room to address before we get into the pre-order: US tariffs and de minimis exemption. We won’t go into detail about the de minimis exemption here, but you can learn more about it in our blog dedicated to the topic.

If you are not from the US, skip to the tl;dr and onwards.

In short, as of right now, orders from Carmico under $800 USD are not subject to tariffs because of the de minimis exemption. This exemption has been in place for decades and is the reason you've never had to consider taxes on imports until now. As you have probably heard, tariffs on Chinese goods are currently active. Since our goods are manufactured in China, they are subject to tariffs because they are considered to be of Chinese origin. However, until Trump officially cancels the de minimis exemption, you will not have to pay tariffs on your order unless the order value is greater than $800 USD.

Since this is a pre-order, the de minimis exemption could be cancelled before your order fulfills, subjecting your package to customs fees. The tariffs on these goods as of March 4th would be 20%, but other fees, like brokerage fees, could increase the amount you have to pay. We are critically aware of how this impacts our US customers and are looking into some options that could reduce the customs burden if the de minimis exemption is cancelled by the time pre-orders ship. The caveat is that any solution we may have must be retroactive.

We’ll keep you updated about available options throughout the pre-order, if any. That said, it’s best for anyone shipping to the US to expect to pay customs fees on your order. We wish it were any other way.

Now, onto the pre-order!

tl;dr

• Starfall Pre-Order: Launches February 28th, ends March 14th.
• Payment: Payment is captured immediately at checkout. PayPal is disabled due to PayPal pre-order policies.
• Refunds & Cancellations: Full refunds to your original payment method accepted before March 14th. Refunds after March 14th are for store credit only. Familiarize yourself with our refund policy.
• Products:
  • Mini Tees fit true to size as they are very stretchy. The garment measurements can be misleading, so when in doubt, buy your size or one size up if you want a looser fit.
  • Knit tanks are stretchy but not in the same way as mini tees. Due to the nature of knit, the tanks stretch and will reset when washed. They should be snug when you put them on.
  • Blue Moon items have very similar colours, but due to differing materials between items, they do not match exactly the way a jogger set would.
  • You may combine your order with in-stock items
• Risks: Our Moth Bag pre-order in 2023 was met with significant delays due to issues out of our control. There’s always a risk of delays with any pre-order. Please be patient and respectful, we’ll make sure you get your order!
• In-Stock Items: Ships immediately if you only order in-stock items (jackets, knit tanks, caps, and socks); if combined with pre-order items, ships together in Q3 2025.
• Timeline:
  • February 28th - March 14th: Pre-order
  • Late March - Early May: Production
  • Mid May - Mid July: Shipping
  • Early August: Fulfillment
  • Late August: Pre-order Complete!
• Updates: Monthly updates in our blog, on socials, and Discord. Major updates posted as they occur.
• Contact: For questions, email hello@carmico.ca or join our Discord.

The Rules

• This is a pre-order, the products must be manufactured before we can fulfill them.
• Delivery is expected in Q3 2025.
• Expect delays and don't buy with a specific delivery date in mind (i.e. birthdays, Christmas gifts, etc.)
• No refunds or cancellations.
• International customers must be aware of applicable import charges, including US customers now that de minimis exemption cancellations are looming.
• If you deny delivery you are not entitled to a refund of your shipping fee.
• PayPal is disabled due to PayPal policy restrictions; we wish it were different.
• You can place a single order for you and your friends to save on shipping but we will not retroactively combine multiple orders.
• You accept responsibility for deliveries made to an old address if you fail to update your address before fulfillment.

Our experience and contingency plans

• This is our eighth pre-order, past pre-orders have been subject to minor delays.
  • One of our pre-orders was caught in a ransom deal, we figured it out and have experience to resolve similar issues were they ever to happen again—but hopefully not. 🤞
• We've worked out a lot of the kinks but there is always room for error and unforeseen circumstances.
• You will be updated regarding all major timeline changes (read on to learn more).
• Any unforeseen circumstances will be communicated via a blog post, email, and Discord channel updates.

In-Stock Items

If you order in-stock items with pre-order items

Jackets, Knit Tanks, Caps, Socks, and Gunmetal Bandanas

Example: A jacket and joggers

Your entire order will ship once the pre-order items are available in Q3 2025.

If you order in-stock items without pre-order items

Example: A jacket and a cap

Your entire order will ship immediately.

We’re doing it this way so that you can get the bigger items and save on shipping rather than having multiple orders.

Refunds

Think of this like a crowdfunding campaign similar to Kickstarter, except we’re hosting it on our own site. You’re here because you’re passionate about Carmico clothing and understand that, with supporting small businesses, some concessions must be made.

We are not Amazon or any other big corporation. Your refunds and cancellations are more than just a number on a year-end report. They affect us magnitudes more than the big guys.

To make pre-orders work, we take the money you used to pay for your order and use it to pay for our manufacturers to produce it. This means if you cancel your order, we have spent money on products that are no longer wanted. Finding new people here and there to pick up where you left off isn’t a big deal, but the reason we don’t allow refunds at all is that doing so opens us up to large-scale liability that could seriously damage our business.

If we let one person refund, we have to let everyone refund. So, in the spirit of fairness, original payment method refunds are not allowed for pre-orders. You may cancel for store credit, and you can exchange for other sizes while supplies last.

Timeline

We’ve added some extra buffer time for inevitable supply chain delays. We understand 6 months is a long time to wait but our lead times are usually 3-4 months without contingencies. We always hope to under-promise and over-deliver.

February 28th - March 14th: Pre-order

Late March - Early May: Production

Mid May - Mid July: Shipping

Early August: Fulfillment

Late August: Pre-order Complete!

Risks

We’ve had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in a ransom deal to receive our Moth Bag pre-order in 2023. It all worked out in the end, but it was three months late and cost us dearly.

We’ve run eight pre-orders before this one. One of them was delayed due to a system migration error, another due to Black Friday fulfillment blackouts from our warehouse. These delays only pushed the timeline by a couple of weeks, but it’s still something to be aware of. The rest delivered on time or early!

There are always challenges with pre-orders, but we like to be as transparent as possible. We’ve learned a lot from all of our pre-orders and hope that this one can follow in the footsteps of the last Starfall pre-order: without a hitch.

Updates

We’ll always let you know when the next guaranteed update will be so you aren’t left hanging.

We will post updates on our blog, on our social platforms, and in our Discord at the beginning of every month. The updates won’t always be significant, but we want to keep you updated and let you know we haven’t forgotten about you.

In addition to guaranteed monthly updates, we will also post updates regarding major developments.

About us

If you're new here, it's great to meet you! We're a small team of creatives, and you can learn more about us in our About Us and Meet the Team pages. <3

We pride ourselves on creating accessible, exciting items for your wardrobe and a great work culture. Your pre-order helps us to keep our dream going.

As always, thank you so much for the overwhelming support!

If you have any questions, please direct them to our support email, hello@carmico.ca or join our Discord and post in #questions.

Happy shopping!

The CarmiCrew