I do feel sad, I will say. Since I started my business, the taxes and fees for being able to see and buy anything, have gone up ... well, not even tenfold. Just ... out of nowhere.

     It used to be a little over 5 bucks to send international, it is now between 11 and 14. The postcard stamp used to be 26 cents, now it's 82. 

     Ali Express used to be free to RECEIVE - I bought so much worthless stuff that almost every morning the General would lay a minute envelope on my desk and there would be some trinket inside, something utterly silly, and adorable. Now even just the most basic things which I absolutely require - there is no alternative to halfpans anywhere in Europe - are charged the minimum of 9 euro per envelope, regardless of what is inside. 17 euro worth of pans gets charged the extra 9 euro, just to enter the country. Ita takes MONTHS to arrive.

      All of the stickers subscriptions are now taxed almost double their worth and take 4 months to arrive.

      There is a new law that makes you count and pay taxes for any form of container - from envelopes, jewelry boxes, to halfpans.  It doesn't matter how you wrap your shipments - the total sum of all of my wrappings per year is less than one kilo - you have to pay the minimum of 57 bucks to the government or some related institution. 

       Brexit cut me off from several pigment suppliers and the entirety of Book Depository. There is just a possible way to get my hands on certain materials without having to pay DHL, and THOSE charge the minimum of 22 euro for shipping plus 27 euro for charging you tax plus 22% tax on the value of the shipment PLUS the value of its shipping cost. 

    It feels a little like I work every day, all day, and the same amount of money I used to blow on shit that makes me happy now evaporates into the pockets of some fucking companies who don't give a flying crap whether I live or die. 

     And I had my first cancellation today. A 100 bucks worth. Not a good day to have a small business, is all I'm venting.