Hey everyone. We hate to have to come on here like this but as a lot of you have noticed with the shelves being quite empty in the store we are having a huge problem with our supplier and shipping company. We are stuck and do not know what to do. Behind the scenes so much has been going on and it’s causing us so much stress and anxiety that we’re unable to be a pillar of community and provide like we want to.

Background:

The tariffs enacted on imports from South Korea in late 2025 have been detrimental to our business to say the least, as 90% of our products are imported from South Korea. However, music is classified as information material and is exempt from the current tariffs

Every shipment to us incurs another duty and tax charge. We file a dispute with the shipping company immediately stating the law and that we should not be subject to these charges. Unfortunately, the review process is extremely long taking 90-180 business days, or longer depending on complexity, to be resolved. Out of the 20+ disputes we have filled thus far, 7 have completed the review process and have been cleared; meaning our disputes are correct and we are not liable for those charges.

Reason for Cause:

Our supplier has been amazing and helpful up until right now. Due to a glitch in the shippers system, 2 disputes we filed were not processed as disputes being filed meaning the process of seeking payment continued. After 60 days of not receiving payment those two invoices were then rebilled to our suppliers account. Here is where everything has gone downhill and spiraled out of control.

We have been diligently working with our supplier and shipper to have these two invoices rebilled back to our account again but it was unsuccessful (as to not go into too much personal financial detail the reasoning for this being unsuccessful has been corrected and confirmed on the shippers side and there should not be any issue from either side to rebill these invoices to us). Because these two invoices were rebilled to our supplier it has apparently affected their account with the shipper. Due to a technical mistake of the shipping company our supplier is now taking this out on us.

I promise you, we have been going back and forth with our supplier for weeks in attempt to resolve this issue. But now, due to this, our supplier is refusing to ship out products we have already spent thousands and thousands of dollars on. This is why we have not received any restocks or new products in store yet. They claim they will be holding our products until all of the active duties and taxes invoices we are in dispute for have been resolved. This is absurd given the extensive time it takes for disputes to be reviewed and resolved, as explained above. To be completely honest, we cannot sustain up to 6 months more without a resolution.

In our latest communication with our supplier they are now requesting a “security deposit” of sorts, in case all the open duties and taxes disputes we have are rebilled to their account. This is improbable as we have case numbers and dispute ID’s for each of these invoices. However, they are refusing to hear us, see the proof/confirmation from our records and the shippers, and work with us despite us being loyal clients for over 2 years now. Our only option at this point is to pay this “security deposit” for our products to be shipped to us immediately.

Funds raised will go directly towards:

Paying the “security deposit” to our supplier to ship product we have already paid for.

Our Plea:

The reality of the situation is we will not be able to keep Kingdom open for much longer if this situation doesn’t resolve. We are a self funded business: no loans, no investors, just us. We have poured absolutely everything we have into Kingdom.

Our motto has always been to be a safe space for anyone and everyone. We have given so much of ourselves to others, not because we have to but because we want to. We believe in the power of paying it forward and sadly are now in a situation where we must ask for help. Kingdom is a source of pride and community, for us and so many others, and for our dream to be squashed by another is heartbreaking. We are a family not only in owning the business but a family in the friends and community that you all have created through us.

We are at the end of our rope which is why we are asking for help. Nobody reaches the top alone. Without community support this cost threatens to shut our doors for good. Whether you can support $1, $500, buying an album from a group that maybe isn’t an ultimate; or simply sharing this page with another. Any support will go towards keeping our dream, passion, and store alive.

We love you all, thank you for taking the time to read our story.

Kingdom Family