Setting up shop in Malaysia has turned out to be a bit more complicated than expected. The main issues are logistics, tax handling and international shipping.
Rather than trying to solve everything locally from day one, the current plan is to ship products out from Thailand using a fulfillment company. I currently have a draft agreement with them, so things are at least moving in the right direction.
Another reason for using Thailand is that PCB fabrication and assembly will likely happen there as well. Keeping production and shipping in the same country should avoid some cross-border complications.
It should also make things a bit simpler tax-wise for customers in the US. With the current enthusiasm for tariffs and trade barriers, having things ship out of Thailand instead of e.g. China may turn out to be helpful, but who knows..
This setup should make the operational side easier overall, although shipping costs may go up slightly compared to before.
One possible upside is that I may be able to stock a wider variety of products than previously, depending on how the logistics side works out.
There is currently no firm ETA for when the store will reopen, but things are progressing.. I’ll post another update once things are a bit more settled.