Tariffs Are Impacting Magic

We think we know the magic industry well: most of us have bought a trick or watched some trailers online. And since magic is a niche and the market relatively small, it’s easy to assume the system is straightforward—but that’s not quite the case.

Since the beginning of 2025, industries of all kinds have undergone a period of self-analysis to understand how they would respond to a rapidly shifting economic landscape, primarily due to tariffs. These kinds of conversations often expose the inner workings and, at times, the vulnerabilities of industries like magic that have carried certain structural patterns for years. But they can also help reveal where things might be headed.

We spoke with top figures from some of the largest magic companies to compile the most comprehensive picture possible of how the magic market works—and where it's going. The future of the magic we buy and perform as a community is being reshaped right now.

For this article, we interviewed the CEOs of Murphy’s Magic and Ellusionist, Austin Murphy and Geraint Clarke, and the COO of Vanishing Inc., George Luck. These three companies gave us valuable insights into their production chains and how they’ve evolved over time, as well as key data and figures.

Some of the insights you’ll find here will genuinely surprise you.

The Magic Market, in a Nutshell

Before diving into the real insights, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page with a super brief, ultra-simplified recap of the magic market in recent years.

It’s true that magicians have been sharing and learning secrets for centuries, but the arrival of computers and the internet completely revolutionised the industry. Magazines and books still exist, but they’ve been joined by new formats that make the production and distribution of magic more accessible and diverse. 

Over time, DVDs have been entirely replaced by digital content—downloads and streaming. This shift made it easier to produce and distribute magic, allowing new companies to enter the market and empowering individual creators to go independent and bypass traditional companies.

Many future creators are discovered via social media or through submissions on magic company websites. The way social platforms and algorithms work has made it so that much of the magic that sells today is camera-friendly and fools other magicians (which isn’t necessarily a marker of good magic). The growing interest in digital products also fueled the rise and popularity of formats like streaming lectures and seminars.

Another major segment is custom playing cards, which peaked in the 2010s and into the COVID years. But since card production costs have risen dramatically, it’s become less common to see new decks released.

This great “boom” in the magic market gave birth to major companies, and some of today’s best-known magicians rose to prominence as creators. But it also brought questionable consequences: more magic is published today than is actually performed, and some of the material being released clearly doesn’t justify publication in terms of quality.

Within this context, the industry seems to be at a turning point. The market is now saturated with tricks, and even for creators, it’s become harder to capture attention.

Companies have responded by diversifying and adapting. For example, theory11 now releases far fewer magic tricks and focuses more on collector’s cards, games, and puzzles. Ellusionist, has slowed its publishing pace and shifted away from digital products – they have also launched a new marketing business. Vanishing Inc. remains the only major company still heavily investing in books. Ellusionist and Vanishing Inc. have also both embraced subscription-based systems—Magic Stream and Masterclass, respectively.

A final trend in the magic business worth noting is the increasingly central role of creators themselves, who now often publish magic independently.

Ellusionist was the first company to build a kind of “rockstar” aura around them, but today, many creators have carved out their own small businesses, often through subscription models and digital products.

These individual creators may reach fewer people than a major company, but they can earn far more than they would from traditional royalties. But it’s easy to get “trapped” in those models—eventually running out of things to teach or create (at least, things of real quality).

A Look Behind The Scenes

We received a number of fascinating insights from Vanishing Inc., Murphy’s Magic, and Ellusionist.

First, we asked them where they manufacture their products. All three emphasized that they rely on multiple suppliers in different parts of the world, but with some key differences.

Vanishing Inc., for instance, outsources the manufacturing of many of its products to China. Murphy’s Magic, on the other hand, has built a supplier network that spans various countries depending on the materials required.

One particularly interesting topic is quantity: how many units of a new trick get produced, and how is that number determined?

Here, the approaches vary. Ellusionist says it’s largely a gut feeling, based on how they think a trick will perform and their risk tolerance for leftover stock. Murphy’s Magic and Vanishing Inc. take a more data-driven approach. Both companies analyze the success of similar past products, among other factors.

Vanishing Inc. elaborated:

In terms of numbers, Ellusionist says they typically produce between 2,000 and 3,000 units of a product. Murphy’s Magic cited “many thousands,” while Vanishing Inc. said their range spans “from the mid-thousands to tens of thousands.” The companies then reorder based on demand.

It’s worth noting that Murphy’s Magic is a unique case. That’s because the magic industry has only one true wholesaler: Murphy’s Magic. The company not only produces and distributes its own items but primarily supplies most of the world’s magic shops—both online and brick-and-mortar–with products from every other magic producer in the world.

We asked Austin Murphy what happens when a product goes through Murphy’s Magic but wasn’t made by them. His answer was clear and comprehensive:

The fact that there is only one real wholesaler in the magic industry is certainly unusual. Murphy’s Magic is aware of its unique position and says it invests heavily in balancing the needs of creators, retailers, and end consumers. However, having a single gatekeeper could homogenize a large portion of the products on the market.

Speaking of gatekeeping, there’s another notable aspect—not exclusive to Murphy’s Magic: the industry is heavily skewed toward the West, with very few non-English-speaking creators. George Luck from Vanishing Inc. also acknowledged this during our interviews.

There are also important distinctions between types of products. One is physical vs. digital. We didn’t receive many insights on this from the companies—except from Ellusionist, which confirmed our hunch: they’ve moved away from digital and focused more on physical products.

Another distinction is between products for hobbyists and those for professionals. Austin Murphy shared this reflection:

Lower Volume, Higher Margins

Before discussing the factors that could threaten the stability of the magic market—such as tariffs—let's say a few words about the trends that companies have described as defining the industry's present and future.

Vanishing Inc. believes that in the coming years, we will continue to see the success of electronic and tech-based products. Ellusionist, on the other hand, offers a more specific prediction: that we’ll see more products following a “lower volume, higher margins” model. Quoting Ellusionist’s CEO:

This is a trend we’re noticing as well—and one we find very interesting. If it continues in the coming years, it’s reasonable to expect some consequences. First, it may raise the barrier to entry for independent creators, who might not have the resources to develop such complex products. Second, smaller companies that can’t compete with large-scale productions may see a decline in sales.

The magic industry must also grapple with broader dynamics, such as the way social media and algorithms have shortened the lifespan of many products. In the past, new releases could generate real hype and buzz; today, it feels like even that hype has become more fleeting.

Big names are still a major selling point, but it’s also worth noting that many of today’s most prominent creators didn’t emerge after Covid. Instead, they are often individuals who rose to fame in previous years, when the market operated differently, and have since capitalized on that early success.

What Threats Lie Ahead?

When discussing the factors that have disrupted the balance of the magic industry, the companies we spoke with referred to events predating even the current tariff situation.

Ellusionist pointed out that one of the most significant legal challenges in recent years was the 2021 import/VAT rule change across the UK and Europe. This led to increased costs for customers in those regions and, consequently, to a noticeable drop in purchases.

The COVID years were another turbulent time, as both Vanishing Inc. and Ellusionist reminded us. The pandemic had a direct impact on production and shipping. One recent Ellusionist project, Liquid Spectrum, took years to complete, specifically because of these delays.

Tariffs have emerged as the new major challenge. When we conducted our interviews in May 2025, the situation was still rapidly evolving, so the companies couldn’t provide specific numbers. However, they did confirm they were actively working to manage the uncertainty.

Vanishing Inc. mentioned they’ve been working closely with Chinese partners and have also relocated part of their supply chain to the United States. They had mentioned China as the supplier for many of their products, so the growing tension between the U.S. and China is understandably concerning.

Murphy’s Magic also emphasized that the difficulty with issues like tariffs is that companies have no control over them—they can only navigate them as best they can.

One thing we noted was that as magic's only significant supplier is based in the US, it will not matter if a customer buys a trick from a shop in New Zealand, Ireland, or France; it's almost a guarantee that the product was imported into the US during its journey to the customer's door. In fact, you might even buy a trick that was manufactured in your own country, but it was first shipped to the US-based supplier before getting delivered to your local magic shop.

The good news is that the industry’s investment in digital products and product diversification may provide enough flexibility to weather some of these challenges. But what seems to worry the companies most is the general sense of unpredictability, which makes long-term investment decisions more complex.

So what countermeasures might be adopted? 

One possibility is the return of re-releases: updated versions or curated collections of previously published tricks. We might also see a renewed emphasis on digital content like e-books and on creator-supplied products that bypass traditional global production chains.

Magic apps—already ubiquitous—could attract new investment. It’s likely that a major company will eventually launch its own branded line of apps.

Ellusionist's prediction on lower volume, high-profit magic might also come true in the near future, especially when it becomes more and more possible to make high-margin technical magic products in small batches.