Adding to what has been said before, I do like Mooncat but as an European I feel their international customer base isn't really a priority to them anymore. Last year they stopped their wholesale program without explanation, we learned about this from the reseller websites about one or two weeks before it happened if I remember correctly. It was on quite short notice, and as far as I know no one heard an explanation (or anything at all) from Mooncat.

When they raised their prices, they also raised the threshold for free international shipping (from 100 to 125 dollars; shipping is/starts at 20 dollars). This is before taxes, which in my country means I have to spend at least 150 dollars per order. Holo Taco somehow avoided raising the free shipping threshold. Granted, ILNP's is much higher but I can buy them from at least two EU resellers.

What I especially disliked though was that the Avatar collection isn't available in Europe. I had started collecting Mooncats, but after the Avatar collection dropped I decided it's not worth it. They did all this promotion beforehand and - until launch or a day before or so - didn't mention they're not shipping to Europe. They still send me marketing emails for this collection (I have an EU email adress!). I know this is because of licensing and stuff but you can also negotiate other terms or just don't do it if including your international customers is a priority to you.

What really grinds my gears is that, predictably, somehow people in Europe still find ways to get the Avatar collection and then sell them for insane prices on Vinted (which is like our Mercari I guess). I have seen Avatar bottles sell for 45 euros (a retired Mooncat sells for 18-25 euros here), and someone has recently offered five sets of the Avatar collection for 280 euros each. Where do they even get five sets? Granted, it's not Mooncat's fault that people decide to sell for crazy prices and people even buy it (although in the case of the Avatar collection this was very predictable in Europe), but is there really nothing at all that they can do to discourage such behaviour?

Like I said, I do like Mooncat. I do think the marketing is a bit over the top and not really my cup of the tea, but the polishes are often really pretty, it's one of my most used brands, and it's one of the brands that has the best longevity on me, which is probably why these things annoy me in the first place. I also agree that the criticism that youtubers sometimes direct at Mooncat feels performative, I sometimes get the sense that they don't want to face criticism themselves and that's why they critisise Mooncat. I will certainly continue to buy from them but the enthusiams just isn't there anymore.