Amazon Warehouse "used" photo paper

Alan Newman · May 22, 2016

I've found some black and white photo papers on Amazon Warehouse described as used, some seem to be at a reasonable discount. I'm considering buying some, but my doubt is that somewhere along the line they might have been opened in daylight. Particularly if someone's bought it thinking they can use it in their inkjet and sent it back to Amazon, or if Amazon "checked" it.

For example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1771266-Il...ie=UTF8&qid=1463937313&sr=1-4&keywords=ilford

Any thoughts?

mexipike · May 22, 2016

I once bought a box of ilford classic from Amazon, it was said to be new. It arrived and had clearly been opened. I'll stick with BH!

destroya · May 22, 2016

yeh, like the guy a few years ago on ebay who was selling a box of opened but unused ilford RC paper. he took them out of the box, spread them out and took a photo of them to show " as you can see there is no image on them, so they are unused". genius.

mehguy · May 22, 2016

You might be risking it. You don't know how old the paper is or how it was treated up until now.

canvassy · May 22, 2016

Amazon's really good about refunding you if there's an issue, I would give it a shot personally. I just took a chance on a 50 sheet pack of 11x14 for only $30 shipped from Amazon, and the going rate appears to be about $70. It's glossy, I'd prefer another finish, but for the price I decided to chance it. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not damaged or expired. It should arrive Tuesday, hoping to test it out that night.

railwayman3 · May 22, 2016

From my own experience, I don't think that you would have any difficulty in getting a refund from Amazon UK if the paper is faulty.

OTOH, I guess it has to be your decision...are you willing to risk wasting time, effort and chemicals testing the paper and going through the returns procedure if it is fogged. And you could waste more time if it isn't badly fogged, but is perhaps not 100% perfect throughout the 500 sheets, through poor storage and handling.

I sometimes enjoy playing-around experimenting with old films, etc., but I keep this separate from my "serious" photography and only use fresh products for important or irrepeatable pictures.

amellice · May 22, 2016

Amazon has very good return policy and customer service. I had couple of incidents with them and they always accepted returns and gave me full refund. If the product is not as described they will also pay shipping back

removed account4 · May 22, 2016

if the paper is cheap, get it, with paypal. take a few sheets out every 1/?" stick them in developer and see what they look like.
then take something out of your pocket, a coin ? put it on the paper, turn the lights on and in hte developer
see what it looks like. if the first group was white, white, and the 2nd group black black keep the paper
if not, get a refund and your money back. the tests take IDK a few mins ? and are effortless.
and if they want to know why you want a refund, tell them you tested the paper and it was exposed and you can send the paper back with the tests
so they know you aren't a PITA who buys and returns stuff for no reason at all,
they will also pay return freight.
good luck

jeffreythree · May 22, 2016

Moot point now that the single available box has been purchased by someone(OP?). I don't mind buying old paper if it is sealed or has a good return policy.

BrianShaw · May 22, 2016

I wonder what kind of pics will be on the paper when it is developed?

Alan Newman · May 23, 2016

canvassy said:
Amazon's really good about refunding you if there's an issue, I would give it a shot personally. I just took a chance on a 50 sheet pack of 11x14 for only $30 shipped from Amazon, and the going rate appears to be about $70. It's glossy, I'd prefer another finish, but for the price I decided to chance it. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not damaged or expired. It should arrive Tuesday, hoping to test it out that night.

Let us know how you get on.

I decided to go for it and buy the one I linked to. Since original price is £206 and this was £53 for 500 sheets (similar price to a box of 100 sheets) it seemed worth giving it a go. Will report back on my experiences.

gone · May 23, 2016

You can communicate directly w/ the seller before buying and ask them a question about their products on Amazon. For my money, I'd stick to supporting the great folks at Freestyle, or buy opened boxes only from a photographer, such as here. Hopefully it works out for you. I'd be sorta tempted at that price myself, but have had bad results in the past buying papers and film that are not from a photography supply source.

Wayne · May 23, 2016

Alan Newman said:
Any thoughts?

Yep. Never ever post the link of something you are considering buying, because it won't be there once you decide.

Alan Newman · May 25, 2016

Wayne said:
Yep. Never ever post the link of something you are considering buying, because it won't be there once you decide.

A very good point

Just taken delivery of the paper. It has a dent in the exact same place on the box shown in the picture, so no doubt the exact box pictured. As the item was first listed in March 2012 I'll hazard a guess this paper is at least 4 years old. There's 4 separate bags of paper in the box, one of them had a different fold pattern to the rest so I'll wager that one's been opened, though it was still done in such a way that suggested they had a clue about handling photo paper. I'll try test the paper to see if it's been fogged soon. I figure even if I have one pack of test strips and 3 packs of print paper it's worth the saving.

I only have a red safelight at the moment, so looking to get one of the orange ones I believe are recommended for Multigrade papers.

winger · May 25, 2016

Alan Newman said:
I only have a red safelight at the moment, so looking to get one of the orange ones I believe are recommended for Multigrade papers.

Red is fine for everything, orange is good for some things, but not lith film. You're good to go with the red and multigrade (it's just almost overkill, if there was such a thing).

Alan Newman · May 25, 2016

Ok gave it a try, my first go printing, and it's definitely fogged in the bag that's clearly been opened. Some from the ends have a big black mark covering nearly half the page. Others in the middle of the pile just a black line about 6mm across one edge. Guess now I need to check the other 3 bags and consider if it's worth saving 75% with possibly 25% of paper fogged.

Here's one of the better contact prints I've managed with just the fogged line at the top.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_newman/26976891300/in/dateposted/

Amazon Warehouse "used" photo paper

Buy "used" photo paper on Amazon Warehouse

Go for it - you can always return it to Amazon

Don't bother - it's almost guaranteed to have been opened in daylight

Alan Newman

mexipike

destroya

mehguy

canvassy

railwayman3

amellice

removed account4

jeffreythree

BrianShaw

Alan Newman

gone

Wayne

Alan Newman

winger

Alan Newman

Amazon Warehouse "used" photo paper

Buy "used" photo paper on Amazon Warehouse

Go for it - you can always return it to Amazon

Don't bother - it's almost guaranteed to have been opened in daylight

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