Bergger Panchro increase in price

[Doc W]

It looks like Bergger film is going to be available again soon, but it will be a lot more expensive. B&H lists it (although not currently available) at the old price of 124.95 USD for a box of 25 which works out to 5 USD per sheet. The new price appeared on the French website a while back and, in Europe, it looks like it has jumped to 183.53 USD or 7.34 USD per sheet. I expect that the other formats will also be more expensive.

To put this in perspective, a box of HP5 at B&H is 129.95 USD or 5.20 USD per sheet. I could afford Bergger at the old price but this may be too much of a hike for me. Some people were using Bergger as a substitute for Tri-X (which is an insane 10.50 USD per sheet) and I wonder if this will continue.

One of my photography friends uses Arista Edu for everything and his final prints always look just fabulous. It sells for about 3.80 USD per sheet. I got some just to try it out and so far, so good. Bergger Panchro is a really beautiful film but I have to ask if it is twice as beautiful as Arista.

I hope I did the math properly. It is late and I have been into a bit of fine whiskey.

 

[Rudeofus]

You can not compare European prices to US prices by just converting currencies. There will be different margins in the retail chain across countries, and for whatever may be the reason, Europeans always end up paying a lot more for the same thing.

 

[Ian Grant]

You can not compare European prices to US prices by just converting currencies. There will be different margins in the retail chain across countries, and for whatever may be the reason, Europeans always end up paying a lot more for the same thing.

Well many of us do compare US to European prices and the costs of buying from abroad, Doc W could actually buy from Europe and he wouldn't be charged the VAT, that's 20% here and in France, but then there may be import duties when it arrives in Canada.

I have bought from the US and have to factor in the Item cost plus shipping, then the Import duty here in the UK charged on the item price and the shipping, then 20% VAT compounded on all that as well, to make it worse we then pay around £7 (just under $9 US). It can still work out cheaper though to import from the US.

Ian

 

[Toyo]

Their 4X5 has been off the market for so long now that I wonder will anyone be keen to shell out the extra to use it again.
I think that most of us have found something else.
T

 

[removedacct1]

I seriously doubt it will reappear in the US market at $183 a box, because it would be hard to sell at that price, when HP5 is available for $129.95. It’s only viable when it can compete price wise.

Like Toyo, I’ve become disenchanted with Pancro 400 because it’s been unavailable for 6 months. I have little interest in planning for half-year outages just to keep the product in my repertoire. I’ll gladly use FP4 instead.

 

[Doc W]

I just got some new information which says a box of 8x10 Berger will be 125 USD. That sounds about right to me!

Rudeofus, I was not aware that the price could vary like that. I just assumed that the lowest price would be at the point of origin.

Ian, I have to play a similar game with lots of products. Sometimes it is a crapshoot, because sometimes the taxes will be collected by the post office and sometimes not.

 

[Ian Grant]

Ian, I have to play a similar game with lots of products. Sometimes it is a crapshoot, because sometimes the taxes will be collected by the post office and sometimes not.

A few years ago (well up until a couple) a lot of items shipped or is that slipped in without the taxes. Here in the UK, however it's tightened very significantly and I think my overseas (non EU) purchases have dropped very significantly, to almost nil. At one point I was mostly buying from the US, but we forget Exchange rates and that makes a huge difference.

Ian

 

[RSImages]

Their 4X5 has been off the market for so long now that I wonder will anyone be keen to shell out the extra to use it again.
I think that most of us have found something else.
T

I shot this in 120 and wanted to give the 4x5 a try. At this point, not really. I've moved on to other things and could care less about Bergger film primarily because of their inability to supply it. If that's the way they operate I won't be buying the film again.

 

[Agulliver]

A quick word of warning for UK and possibly other European people buying from the USA. I also used to purchase goods that slipped through the net...however just recently I've found that the authorities are getting more strict.

I have no problem being asked to pay VAT on items I import, but I have attempted to buy a massage cream that is not available outside North America for my mother who is having serious muscle problems. Just $18 per tub, and I ordered two tubs...knowing this might attract VAT. I was happy to pay the £7.20 VAT but DHL demanded an extra £18 fee which they were *extremely* evasive about. After two online chats, several emails they outright refused to answer my question about whether this was a HMRC fee or a DHL fee. Eventually I discovered it is a fee DHL charge for the pleasure of paying HMRC the £7.60 VAT. Needless to say I refused the package and told them where to stick it.

Beware Royal Mail now charges £9 for a similar "service" when previously it was £1.50. Buying your photographic items from companies such as B&H, Freestyle etc. may no longer be an attractive prospect for us Brits.

 

[twelvetone12]

I never buy overseas. Here in CH you get to pay VAT, handling fees, postage fees for sending you the invoice, + other random stuff that makes is quite uneconomical.