Film Cost Management

[rjbuzzclick]

I just noticed today at Freestyle that the price of a 50 sheet box of 4x5 Arista.EDU Ultra 100 has jumped up 40% since my last order in March. All of the Arista.EDU films are currently the same price as their Fomapan counterparts. I e-mailed Freestyle and here's the response:

Thank you for your inquiry!

Unfortunately our manufacturer has raised the prices for the first time in five years.
Therefore, the price increase on Arista items is permanent.

However, Arista film is still priced lower than any other film that we carry.

We truly appreciate your business and your understanding in this matter.

 

[Adrian Bacon]

Hands up Photrio members: when was the last time you bought one roll of film by mail order? I bought five rolls of SFX once.

Photrio members probably wouldn’t, however photrio members are not really representative of the general film market. Photrio members are a segment of the film market, they are not the film market. The film market in general doesn’t even buy the same things that many photrio members do. For example, when’s the last time you shot polaroid? Polaroid color 600 film happens to be the #1 seller on Amazon in the film category. That is the equivalent of many thousands of units sold on a monthly basis. If HP5 135-36 is in position 30 and is Ilford’s most popular product by far, and that slot moves thousands of units a month, the the #1 slot is doing at least that and then some. The #2 and #3 slots are both Fuji Instax products.

That’s the general film market as it is today.

 

[RattyMouse]

OT but reading your post with a aristocratic British Lady accent makes it funny. It's blunt.

I did infact recently, for a single roll project of Kodak Aerochrome. Two rolls were a bit out of budget so made with one. Thinking of it, might have been the only time I did this. Otherwise of course bulk ordering makes much more sense, and depends on the shipping as well.

Reading your posts with a Pee Wee Herman voice makes them hilarious.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A free market is great, when there is the possibility of the market actually being free.
If one or a few retailers have access to wholesale prices that others do not, it isn't a free market.
And as you live in a country that levies more tariffs than mine does, I think you might want to review your perspective .

I never said that I like the taxes and tariffs. That said I do not have high prices for either Kodak or Ilford. Hence the point that I was making is that the UK must add a large VAT to Ilford products, so if one in the UK does not like that they need to talk to their leaders.


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[samuelphoto]

For example: Samy's has Delta 400 for $4.95 as I write this.

Also, there are private label films - Ultrafine is one - that seem to be well thought of.

Samy's is now out of stock. Freestyle has it for $5.99 a roll.

 

[mgb74]

This is for the OP only (no one else):

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/10-off-site-wide-memorial-day-weekend-sale.160005/

 

[MattKing]

You seem to be suggesting that other retailers with similar volume are not getting the same deal from Ilford as B&H and Adorama. Is that the case?

It seems that the current wholesale prices are even across the market, but the old relationship with Wynit was different.
I don't know if Freestyle was also getting similar benefits.
And as for current prices, I expect there is still some old stock in the system, so price increases at the retail level may come in fits and starts.