You feel cheated? Everyone out to scam you? I feel for you.:rolleyes:
Fotch, empathy should only go to real victims....not those that created their own problem with unrealistic policies directed at cheating film buyers.
I prefer to have empathy for my fellow film users and not the scammers....
So much confusion on these internets!
Jerk151, you're confused, sir....those stores are being very "insensitive" to the buyer by charging exorbitant prices...it seems your "compassion" is misguided, sadly. You have compassion for those types...that says a lot about you.
No offense and I know this is one VERY long thread, but you should read the whole thing before calling someone out for being confused. I spelled out my feelings and frustrations on this topic early on in this thread and have only come to the conclusion that not all small shops are the same or have the same goals.
You feel cheated? Everyone out to scam you? I feel for you.:rolleyes:
No offense and I know this is one VERY long thread, but you should read the whole thing before calling someone out for being confused. I spelled out my feelings and frustrations on this topic early on in this thread and have only come to the conclusion that not all small shops are the same or have the same goals.
You can call me out for not showing empathy, but when you're taken to task on what I think is a confused view, you victimize yourself...duplicity, to be sure.
Perhaps if you read a book on business, the role of businesses, and what keeps them going, all this might get cleared up ;-)
To hell with the little ma & pa film shops...may they all go out of business
It is not our job to keep them afloat...they have that responsibility, to price in such a way as to build up the business, not turn buyers off. If a business is unable to make their business model work they should change it or get out. To be subsidized by "empathetic" customers is not the way to go.
Tell me Fotch, do you often put words in other people's posts? You can't bring an intelligent response to this thread, so instead you manufacture words...perhaps you should give half your paycheck to your local film shop and put your $$ where your mouth is.
Well there you go SliverGlow. This post is a reasonable and sound "opinion" no matter who agrees or disagrees. Had you posted this to begin with I probably would not have commented at all. But, telling people to go to hell is a *bleeping* insensitive comment. You don't seem to be an idiotic person so it seems odd that you did not see that some people may take offense the idiotic statement you posted. Or maybe that is what you thrive on and I am just playing into your hands.
...but traditional photography requires information. Try to get that at some of the online retailers. Most of them are into extolling the virtues of digital while ignoring those who may want to practice traditional photography. In the long run, their channeling the novice into digital solutions will be what kills film photography.
Jerk151, I didn't tell you to go to hell....just some of those shop owners that charge double or worse....by the way I pay $1.50 per 36 exposure roll for Kodak Tri-X, the real deal, and fresh....rebranded to Arista Premium...see what I mean? Many small shops charge TRIPLE if not more....again, I say they can all go to hell....but not you, and not even that rude Fotch either! ;-)
I will point out that just because your Arista Premium has an expiration date on it, does not guarantee it is "Fresh" film. I have no inside knowledge to whether it is or isn't, just that a expire date is not proof. I have always questioned why Kodak would knowingly sell a master roll for re-branding for so cheap when it will ultimately be competing with it's own label film.
Wow. Just, wow. You talk about supporting the community here at Apug, and then you go off vaguely implying that one of Apug's direct sponsorsFreestylemay be selling expired film. Granted, you didn't claim this directly, but why did you even bring up the specter of selling out-dated film. Do you have ANY basis to even IMPLY that the film MIGHT be past-date?
their production runs over-produce, and so they make a tidy profit selling the overage as a house brand to Freestyle.
OR they use a slightly thinner, less-expensive film base.
OR they have "standards," like their film must have at least three years before expiry to be sold as official Kodak film, and due to their supply line, some of their film sits around for a year, and is sold as a house-brand at Freestyle with a clearly-labeled two year expiry.
To hell with the little ma & pa film shops...may they all go out of business....we got B&H, FreeStyle, others....if those little stores want to rape us with horrible pricing let them eat kakaa....let the free market deal with them...it's not our job!
Suppose you find out Friday afternoon that you need 2 rolls of PanF for Saturday morning, you go into your film stock and OH S**T. You can order from Freestyle, but it's too late to get the order out that day, and their carrier doesn't have Saturday air service anyway. Buying a few "keep alive", rolls a year from the local guy to keep him selling film, is probably a good decision.
All you guys that think my posts are rude either never owned a business, or never took business classes in college..............
Where is the logic in this thread? Am I the only one that gets it? Lots of confused people here....
One of the most important things to a small retail establishment is foot traffic. Advertising is all about getting people to walk in the door. Once in the door salesmanship and proper product positioning (price, features, etc) take over and hopefully end in an exchange of goods for money. But none of that happens without the foot traffic.
Now, back in the day, many photographic retail establishments sold film at cost or even at a loss in hopes that the customer would pay for processing and prints, which was the real money machine, or occasionally but a camera, lens or high-priced accessory. These were called "loss-leaders".
Fast-Forward to today and what instigated this thread. We have a retailer that is charging massively for film. We've heard every excuse listed here as to why. But for the extremely low volume of film sales today, you'd think that considering film to be a "loss-leader" wouldn't be a bad thing.
Case in Point:
I very very rarely go to the big camera store in my area because of the excessive pricing strategy on those items I'm buying. I end up buying these items through B&H, Freestyle, Photographer's Formulary, etc. Every time I'm NOT walking in the door is a lost opportunity to sell me a new flash, a lens or even one of their new digital cameras or a used film camera.
No matter how you slice it and how much a retailer charges, film sales today is a money-losing proposition. It costs more to service the customer than what thin margin there is on the film itself. But unless I walk in the door to buy that film, the retailer has 0% chance of selling me anything else.
If you figure that it costs over $10 in advertising to entice one individual through the door, then breaking even or even losing $1 on a roll of film isn't a bad thing.
In my case, I was spending up to $5000 every year at the local camera stores for equipment, film, processing and printing. Now, I spend less than $100. That confiscatory pricing on film doesn't seem like such a bright idea now, does it?
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