Donald Miller said:
If all of you don't mind, allow me to approach this thing from a factual basis for a moment.
O.K....this whole thing began over what some of us, certainly I, considered to be unethical and unprofessional behavior on the part of Michael Smith. This was the unilateral attempt, by him, to set aside his own terms on the limited edition. This was done without consideration of his customers and his attitude seemed to be condescending and inconsiderate at the very best and demeaning and abusive at the worst. This was exacerbated by the fact that apparently Mr. Smith saw nothing wrong with his approach to things. He has not to this point in time made any apologies for what appears to be inconsiderate behavior.
I am really bothered by the fact that Michael Smith seems to think that he has carte blanche in how he deals with his customers of Azo paper...this became apparent when he said in his response to MikeW, and I paraphrase here, that grade three paper should cost him (MikeW) $400.00 per box...I assume that was for 100 sheets.
Michael Smith seems to have the belief that it is the responsibility of his customers to pay his way through life. Let's be realistic here, the credit card bills that he has mentioned in his scathing response to MikeW are no one's problem but Michael Smith's...yet he seems to be factoring this into business operations, by the very fact that he mentions it.
Michael Smith seems to have a distorted view of things. On grade two Azo he is already charging 18% more then B&H Photo on the very same product. Then he adds an additional $6.00 per box handling charge to that product (which B&H does not charge) When this is included, his upcharge goes to 23% above B&H. Then when one adds the additional upcharge on shipping, that by his own admission he does charge actual shipping, the percentage goes to 25% above normal retail charged by B&H. (B&H by comparison charges $6.35 for one box and $9.70 shipping for two boxes of grade two paper to Phoenix.)
Things become materially worse when one considers how he handles grade three pricing. There he immediately goes up 38% on pricing over grade two at B&H. Then he adds the $6.00 handling charge per box and shipping at his whim.
When one listens to Michael Smith, it seems that he is saying that we are supposed to feel grateful to him for the priviledge of paying him from 25% to 40% more. Yet, when I read Michael Smith's latest response to MikeW it was Michael Smith that tried to diminish MikeW when he told him that he was being too tight.
This is factual information. I am not judging Michael Smith as being either a saint or a crook in my statements. I will leave it to you to ascertain your own judgements.
I no longer use Azo...nor would I buy it from Michael Smith if I were using it.
Factual?
Your post is so laced with opinion, assumption and innuendo that factual would be the last word that I used. The numbers are factual, though you don't tell us the real numbers, just the percentages of difference. This is a convenient way to make a point. But in the words of Market Edition, "now for the numbers"
8x10 Azo:
B&H Azo 2: $73.50 100 sheets
B&H Azo 3: unavailable and unlisted.
B&H Azo 2 or 3: unavailable in 500 sheet lots.
MAS Azo 2: 84.95 100 sheets
MAS Azo 3: 101.95 100 sheets
MAS Azo 2 or 3: $322.95 500 sheets
I don't remember what I paid for shipping for the Azo that I ordered from Michael. I don't remember it seeming particularly high at the time though. I had the paper the next day when I arrived home from work. Of course we are in the same zone, so that helped.
To buy 500 sheets of grade 2 from B&H would cost me $367.50. UPS shipping to my house would be $15.25 (UPS zone 2 from NY). And take at least 2 days since ground orders are shipped the next business day. The total here would be $382.75. Of course I want grade 3, not grade 2, so the point is moot.
Now if I bought 500 sheets of Grade 3 from Michael. I would pay $322.95 plus shipping. Now unless the shipping was $60 which I know it wouldn't be, I come out ahead.
In my case it is cheaper to buy Azo from Michael. In my case, it was also faster than dealing with B&H.
There is an unquantified in these numbers and your percentages. What is it worth to be able to ask questions about the product and get answers from someone who's used it for 30 years? To me that unquantified value is high.
Can B&H tell you that you should paint the walls white and you can make open the Thomas safelight all the way? Can they tell you the process of using a waterbath with Azo and amidol? Can they tell you that the current grade 2 is softer than the last previous run and that grade 3 may be better for general use?
Condescending?
Have you read the spew of the past days? It's a rhetorical question of course, since you've been making comments regularly.
I just thought that people might like to see some real numbers and hear of someone other than MikeW's real experience with purchasing Azo.
Mike Davis
