Is it crazy to buy film retail here?

munz6869 · May 18, 2011

Yes it is. I just added up all the costs of buying my annual order of film:

4 boxes 4x5" TXP-320, 5 boxes 4x5" Portra 160, 5 boxes 120 Portra 160
Freestyle: (incl postage and overseas transaction fees) AU$573.22
The exchange rates were rather good that week - about $1.08

Local Retailer: (if I just walk there and pickup) AU$826.21

All up I've saved AU$252.99, EVEN WITH POSTAGE & TRANSACTION FEES!!!!

To me this is just extraordinary :confused: - TXP320 is not much dearer here (AU$6 dearer), but a pro pack of Portra 160 is more than double the price!!!

Ordering Kodak film from the US, it's probably fresher, too...

Marc!

tomalophicon · May 18, 2011

Yes, it is!

I only buy it here when it's more convenient. For instance when I need/want it quickly or when it's out of stock elsewhere.

Sirius Glass · May 18, 2011

If you feel guilty, send the AU$826.21 to me and I will buy the film and ship it to you. That way you will get the same products and still stimulate the economy. I would just have to take a "hit" for the team!

Steve

Poisson Du Jour · May 18, 2011

Yes it is Marc absolutely, while the dollar is dazzling. I'm now well and truly set with 215 mixed rolls of film for my around-Australia trip leaving 30th.

B&H is doing a roaring trade from me with film, but the sting is remains in the air freight, which seems to be measured by cubic volume, not weight. Three rolls of 120 ProPack Provia (this is a small package when you think about it) in a huge box incurred a US$54.00 air carriage, but I still saved $69 over Australian retail.

I have just garnered a refund from a Melbourne camera outlet who overcharged me on a roll of Fuji Acros 100, which I had to buy a fortnight ago in a hurry, not by choice.

OzJohn · May 18, 2011

You're crazy to buy anything photographic except chemistry (freight costs) in Oz and that freight paid to B&H probably would have been the same if many more rolls had been ordered. By the way, I believe good old Australia Post might have been the first to "discover" the concept of cubic mass as a means to gouge more money on lightish parcels - now there's a good export of know-how if ever I've seen one!

I read a missive the other day from the pen of the guy who owns Maxwells whinging about how they are doing it so tough because of internet shopping and suggesting that when they were the Australian importers of Nikon they only made about 3% on the deal. You need a Woolworths' type of turnover to run a business on that sort of margin - one wonders why they kept the agency until Nikon themselves took it over if there was so little in it.

I have no guilts whatsoever about buying offshore since we in Oz have been shafted for decades by manufacturers and wholesalers particularly and retailers to a lesser extent. These guys have finally woken up to the fact that consumers today can find out in a flash if they are being ripped. Yeah the dollar is making a difference right now but even when it was 75cents, it was still worth it to buy cameras and lenses from the States. GST makes a bit of difference as the retail clique likes to point out but the main factor is the base prices are just much lower.

OzJohn

mrbishi · May 18, 2011

Yeap - every few months its bulk order time from the states

polyglot · May 18, 2011

Yeah it's insane. Not just film either ($10-15/roll vs $5/roll incl shipping) but hardware too - I bought my first flash from B&H for $300 (+$50 shipping) instead of $1100 at the local shop (for local people).

I'm pretty sure it's the distributors to blame, not the camera stores. Doesn't matter though if the stores aren't smart enough to be importing it themselves.

NDP_2010 · May 18, 2011

yes it is very crazy
anyone doing an order, I need more stuff.

hoffy · May 19, 2011

polyglot said:
Yeah it's insane. Not just film either ($10-15/roll vs $5/roll incl shipping) but hardware too - I bought my first flash from B&H for $300 (+$50 shipping) instead of $1100 at the local shop (for local people).

I'm pretty sure it's the distributors to blame, not the camera stores. Doesn't matter though if the stores aren't smart enough to be importing it themselves.

The manufacturers and distributors are more then happy to play global when it comes to manufacture and sourcing products, but want to play regional when it comes to sales.

Places like CR's DON'T CARE. I'd has it a guess that to them, film is but an inconvenience, but since they have the market sewed up..

And who suffers in the end? It's the retailers. I know of one retailer who has gotten in products that are not on their Distributors lists, but quake in their boots, in case the said distributor finds out.

Yes, I am guilty of buying overseas like the rest of you, but I also like to be able to go into my local and get some wet chemicals when I can, or a quick spare roll of film. If we don't support our locals, what is going to happen if they stop stocking EVERYTHING?

Poisson Du Jour · May 19, 2011

Hoffy,
There aint no guilt in buying overseas like the rest of us. Whinges and wails from the likes of billionaires Gerry Harvey and Solly Lew only make me mightily determined to do things my way (like literally millions of other Australians) rather than pay exhorbitant prices for anything from a USB cable to a replacement lounge castor.

My B&H order was changed at the $1.09 mark, so it was a rip-snortingly good transaction!

wotalegend · May 19, 2011

Like most here, I have been buying both gear and materials from overseas for some years and I don't feel an ounce of guilt. Why should I? About the only photographic item I do buy locally is chemicals because of the difficulties attached to importing them, particularly wet chemicals. And that is what concerns me the most about the future. There are precious few Oz retailers selling photographic chemicals even now, and selling chemicals to a small band of amateurs like us is not going to keep them viable. What happens when they disappear? Will we then have to learn to mix our own? Will the formulae be available? And where will we get the raw ingredients to do so?

And the current big retailers campaign against GST-free imports under $1k is flawed in more than one respect. Not only is the price difference in most cases a lot more than 10%, but there are many many products within our range of interest which are simply not stocked in mainstream Australian retailers. In which department do Harvey Norman and Myer keep their films and chemicals, and where is their second-hand camera department? Yes, I know that there are still a few specialist photographic retailers, mostly big city CBD based, who do stock these things but they have to cope with high wholesale prices and the high cost of their mostly CBD location and we all know the result of that.

tomalophicon · May 19, 2011

I'll ask too, anyone doing an order?

Poisson Du Jour · May 19, 2011

There was a group in Adelaide pursuing an order just very recently, but I think it's been and gone now.

Ambar · May 19, 2011

Let me illustrate the brazilian problem with a quick look at prices of several things. These quotes are current (got them yesterday) and currency exchange has been the best in many years (meaning it's been cheaper than ever to buy things in the US). I'll convert all brazilian reais (local currency) to US dollar so as to make things easy:

1L Ilford Multigrade developer - $44.12 (B&H - $7.95 for the 500ml, say $16 for 1L)
1L Ilford Rapid Fixer - $43.5 (B&H - $9.95)
5L Ilford ID-11 - $57 (B&H - $9.95)
25 pack Ilford Multigrade RC VC paper (8x10'), glossy or matte! - $61.76 (B&H - $18)

Cheapest roll of Tri-X I've ever seen here - $17.67 each (B&H - $3.59)
Cheapest roll of Velvia 50 was scandalously cheaper than the Tri-X ($16.47)!! I guess this illustrates insanity..

Never mind equipment. Stores don't even carry new analogue equipment. They generally need to be special ordered and imported (Guess a price.. you're low.) Long live the awesome and bustling used market that floats around here!!
Any attempts to import through the mail will be squatted by a blanketing 50% tax rate over any order that is greater than $50 (here's the catch.. this include shipping cost!). There's also a special 6.5% tax on any purchase done in a foreign currency with a credit card. This is extra bonus though, not counted or discounted during import tax.

After writing this, I think I feel like curling in the fetal position and crying for a few hours.. excuse me..

tomalophicon · May 19, 2011

Ambar said:
Let me illustrate the brazilian problem with a quick look at prices of several things. These quotes are current (got them yesterday) and currency exchange has been the best in many years (meaning it's been cheaper than ever to buy things in the US). I'll convert all brazilian reais (local currency) to US dollar so as to make things easy:

1L Ilford Multigrade developer - $44.12 (B&H - $7.95 for the 500ml, say $16 for 1L)
1L Ilford Rapid Fixer - $43.5 (B&H - $9.95)
5L Ilford ID-11 - $57 (B&H - $9.95)
25 pack Ilford Multigrade RC VC paper (8x10'), glossy or matte! - $61.76 (B&H - $18)

Cheapest roll of Tri-X I've ever seen here - $17.67 each (B&H - $3.59)
Cheapest roll of Velvia 50 was scandalously cheaper than the Tri-X ($16.47)!! I guess this illustrates insanity..

Never mind equipment. Stores don't even carry new analogue equipment. They generally need to be special ordered and imported (Guess a price.. you're low.) Long live the awesome and bustling used market that floats around here!!
Any attempts to import through the mail will be squatted by a blanketing 50% tax rate over any order that is greater than $50 (here's the catch.. this include shipping cost!). There's also a special 6.5% tax on any purchase done in a foreign currency with a credit card. This is extra bonus though, not counted or discounted during import tax.

After writing this, I think I feel like curling in the fetal position and crying for a few hours.. excuse me..

You poor bastard. Literally, after you buy some film and paper

Poisson Du Jour · May 19, 2011

And I imagined that in Rio, everything is grand. Apparently when it comes to analog photography, that aint necessarily so...

Willie Jan · May 19, 2011

Are you sure that the customs do not scan the film heavily?

I to buy stuff from freestylephoto (I live in Europe). The difference in price is that big that it pays of even when the customs add tax to it.

Poisson Du Jour · May 19, 2011

^
If Customs did, there would have been a rash of alerts about it here on APUG. Not the sort of thing any of us would necessarily not notice if it was going on and damaging or degrading film by whatever amount.
The Customs declaration is so detailed (7 pages of it, in duplicate) that I doubt Customs would give it a second glance.

Kevin Caulfield · May 19, 2011

I bought 13 rolls of film yesterday at Vanbar for a wedding shoot this weekend and the total was over $168. I usually buy film maybe two or three times a year from B&H, and even with postage it is always way cheaper.

Ambar · May 19, 2011

Poisson Du Jour said:
And I imagined that in Rio, everything is grand.

Things REALLY are grand and beautiful.. Just don't take a picture of it!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the "transworldly" votes of compassion! I think I can recompose myself now.. Yet somehow film goes on!!
Cheers!

polyglot · May 19, 2011

Damn. I'll definitely remember to bring my own film to Brazil!

Ross Chambers · May 19, 2011

Where's that Vanbar guy that responds to questions like this?

timparkin · May 19, 2011

And reporting from the UK ...

Portra 400 8x10

UK Price ---> $257 (£159)

US Price ---> $109 (Badger Graphic)

135% more expensive in the UK!!!!!

cluttered · May 19, 2011

timparkin said:
235% more expensive in the UK!!!!!

I've heard that people in the UK are buying Ilford products from the USA because of the huge markups, that'd be funny if it wasn't sad. So it's not just people in Australia getting screwed, it's other places too.

My theory is that it's the distributors screwing the retail shops, and the retail shops are (understandably) too scared to upset the distributors. It's a no-win situation.

timparkin · May 19, 2011

Well 8x10 FP4

UK Price --> $184 (£114)
US Price --> $82

Ah that's OK then - only 124% more expensive!

Is it crazy to buy film retail here?

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