Is it crazy to buy film retail here?

pentaxuser · Jun 3, 2011

Some will simply circumvent the higher prices which the distributors are allegedly responsible for but where this is difficult or the user wants simply to see what analogue is like, then such users will give up so greed in whatever form will directly impact on the likes of Harman itself.

Simon Galley had to confirm yet another price increase in the last few days. Combine this with greed from whatever other source(s) and this could seriously impact the future for all of us.

I am amazed that Harman isn't taking a long hard look at its distributors.

pentaxuser

Mick Fagan · Jun 3, 2011

Like Marc, I purchase in reasonably large amounts, which is usually enough film for a year and a bit.

This past week I have purchased 400 sheets of 4x5" Ilford FP4+ in 100 sheet boxes, from Badger in the USA.

I could have walked into my local store in Melbourne and purchased the same thing, except it is in the fiddly 25 sheet boxes and a bit more than reasonably expensive.

In Australian dollars if I walked straight into the store, the cost to me would be $976.80 or $2.442 per sheet. This of course includes the Australian GST (tax) of 10%, fine.

The American purchase has cost me $391.91 Australian dollars, which includes freight to my front door. If, as it may in the future be taxed at the standard GST rate of 10%, then I would have to add $39.19, bringing the total to $431.10 Australian dollars.

As there is currently no GST payable on goods I bring in if the total bill is under $1,000.00 Australian dollars, I am slightly better off.

The bottom line is this:- I have saved myself $584.89 Australian dollars by staying at home and shopping online.

This means that each sheet of film I expose costs me $0.97 instead of $2.442, a saving of $1.472 per sheet.

This is not a, what if I do this scenario, this is a real and almost unbelievable saving.

Regarding the Australian distributor of Ilford films, well they don't really care about their films, they care about the Ilford papers for electronic photography, that is where their real profit lies.

I would humbly suggest Harmon has their hands tied with the Australian distribution of their products, total goods sold versus their niche product.

Sirius Glass · Jun 3, 2011

Mick Fagan said:
The bottom line is this:- I have saved myself $584.89 Australian dollars by staying at home and shopping online.

So if I drop by on vacation [holiday], you will buy me a pint beer since I am from the state, right?

Ross Chambers · Jun 4, 2011

Thanks LachieC, I do wish the bosses at Vanbar might tell us more.

Please don't take my comments as rubbishing Vanbar, the Sydney store has been a model in customer relations and loyalty to film and I suspect that any high prices have been forced on them by market size and the Oz agents.

I needed 100 sheets of RC 8x10" paper and found that Foma was available down the line in Sydney for $72, Ilford via Vanbar is $160 (ouch!).

Maybe the Czechs are melting down King Wenceslas's silver crown to make paper and the Poms have to buy on the spot market?

Diapositivo · Jun 4, 2011

Joachim_I said:
Just another example: I need some Provia 100F (35mm) for the coming weekend. Local offer in Melbourne: 137 AUD for a pack of 5 films. B&H price: 33.35 USD (= 31.44 AUD). That's 4.4 times the US price. Absolutely insane! I did not buy. I will shoot roll film instead over the weekend and order 35mm film from the US as usual.

There seem to be a nice opportunity for arbitrage here. One can buy relatively large quantities of film from the US (or anywhere else after having considered logistic and tax matters) and sell it retail through an eBay and/or internet shop. Quantities might be optimized for custom duty exemption, or maybe not it wouldn't change a lot the overall picture.

If Australia offers mail / courier services fast and reliable enough I think one could make a living out of this.

Ian David · Jun 4, 2011

Diapositivo said:
If Australia offers mail / courier services fast and reliable enough I think one could make a living out of this.

It's a nice idea, Fabrizio. But I don't think the Australian film market is big enough to make much of a living...

The US prices are great for personal importation though!

Ian

wotalegend · Jun 4, 2011

Diapositivo said:
There seem to be a nice opportunity for arbitrage here. One can buy relatively large quantities of film from the US (or anywhere else after having considered logistic and tax matters) and sell it retail through an eBay and/or internet shop. Quantities might be optimized for custom duty exemption, or maybe not it wouldn't change a lot the overall picture.

If Australia offers mail / courier services fast and reliable enough I think one could make a living out of this.

There are already a few who sell film in small quantity via eBay or their own web site. In general, their prices are somewhere between US bulk and local retail, which is what you would expect.

komla · Jun 4, 2011

Look on the bright side, when buying film from the US you feel like you have saved a lot of money, no deals are better than the ones you feel you have saved money on.

But yea, prices here compared to the big interweb is crazy.

Anthony Lewis · Jun 4, 2011

I am in the market for a new printer. The Epson Pro 4900 B&H sells for $2000. Cheapest price in Australia is $3000.
However I would really like a 24inch printer. B&H sells the Epson Pro 7900 for $3800. Cheapest price for this one in Australia is $6400 - nearly double. As the Australian dollar has been higher than the Greenback for sometime now I would have thought the Australian prices would be getting pretty close to the US prices, but no way.

At least with film and smaller/lighter items we can freight them from the States. But with big heavy items we have to put up with paying the Aussie ripoff price!

Ian David · Jun 4, 2011

Anthony Lewis said:
I am in the market for a new printer. The Epson Pro 4900 B&H sells for $2000. Cheapest price in Australia is $3000.
However I would really like a 24inch printer. B&H sells the Epson Pro 7900 for $3800. Cheapest price for this one in Australia is $6400 - nearly double. As the Australian dollar has been higher than the Greenback for sometime now I would have thought the Australian prices would be getting pretty close to the US prices, but no way.

At least with film and smaller/lighter items we can freight them from the States. But with big heavy items we have to put up with paying the Aussie ripoff price!

You can freight big stuff from the US too. Even with GST and possibly a few hundred bucks for shipping you are still way ahead.

Ian

polyglot · Jun 5, 2011

Printers are easy to ship, and absolutely worth doing so.

Sirius Glass · Jun 5, 2011

Anthony Lewis said:
I am in the market for a new printer. The Epson Pro 4900 B&H sells for $2000. Cheapest price in Australia is $3000.
However I would really like a 24inch printer. B&H sells the Epson Pro 7900 for $3800. Cheapest price for this one in Australia is $6400 - nearly double. As the Australian dollar has been higher than the Greenback for sometime now I would have thought the Australian prices would be getting pretty close to the US prices, but no way.

At least with film and smaller/lighter items we can freight them from the States. But with big heavy items we have to put up with paying the Aussie ripoff price!

Do a walk-about in the US, buy one there and when you return home tell Customs that you took it with you on your trip since it was a gift from you previous girl friend. Obviously since it was a previous girl friend, you do not have a way to contact her.

A Sabai · Jun 5, 2011

It's never crazy to buy film.

tmh · Jun 6, 2011

Anthony Lewis said:
At least with film and smaller/lighter items we can freight them from the States. But with big heavy items we have to put up with paying the Aussie ripoff price!

I've just got a quote for shipping the Epson 3880 from the US, about A$350 via 3 day air. This one weighs in at about 56lbs.

With prices for the 3880 here in Oz at about the A$1850 level, and about US$1150 in the US, I'm not quite sure if this one is worth it once duty and GST are added. But for the Epson 4900 and upwards you will see a saving even with it being heavier.

I wonder if Epson AUS would service / repair it if needs be under warranty given that it would be US stock? Warranties obviously aren't an issue with film etc but with big expensive mechanical things like printers I'm a little more cautious...

Sirius Glass · Jun 7, 2011

tmh,

Email Epson customer support with your question. If they say yes and there is ever a problem, you have documentation with which to fight.

Steve

LJH · Jun 7, 2011

tmh said:
I've just got a quote for shipping the Epson 3880 from the US, about A$350 via 3 day air. This one weighs in at about 56lbs.

With prices for the 3880 here in Oz at about the A$1850 level, and about US$1150 in the US, I'm not quite sure if this one is worth it once duty and GST are added. But for the Epson 4900 and upwards you will see a saving even with it being heavier.

I wonder if Epson AUS would service / repair it if needs be under warranty given that it would be US stock? Warranties obviously aren't an issue with film etc but with big expensive mechanical things like printers I'm a little more cautious...

What about the voltage difference?

polyglot · Jun 7, 2011

Plugpacks (if they're not universal-voltage, which they often are so that the manufacturer needs to make only one type) are easily replaced with local versions of the correct voltage. Otherwise, high quality stepdown transformers are about $50-70 on eBay for up to 1kVA which is way more than a printer needs. Since all of these devices have a switching input supply, the 50/60Hz difference is irrelevant.

BoxBrownie · Jun 8, 2011

Are USA and AUS in same productregion as far as Epson are concerned.
I know you can't use US or AU cartridges in my UK Epson R2880 as they are region coded and won't work. I am shipping my printer to Brisbane (where I am moving from UK) but have bought a CIS to solve the cartridge problem.
Just something to consider, maybe.

hoffy · Jun 8, 2011

BoxBrownie said:
Are USA and AUS in same productregion as far as Epson are concerned.
I know you can't use US or AU cartridges in my UK Epson R2880 as they are region coded and won't work. I am shipping my printer to Brisbane (where I am moving from UK) but have bought a CIS to solve the cartridge problem.
Just something to consider, maybe.

That is just bogus by the manufacturers. It's like region coding DVD's. I'm sure the ink doesn't care if it's in Europe, the US or the Pacific. I'm glad they never did this with film!

w9cae · Jun 8, 2011

Interesting about Epson printers. I have an Epson I brought from the US that works fine here with generic OfficeWorks ink cartridges. It's only issue is the 120 volt. In this global economy everything cars voltage should be the same. But this is how countries can impose barriers & different pricing. All my time traveling around I found prices averaged out. Some items cheaper in Oz some cheaper in the US. But in the US sales tax can very from city to state. Chicago Cook county has additional tax compared to DuPage county, then some cities add there cut.

Joachim_I · Jun 8, 2011

w9cae said:
All my time traveling around I found prices averaged out. Some items cheaper in Oz some cheaper in the US.

Just curious, could you give an example of an item which is cheaper here than in the US? Maybe Vegemite but otherwise?

polyglot · Jun 9, 2011

I found meat and fresh veg to be much better value for money in AU than US, at least in 2001 when the exchange rate was silly (AUD1=USD0.50). Now, maybe not.

tmh · Jun 9, 2011

BoxBrownie said:
Are USA and AUS in same productregion as far as Epson are concerned.
I know you can't use US or AU cartridges in my UK Epson R2880 as they are region coded and won't work. I am shipping my printer to Brisbane (where I am moving from UK) but have bought a CIS to solve the cartridge problem.
Just something to consider, maybe.

Wow, I never would have thought the ink cartridges would be region specific, I'll have to check that out too, thanks. I guess it's like PAL/NTSC. Surely they wouldn't make a specific region just for the small AUS market? Surely?!

Never had any issues with voltage on things brought in from the US or Europe, its always a case of just buy another travel plug adapter!

cluttered · Jun 10, 2011

With the AUD still being strong against the USD plus the great pricing from Freestyle and B&H, I'm almost tempted to buy a small fridge to keep in the garage and to fill it with a big order of film. I think the cost of the fridge would be more than offset by the savings in film prices!

Ian David · Jun 10, 2011

cluttered said:
With the AUD still being strong against the USD plus the great pricing from Freestyle and B&H, I'm almost tempted to buy a small fridge to keep in the garage and to fill it with a big order of film. I think the cost of the fridge would be more than offset by the savings in film prices!

Good idea! I find that my little bar fridge has plenty of room for a few hundred rolls/sheets of film in the top, and some bottles of cold dev, stop, fix and water in the bottom. (The cold chemicals are used for temperature control of my solutions in summer.) My wife used to get upset when this stuff lived in the kitchen fridge (although there might still be some boxes of sheet film hiding under the chops and fish fingers in the bottom of the freezer ).

Ian

Is it crazy to buy film retail here?

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