Kodachrome Scalpers...

Argh.

What gets me the most angry with Kodachrome discontinuation, is that hundreds of rolls, if not thousand, will be lost forever because either they will be bought by eb*y scalpers that won't be able to sell them before Dwanes will stop to process it, or by actual users that have "too many" on hand to use them all...

I wanted to do a last project with it, so as soon as it was discontinuated, I tried to get it here, in Canada, and Kodak was already out no more than 48 hours after its discontinuation!

Kris

Tell me about it. And PKR is getting EXPENSIVE. I'm really on the fence as to whether I should get more. I've got three rolls left in the fridge. Still need to decide what to do with them.
__

I Heart Film

kristopher_lawrence said:

Argh.

What gets me the most angry with Kodachrome discontinuation, is that hundreds of rolls, if not thousand, will be lost forever because either they will be bought by eb*y scalpers that won't be able to sell them before Dwanes will stop to process it, or by actual users that have "too many" on hand to use them all...

I wanted to do a last project with it, so as soon as it was discontinuated, I tried to get it here, in Canada, and Kodak was already out no more than 48 hours after its discontinuation!

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The irony however is that just because there are people who want to shoot a last project using a discontinued film, the limited supplies are gone in no time at all, and eBay scalpers do what they do.
If you had been able to secure a supply large enough for your project, the next guy in line would be airing the same complaint about you.

The solution is to move to another film now. You'll have to anyway.
And it's better for your blood pressure.

Yes, I miss it, too.

Joni Mitchell wrote [and sang]:

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone

So true.

The scalpers are providing the valuable service of holding back inventory and distributing it to those that value it enough to pay high prices for it.

BetterSense said:

The scalpers are providing the valuable service of holding back inventory and distributing it to those that value it enough to pay high prices for it.

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Heh. I'm not a big fan of the practice, but unquestionably you are right. The free market at work.

I plan to shoot my ten rolls, but if the price gets too stupid I might just change my mind.

If anyone is interested, i have 6 rolls 24 exposures in the freezer, believe expiration was 2006 Not going to be unreasonable, make an offer.

The day the announcement came I ordered 30 rolls from Freestyle. It was scheduled for delivery in late July.

I intend to shoot most of it this fall, but if I get laid off in the next few weeks (which seems increasingly likely), it'll be going on the scalping block, along with my 35+ remaining rolls of HIE from Kodak's last run.

Capitalism is what it is. Without it, we wouldn't have any of the products in the first place. Business isn't altruistic by design. That's what non-profits are for.

Golly... I love Joni Mitchell even more than Kodachrome.

Supply > Demand = $
Demand > Supply = $$$

That's capitalism.

Geee who really didn't see this coming?? It is just what happens.

What I look forward to is the time at which all these hoardings must be unloaded quickly or else all resale value for its intended purpose will no longer be relevant. This is unique relative to other discontinued films that are auctioned or sold by third parties. I expect the per-unit cost for rolls sold in lots — even KM and KL — to trend downward as time runs out.

For what it is worth, Just Film in San Francisco still has PKR in stock (about 50 rolls as of today.) He will ship to Canada. I don't think it shows in stock on his website yet...but he does have it. Give him a call at 1-888-731-2645 or check out his website: www.justfilmsf.com

Terence said:

The day the announcement came I ordered 30 rolls from Freestyle. It was scheduled for delivery in late July.

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I bought the last 3 rolls that they had in stock. I had to buy the professional type. At this moment the Freestyle web site does not even list Kodachrome of any type for sale.

Wouldn't it be funny if after 35mm processing was up, Dwayne's went and announced "Okay, we're done with 135, we're processing 120 now!"

I would be thrilled.

I generally perceive eBay scalpers and other price gougers as typical filth. There's just something about opportunists who try to extract things from people or situations that annoys the shit out of me.

clayne said:

I generally perceive eBay scalpers and other price gougers as typical filth. There's just something about opportunists who try to extract things from people or situations that annoys the shit out of me.

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I still fail to see the problem. That's how capitalism works. Supply and demand. They are simply selling products at market value.

FWIW, Kodachrome has not become ridiculously expensive due to hoarders. Compared to the single roll of HIE that sold on ebay for $172 shortly after it was discontinued, $13-15 a roll for PKR seems fairly reasonable.

I have seven rolls, and we will see how much i shoot and how much I need the cash when im in college before I decide what to do with them.

It seems to me that at this point Kodak could make a lot of money by secretly producing more and leaking it into the market through B&H, Adorama and Freestyle; it sells out in days so obviously people would buy it.

PeteZ8 said:

I still fail to see the problem. That's how capitalism works. Supply and demand. They are simply selling products at market value.

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Yeah yeah yeah, heard it before.

My problem with the Kodachrome scalping issue is that people are willing to pay the exorbitant price that the scalpers are selling it for. Reference the below eBay auction for one roll of KM-25 (a print screen is attached if the auction disappears) :

LINK

If people would hold off on buying Kodachrome for a week or two, the scalpers will probably have an "oh, shit" moment and begin to dump it all.

I made up my mind long ago never to become dependent on any one product, be it film, paper, developer, process, whatever. If something disappears I move on to whatever continues to be available. Not only am I always able to buy materials, I keep learning about new products all the time.

To me the only Kodachrome was Kodachrome 25. Kodachrome's been gone ever since they stopped making that. So I use Ektachrome.

c6h6o3 said:

To me the only Kodachrome was Kodachrome 25. Kodachrome's been gone ever since they stopped making that. So I use Ektachrome.

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Ah. You're one of them.


I try to fathom how many "purists" of KM25, who quit Kodachrome en toto after KM25 was discontinued, negatively impacted sales of Kodachrome KR64 and KL200. Something tells me the idea was that people would migrate to KR64 was tempered by the KM25 purists who doggedly would rather have seen the rest of Kodachrome perish for taking their beloved KM25 away. Had they not quit, I wonder how sales for KR64 would have looked these past few years. It might have been significant enough to have given us a master roll or even three before the end. This is speculation, of course. But hearing this always tends to chafe me a little, especially since KM25 for me is not very usable except for still life shots and exceptionally, brightly lit subjects. I have bias toward KL200, because I like grain, lower-light scenes, and Kodachrome colour all wrapped into one.

You are assuming that people who stopped using Kodachrome when Kodachrome 25 was dropped actually liked the other taste(s) that were then still available.
Even seem to think that even if they did not, they should have used the other flavours anyway.

???

Then you even say that they shouldn't have liked Kodachrome 25 ... ?????

Strikes me as rather strange. Are you, perhaps, one of them (no, no. The other lot)?



I have stopped using Kodachrome when 25 was dropped. Not because of some strange 'purism', but because i didn't like the remaining Kodachromes, liked other films better.
Seemed to make a lot of sense at the time. Still does to me.
But not so?

I wonder if those in less wealthy regions of the world would see scalping the same way as many of us do here

I bet they would

If you're not too careful about regulation soon there will be persons and corporations buying up water rights for huge profit
Oil
Not too sure that's a good thing for society even if in the short term it's absolutely great for those participating


I bet "we" see scalping like this as being OK on SOME level because we all have SOME ability to partake
As fewer and fewer people are capable of joining in I'd think we'd see a shift ..like with water rights as it is now
once the once elites begin feeling the pinch it becomes an issue of grave importance

If you can you do and say that's how it goes but once you cannot you fight back
sort of the equivalent to
If I can't love you nobody will

As soon as nobody can another problem emerges
Those who didn't care about the little guy but then had to join in the fight with them once beaten become the national heroes
They're seen as humbled giants needing support and all that shit and soon rise to power again riding the waves
These people don't all change their spots and in time the process begins anew

You're saying taking advantage of others is an OK thing to do so long as you can make money doing it
Isn't that what I'm reading
We've been led to believe greed is good and since most people probably do feel this way to SOME extent it must be good
A lot of our careers come at the expense of people too dumb or listless to do on their own
Most likely a lot of our crime stems from this belief

creating a false supplydemand is what is wrong

selling a dinosaur egg you found is probably worth a few bucks and should be bought by those who want the thing
What about a hot piece of ass? Shouldn't I be able to buy that
Pu**y scalper seems like fun job
Hornier you are the more expensive it gets
Then again
Not sure I'd want to handle their money

Seems to me the buyingselling of things in certain ways can be wrong because it has the ability to degrade social fabric faster you can repair it with your fatter wallet
If something is wrong with the way something is being sold the best way to correct it isn't to sell it again in a way likely to breed ..who the F* knows what