Kodak Film Price Increase in Canada

Yikes - it is about time to get another 100' roll of TMY2. It is listed for $115 at Henry's. This is about double what I payed last year! HP5 is still somewhat reasonable.

Interestingly, TMY2 at BandHPhoto is only $65. I am wondering what the big difference is!

B&H is the best.. I order everything from them except for Rodinal because they wont ship it. By far the best prices i can find.

The big difference is that Henry's thinks the market will bear this price. You and others need to persuade him that it won't.

pentaxuser

tom_bw said:

Yikes - it is about time to get another 100' roll of TMY2. It is listed for $115 at Henry's. This is about double what I payed last year! HP5 is still somewhat reasonable.

Interestingly, TMY2 at BandHPhoto is only $65. I am wondering what the big difference is!

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Precisely why I have not purchased any photographic materials in Canada in over a decade. I am tired of hearing the usual excuses of higher transportation costs, smaller markets, ad infinitum ad nauseam to justify the extortionate prices here. Personally, I often find myself wondering if the attitude of our national capitalist class is a legacy of pre-NAFTA: having a captive market, we Canadians often paid prices far in excess of those charged to our southern neighors (maybe some attitudes are hard to break...like the appalling levels of service we still have to suffer ALMOST EVERYWHERE we shop in this country!). Thank God for places like B&H Photo, Adorama, Freestyle and others that keep prices affordable (and offer service FAR, FAR BETTER than we could ever hope to have in this country!

Beau photo has been getting more realistic with their chem. prices but it still bothers me that I have to do larger orders and pay the extra $60-$80 shipping prices AND it is still far cheaper to do when ordering paper etc.

A big outfit like B&H is probably undercutting just about everybody on either side of the border. Fact is they are cheap and they have just about everything, hard to beat that combination. I would disagree that anybody is trying to gouge or rip people off. Nobody is getting rich in retail, they are setting prices based on their own costs and it is up to you as the consumer to pay them or not. A local shop has to earn your business somehow and if they can't compete on pricing then they need to do it some other way.

I've always believed in shopping local if I can. I'm lucky to have a lot of good local businesses in my small town but, in my case, 'local' for film and paper is 2000 km away in Vancouver where I order most of my film and paper from Beau Photo. They've been great to deal with and their prices are reasonably close to B&H by the time I factor in shipping and duty.

For example. The regular selling chemicals are very reasonable. But the ones that are not in stock like the Ilford ID-11 5 liter@ Freestyle is $12.00. I asked @ Beau and I was told $37.00. Another is the Kentmere 400 100' rl. film. Henry's price: $60. Freestyle price : $36. Need I say any more ?
They also only carry the Ilford & Oriental (Seagull) brands which are superior papers but for someone on a budget (me) has to go after the lesser priced options (Arista, Kentmere) which are not available any where in Vancouver.

I think I will try B&H. I guess I have to be a little careful to make sure brokerage fees do not kill my savings! Thanks for the recommendation.

Tom

tom_bw said:

I think I will try B&H. I guess I have to be a little careful to make sure brokerage fees do not kill my savings! Thanks for the recommendation.

Tom

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B&H, like some other big U.S. stores, have a system in place that allows them to give you a total price that includes all duties. There are no brokerage fees, no customs delays and delivery is very rapid (3 days on average for the least expensive option). Sometimes, it's so quick it's scary.

Another place you might want to look at is the film photography project (FPP) store, they're now matching B&H prices (on Kodak film). I haven't ever ordered from them, but my next film purchase will be from them.

Dead Link Removed

I was kind of shocked when I ordered from Adorama in NY before Xmas and it was delivered the NEXT day to me in Vancouver.

tom_bw said:

I think I will try B&H. I guess I have to be a little careful to make sure brokerage fees do not kill my savings! Thanks for the recommendation.

Tom

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Check out the PUROLATOR GROUND option as well as the pre-paid duties. I haven't bought from freestyle since. But if you are stuck, just avoid UPS with their $30 + tax fees.

mrred said:

Check out the PUROLATOR GROUND option as well as the pre-paid duties. I haven't bought from freestyle since. But if you are stuck, just avoid UPS with their $30 + tax fees.

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Another vote for B+H. They make shipping to Canada very easy. I get my C-41 kits from them- cheap, easy and fast. I have not found C-41chemicals in a hobbyist size anywhere in Canada.

I like B&H for a lot of my supplies but when in Vancouver, I support Beau as much as possible.

Part of the problem is that most film companies do not sell direct in Canada, they have a distributor who takes care of this - in Canada, this is generally a company called Amplis, who represents everyone from Tameron to Metz and yes, Ilford. Kodak is distributed by Hydes, which is owned mainly by Kodak, but also distributes other products (like Zippo lighters). Speaking with the Amplis representative (back when I worked in a camera store), while he would affirm the value of film for photographers, it makes up such a small part of the products line being sold, that it is difficult for Amplis to either negotiate a better price or worth their time to market aggressively. As a dollar value, they sell more Hahnemühle paper than film in Canada - when I told him that I bought my film from B&H, he said that B&H sells more B&W film every three months than Canada imports every year (not all of which sells). This quickly explains why prices are so much higher in Canada - it is not only increased transportation, distribution and importation costs, it is a matter of volume.

Good example, I bought 2 packs of 5x7 film from B&H for $98 including shipping/duty. My local camera store sells the same product for $74 a box (so $144) and because I used to work there, I asked what the actual cost Amplis charges is - $56 a box. So even if they sold it to me at cost, it is still $14 more than buying from B&H.

Another Vote for B&H. The deal with Purolator is a good one. A package starts at 8.95 shipping, while USPS charges start to 20 bucks. The B&H site will calculate the Taxes owing and B&H collects them as part of your order. I tried t work backwatds and figured that they probaly build in about 10 bucks for a papperwork fee, but even at that, it is still cheaper than the postal folks.

Freestyle does have a deal where small orders (under 150US) can go via a "postage arbitrage" deal where fed-ex ships them to a "random" contry where the postage costs are lower and mails them there. The order I tried came in a bit over a week and was mailed in sweden. Of course there is a bit of a risk of X-ray damage with that sceme. Not bad for chemicals.

Freestyle will also ship FED-ex, and it gets cheaper than postage at about a 20 pound order. Fed-ex will clear the package and charge Duty and Tax COD. There does not seem to be a clearance charge UNLESS there is more than 3 line items in teh shuippment, then you get charged about 5 dollars for each extra line item (not per item just one charge for each line on the invoice) so it is a good deal if you want the Private label stuff that Freestyle sells like Aristia Premium. {Note the premium in the last catalog was marked "Low prices while stock lasts" so the price may be on teh way up, or perhaps the stock will be drying up. The bulk is on their Clearance page)

I like the part where it is charged before shipping. I was wondering how Freestyle did that FED-ex offer. Kind of concerned when it stated it would take an additional time. I usually do the USPS deal and it gets here in 5 days. So far they have covered any film ruined during delivery.

B&H photo is amazing. I placed an order on Tuesday, and recieved it Friday (3 days later). I selected to have B&H "take care" of the customs / brokerage, and there was nothing to pay when the parcel arrived (the HST is included in fees). Thanks for the recommendations!

Yeah, since B&H started doing that I only order from FreeStyle what I absolutely have to. They really have to re-examine how they deal with shipping charges before I can take them serriously anymore.

Get a head shaker from THESE film sellers in Canada. Check their $$ on 35mm film: $64.00 for Tmax 3200 1 ROLL. Isn't this sort of thing illegal ? http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aag/main?ie...2&orderID=&seller=A1NSW80CFLMXLI&tag=vig07-20

Maybe they think they are all 'collectables' now. lol!

Well it turns out Canadians may be getting hosed after all:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/02/07/marketplace-country-pricing.html

Don't blame your local retailer, they're probably doing the best they can.

I don't think they are doing their best with a 500% markup in price

Thanks, Dave R. I checked out your link to the Film Photography project, and their prices are good.
When back in Canada next month, I'm going to give them a try.

dances_w_clouds said:

I don't think they are doing their best with a 500% markup in price

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If you read the article the problem is that many products are only available to retailers in Canada at higher prices than across the border. The difference in prices can't be explained by shipping costs or currency exchanges. It doesn't mention film but you it's not difficult to think that this could be part of it. In turn we, as consumers, pay more.

I don't know if you have ever been involved in retail but I can promise you that nobody in retail business of any sort is marking things up %500, especially not in this day and age.