New price rise announced for Ilford film, paper and chemicals

[Sal Santamaura]

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

 

[BrianShaw]

With the exception of the UK, where Harman is its own distributor, price increase notifications usually come from distributors and are directed to retailers, not end users. The retailers than make their own, individual decisions about changes in the price that gets charged to us consumers.
It doesn’t surprise me that the first public knowledge of this sort of thing comes from a third party. It wouldn’t surprise me if we (consumers) never hear of this set of increases directly from Harman or even from their various distributors around the world, such as Amplis in Canada.
Manufacturers’ prices to their distributors are almost never released to the public, and distributors may actually be prohibited contractually from sharing their details.

That is my understanding also. But I'm always surprised that nobody on this forum seems to have the connections to get this news at the same time or earlier to either confirm or deny. The notion of contractual obligation to not share pricing information has always been despicable, and in some industries (funeral industry, in particular) it has been legally banned.

 

[flavio81]

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

But... but... but... Harman rarely comes up with price increases.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

But... but... but... Harman rarely comes up with price increases.

On the contrary; they've happened regularly. Here's a small sampling of recent threads:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/harman-ilford-increase-prices.131697/
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/ilford-fp4-4x5-price-increase.174166/
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/ilford-price-increase-in-may.174910/
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/price-increase-along-the-way.178427/
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/harman-announce-price-rise.185360/​

 

[MattKing]

Kodak doesn’t provide a good comparison to Harman when it comes to how the distributors price things, because in many cases and locations, the retailers are buying from small local distributors who are buying from larger national distributors who are buying from one or more international distributors .....
Harman tends to appoint one single distributor for a country or region, and almost all retailers buy directly from them.
Like as not, consumers will never see an official announcement on specific price changes from Harman or even its various national distributors - that sort of information is usually confidential. In addition, the actual costs visited on the various distributors will vary, due to the fact that it costs differing amounts of money to ship things from Harman to the various markets.
You might see a more general announcement from Harman providing a range of expected price changes, but for most of the world the “official” document will be a confidential memo from Harman to a distributor, which in turn will bring rise to another “official” confidential memo from the distributor to its retail business customers.
In the UK, where Harman does its own distributing, there will only be a single such memo, but it probably will still not be for public release.
There could, of course, be an understanding between the manufacturers, the various distributors, some of the retailers and kosmophoto that kosmophoto is a good conduit for social media release of information. That seems to be the way of the world now - everything going through “influencers” - some of whom are highly paid to do so.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

I am certainly not a Kodak hater. Tri-X is probably my all time favorite film. However, both HP5+ and Tri-X were about $6/roll up until 2–3 years, and now HP5 is around $8.00 a roll (at present) and Tri-X seems to be about $10.50 everywhere.

 

[MattKing]

That is my understanding also. But I'm always surprised that nobody on this forum seems to have the connections to get this news at the same time or earlier to either confirm or deny. The notion of contractual obligation to not share pricing information has always been despicable, and in some industries (funeral industry, in particular) it has been legally banned.

Any legislative restriction on keeping pricing information confidential is only going to apply to the direct relationship between sellers and buyers, except in the case where a seller is professing to be merely passing on an incurred expense to their customers.
Retailers have never been required to reveal their costs to end users. In a competitive market manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors are only required to disclose their prices to their customers (the retailers) and they are entitled to require those customers to keep that information confidential. Those retailers are entitled to shop around and get the best price they can from alternate sources - e.g. buy Foma instead of Ilford film, if they so choose.

 

[NB23]

A box of 100 8x10 fiber glossy is

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

Helpo, anybody home? kodak is already TWICE as expensive, as we speak.

 

[Marcelo Paniagua]

But... but... but... Harman rarely comes up with price increases.

Last time I checked Harman where the good guys and Kodak the bad guys right?

 

[Craig75]

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

Triggered

 

[Sirius Glass]

Good thing I got supply of my Ilford stapple for the rest of the year (a full 100ft roll of HP5 and a partial one of Delta 400). Most likely will last me till next year.

Great! Buy early and keep it from the hoarders!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

 

[Sirius Glass]

That is my understanding also. But I'm always surprised that nobody on this forum seems to have the connections to get this news at the same time or earlier to either confirm or deny. The notion of contractual obligation to not share pricing information has always been despicable, and in some industries (funeral industry, in particular) it has been legally banned.

We definitely could use some insider trading information.

 

[BrianShaw]

Any legislative restriction on keeping pricing information confidential is only going to apply to the direct relationship between sellers and buyers, except in the case where a seller is professing to be merely passing on an incurred expense to their customers.
Retailers have never been required to reveal their costs to end users. In a competitive market manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors are only required to disclose their prices to their customers (the retailers) and they are entitled to require those customers to keep that information confidential. Those retailers are entitled to shop around and get the best price they can from alternate sources - e.g. buy Foma instead of Ilford film, if they so choose.

True, applies to retail pricing between seller and buyer. I should have been more specific and referenced "retail prices" in my last sentence. Might have avoided confusion. I was referring to US requirements to publish and provide a General Price List (GPL) for funeral goods and services or divulge Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) on the sticker attached to the car being sold. To be honest... it really doesn't matter too much what the retailer pays to get the goods they are selling us.

 

[Sirius Glass]

But... but... but... Harman rarely comes up with price increases.

 

[AgX]

Probably unrelated to the post, but this has been on my head for a while. When I was working for a local hardware store chain, I was involved in the process of adquiring goods on China for our house brand. Chinese company will provide tools and goods with different quality level, depending on how much you wanted to expend.

Is there something similar on the film industry for these rebrands? Example, for Foma, can you ask for a "Premium" level film for your rebranded film? Probably what I'm wondering is that if these rebrands would have a different kind of quality level between the rebrands and the main brand. Say Fomapan film has a better quality control than Arista Edu or Kosmofoto rebrands (or the other way around) that may worth getting the rebrand over the main brand (or, again, the other way around). Or probably they are all the same?

Maco in the past, to own saying, did so concerning conversion. But they did not communicate this on the label as "basic" and "premium" or so.

 

[markjwyatt]

Foma has had a stable supply on both sides of the pond as far as I remember.

You are correct. Foma is also stable. Thanks. I like Foma films also.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

A box of 100 8x10 fiber glossy is...

Ignoring complaints about the "source" of this information (such reports inevitably turn out to be correct), I'm just watching with a smile how Kodak-haters who always hold up HARMAN as the affordable alternative are suddenly silent.

Helpo, anybody home? kodak is already TWICE as expensive, as we speak.

Hello, anybody awake? How can Kodak be "twice as expensive" as 100 sheets of Ilford fiber-base paper? Kodak hasn't sold black and white paper since 2005.

Kodak hate continues.

 

[NB23]

Hello, anybody awake? How can Kodak be "twice as expensive" as 100 sheets of Ilford fiber-base paper? Kodak hasn't sold black and white paper since 2005.

Kodak hate continues.

Oh yeah, now I remember: Kodak hated its users so much they cancelled all the products in favor of office printers (yes, true pathetic story).

We can never hate kodak as much as Kodak hated us. Really.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Hello, anybody awake? How can Kodak be "twice as expensive" as 100 sheets of Ilford fiber-base paper? Kodak hasn't sold black and white paper since 2005.

Kodak hate continues.

These Kodak haters sneak in every where much like termites. Once infested, one needs to get a fumigator to get rid of them.

 

[VinceInMT]

I'm just glad it's still available.

That’s my attitude. I also dabble in keeping a few vintage foreign cars running and when I need a part, I am grateful that I can still get it.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

Oh yeah, now I remember: Kodak hated its users so much they cancelled all the products in favor of office printers (yes, true pathetic story).

We can never hate kodak as much as Kodak hated us. Really.

A perfect example of Kodak hate. Really.

As sales of black and white paper plunged while Kodak faced an ever-tightening financial situation, it discontinued one product line. It continued producing both color and black and white film, and does to this day. Ascribing hatred of customers to Kodak is just as absurd as claiming it "cancelled all of the products in favor of office printers." That is a false, Kodak-hating story.

Kodak hate continues.

 

[BrianShaw]

Leading us on for another closed thread or the shitbox. Keep up the good work, guys.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Leading us on for another closed thread or the shitbox. Keep up the good work, guys.

By this you mean the Kodak haters comments, right?

 

[MattKing]

The Soap Box is no longer available as an option.
I will close this thread.
When or if some new and (more?) reliable information comes available, feel free to start a new thread with a link to this one in the first post. Us moderators can then decide whether to re-open and combine it with this one.
New information might include something like information from your local retailer.