Note From HARMAN technology Limited : Re Price Increases

Curt · Jan 22, 2011

It's all good news for me, @30% Inc. PanF is close enough in cost for me to justify Rollei Pan 25, I'll still use Fp4 in large format but I'm again looking at that. Insert very happy face anywhere you want.

Black Dog · Jan 22, 2011

With pleasure!....Strand quote above is totally true btw..

cmacd123 · Jan 22, 2011

2F/2F said:
Just walked into Freestyle after work and bought 30 rolls of Arista Premium 400 (Tri-X) 36-exp. and 20 rolls of Legacy Pro 100 (Acros) 36-exp. My total: $110 and change. That is insane pricing for some of the best b/w films ever made..

YES, it is! although the LP100 is now a "one shot" deal as it will apparently not be replaced after they sell off the "short date" stock. Hopefully the Premium 400 will stick around. I ordered a couple of 100ft rolls to be on the safe side. (after deciding on ordering some of the legacy pro 400 only to find it all gone.)

BTW, They have PX in the close out page. Is PX still film going the way of 5231 and PXR?

I still buy some HP5 every time I go into Henry's to get some fixer. I figure that ILFORD Is likely a supplier that it would be worth sending some business to. I also have been stocking ip on teh MG IV PC, even though it is a touch warm for my taste.

Graham Stayte · Apr 24, 2011

the cost of quality digital prints

Digital printers like me have had to put up with a 50% increase in ink prices as well as the significant increase in the paper costs.
It is the combination of the two that renders my prints difficult to sell at an economically viable price.
Both companies claim that increases were unavoidable. That however does not help my sales figures during a significant economic downturn.
I feel many printers will go out of business during this downturn if their running costs can not be reduced.

marcmarc · Apr 24, 2011

The ultimate question is if Ilford and other companies will lower the prices on their products once the price of silver starts to drop. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I doubt it. If they see that people will buy their products at the current prices, why would they bother lowering them? I remember when prices first shot up on some brands someone made a very good point about the fact that these increases should apply to products beginning production, not for products that have already been sitting on the shelf.

wogster · Apr 26, 2011

marcmarc said:
The ultimate question is if Ilford and other companies will lower the prices on their products once the price of silver starts to drop. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I doubt it. If they see that people will buy their products at the current prices, why would they bother lowering them? I remember when prices first shot up on some brands someone made a very good point about the fact that these increases should apply to products beginning production, not for products that have already been sitting on the shelf.

Not everyone will endure higher prices, I can't and that's why it's been over a year since the film cameras last got used, the issue is, the film market has already taken a major hit from digital, higher prices are not doing film any favours.

cmo · May 6, 2011

marcmarc said:
...once the price of silver starts to drop.

It's going down... quickly:

pbromaghin · May 6, 2011

The value of any item is always and only what a willing seller and a willing buyer will agree it to be.

They will charge what we will pay with the goal of maximizing profit.

If they can make more profit by selling more film at a lower price, that's what they will do. If they can make more money by selling less film at a higher price, that's what they will do.

Trond · May 7, 2011

I did a simple check yesterday to see how much prices has changed for the past 30 years. I found a scan of an advert from Adorama on Flickr from 1979, and an advert form B&H in an issue of Camera & Darkroom from 1991. I compared the prices of HP5 135 36 and Tri-X 135 36 with what these films sell for from Freestyle. Adjusted for the consumer price index, the price for these two films was more or less the same both in 1979 and 1991 as it is today.

A crude analysis of course, but large differences increases in price would have been obvious I think. It would be fun to look at more samples (from different countries!), but I think I will take some more photos instead!

Trond

pinhole_dreamer · May 7, 2011

With all the photo equipment my cousin gave me (10 reusable film cans and a bulk loader), I'll probably end up buying 100 ft. of Ilford or Kentmere if it's cheap enough.

cmacd123 · May 7, 2011

marcmarc said:
The ultimate question is if Ilford and other companies will lower the prices on their products once the price of silver starts to drop.

Most manufacturers look at their prices all the time. But their is a pipeline. If for example the manufacturer just bought a pallet of silver bars, hoping to avoid a price increase, there costs will remain high.

Hedging is also done, where a Maker signs a contract to take so much of a metal 3 or 6 months from now at an agreed price. That price may be higher or lower than the spot price, but the trade off is more certainty about costs. When the price goes up rapidly it can give the maker breathing room to adjust the price up, at the cost of leving costs higher than they would have been when the market goes down.

I have no Idea if any of the manufacturers are hedged on silver.

I do Know that Freestyle was showing a 2 for one deal on HP5+ which I took up and am waiting to arrive in the mail.

wogster · May 8, 2011

cmacd123 said:
Most manufacturers look at their prices all the time. But their is a pipeline. If for example the manufacturer just bought a pallet of silver bars, hoping to avoid a price increase, there costs will remain high.

Hedging is also done, where a Maker signs a contract to take so much of a metal 3 or 6 months from now at an agreed price. That price may be higher or lower than the spot price, but the trade off is more certainty about costs. When the price goes up rapidly it can give the maker breathing room to adjust the price up, at the cost of leving costs higher than they would have been when the market goes down.

I have no Idea if any of the manufacturers are hedged on silver.

I do Know that Freestyle was showing a 2 for one deal on HP5+ which I took up and am waiting to arrive in the mail.

If you include contracts for supplies, you probably find that they all hedge to some degree. Not only for price stability, but to have an assurance that the materials they need will be available. These contracts would never be for the spot price, because the supplier then knows that a portion of their production is guaranteed sold, so they will discount that production in order to make sure they get those contracts. The costs of digging up a silver mine, removing the ore and processing it into bars is pretty stable.

RMD · May 8, 2011

I see from today's papers that silver has fallen in price by over 30% this week, so we should see film prices coming down very soon shouldn't we !!!

jerl · May 8, 2011

Not necessarily since we have no idea if the drops in price will last. Also we don't know how much silver Ilford has purchased and at what price. But if these sorts of trends continue, then there may be hope indeed.

hpulley · May 8, 2011

effin' speculators...

Note From HARMAN technology Limited : Re Price Increases

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