Putting my hand up for group bulk orders of film

alex gard · Dec 17, 2013

Hi there, I'm just posting to say hi and put my hand up for anyone who wants a conglomerate group buy of bulk film to save costs etc. If you already have a group that does this please throw my name in the hat and get in touch with me should you wish to do a bulk buy. I should be ok for another month or so. I generally spend around $200-$300 on film at any one time. Or if you need to buy sooner than I do get in touch anyway and I might buy some just to help you out. oo.agar@ g mail dot com

wildbill · Dec 17, 2013

you might want to be a little more specific.

polyglot · Dec 17, 2013

Which state are you in? There are a few of us in Adelaide that do occasional orders but if we have to post to Sydney then that will likely wipe out any postage-savings of buying together.

wildbill: you have wandered into the Australia subforum. It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

cluttered · Dec 17, 2013

polyglot said:
Which state are you in? There are a few of us in Adelaide that do occasional orders but if we have to post to Sydney then that will likely wipe out any postage-savings of buying together.

Now that the AUD has dropped relative to the USD, I might be putting my hand up for the next Adelaide bulk-buy depending on the timing.

wildbill: you have wandered into the Australia subforum. It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

Dr Croubie · Dec 17, 2013

I'd put my hand up, but my freezer's a bit full and I've promised myself not to buy any more until I use up some (except Delta3200, I'm out of that and there's no substitutes).

What is the chance of getting chemicals from OS?
L&P have a Tetenal E6 12-shot kit for $84, that works out to $7 a roll/sheet, and once I put a suitable Jobo reel and tank into the bargain it's barely worth it compared to the extra few bucks to get it done properly at atkins or B+Ws. But if I could get it for half that price, I'd be a bit more tempted.
Noone seems to want to post liquid chemicals, there's only a powder C41 at Freestyle, all the rest are ORM-D. Is there anyone who'd post liquid chemicals, and is it worth it once the shipping's factored in?

wildbill · Dec 17, 2013

polyglot said:
Which state are you in? There are a few of us in Adelaide that do occasional orders but if we have to post to Sydney then that will likely wipe out any postage-savings of buying together.

wildbill: you have wandered into the Australia subforum. It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

haha. isn't it summer there though?

Dr Croubie · Dec 17, 2013

wildbill said:
haha. isn't it summer there though?

Yeah, you're more likely to get done by a hoop snake in this heat...

alex gard · Dec 17, 2013

I'm in Tasmania, but I travel around a bit. I will pay for any additional costs if it needs to be forwarded onto me, or I will get it shipped to me and forward it on to anyone else if it works out economical enough. I'd be primarily looking at: tmax 100, acros 100, portra 160, fp4 and velvia/provia all in 4x5 and 120. Or any special films if anyone is interested in them.

Dr Croubie · Dec 17, 2013

The only 'real shop' you're likely to find Velvia 50 in 4x5 is Japanexposures, and they're not exactly cheap for the rest of their stuff, so combining postage is a bit pointless (and they don't have much Kodak/Ilford stuff). I got my *new* (Jan 2015) RVP50 from this guy on fleabay, for "only" $7 a frame. But all the rest you can easily get at B+H / Freestyle etc and combine.

alex gard · Dec 17, 2013

Yeah I'm happy sourcing my own velvia. I think the last stuff I got was from someone in Ormond, Vic for around that price.

Michael W · Dec 17, 2013

Dr Croubie said:
Noone seems to want to post liquid chemicals, there's only a powder C41 at Freestyle, all the rest are ORM-D. Is there anyone who'd post liquid chemicals, and is it worth it once the shipping's factored in?

Look at the German suppliers like Fotoimpex & Maco; they seem to be able to post stuff the USA retailers can't. German post is really slow - I ordered Adonal from Germany on Dec 2nd and according to the tracking it is still in Germany, I'm assuming it's Customs or just a really slow post system.

Michael W · Dec 17, 2013

polyglot said:
Which state are you in? There are a few of us in Adelaide that do occasional orders but if we have to post to Sydney then that will likely wipe out any postage-savings of buying together.

Us Aussies should get more organised and set up state or city based buying groups. As you say, it doesn't make sense for someone from Brisbane to get in on an Adelaide based order as the post from Adelaide to Brisbane will add to that buyer's cost and be a pain for the organiser. If it's city based, e.g. Sydney, it could work well as long as everyone agrees with the rules and someone is prepared to do the organising. Ideally people would meet up to collect the supplies, negating the need for any further postage. Depending on what is required, there could be one order placed with B&H, one with Freestyle, one with a German supplier for chemicals and European films, every few months.

polyglot · Dec 18, 2013

Macodirect definitely post colour chemistry, I've bought E6 and C41 from them. Ag Photo does too, but they charge VAT unnecessarily so that makes them quite expensive.

If you're in Adelaide, join the AFDUG group/mailing-list; we organise meetups and buying through that.

sharperstill · Dec 18, 2013

I've bought liquid chemistry from the US before. At least from Bostick & Sullivan, and possibly from the Alt Process Formalary people.

Jon

StoneNYC · Dec 19, 2013

In the "group order" I'm involved in currently (Eastman Double-X cut to 4x5 sheets) the cost for a single box is $300 want to join in that one? Anyone raise your hands!

alex gard · Dec 19, 2013

on the website I found a box of 50 sheets for $100? Why the jump to $300? Or is it a different batch/order? I'll put my hand up for that one, though! send me an email!

StoneNYC · Dec 19, 2013

See my post about it, basically when kodak crunched the numbers, they guesstimated that the waste from cutting a substrate unlike any they had ever cut in sheet form would cost a lot.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Putting my hand up for group bulk orders of film

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