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Viability of Stockpiling B&W Film with Recent Ilford News in Mind

Richard S. (rich815)

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NedL

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Sirius Glass said:
No, I mean swallow two rolls of film with either distilled or tap water and THEN call me in the morning.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, gastrointestinol, only problem is you have to stay up and awake if you want full stand development. Swallow a couple tylenol and vitamin C tablets along with that distilled water and then it's PA-intestinol-C...

I would never do that with my pemberstone FP4+ though.

Don't worry, be happy, all will be well.
 

Richard S. (rich815)

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I prefer constant agitation and a shorter fix time for that special way of using film.
 

Sirius Glass

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Better to use gastrointestinol than sulfadenial or noassatol.
 

John Bragg

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I see no need to hoard or panic buy Ilford film. There are economies of scale in purchasing larger quantities, however I personally believe that buying enough for personal use and keeping fresh film on hand is the best way to go. Ilford film has a longer shelf life than the Kodak equivalent by quite a margin and that is a plus ! Harman is a successful company with great products and a loyal following based largely on fantastic products made by a dedicated team. They fully support analog photography in all sorts of ways. Why would the new owners spoil that, unless it happens by sheer ineptitude ? I know that none of us has a crystal ball, but I have far more confidence in the future survival of Ilford than any other film manufacturer. Keep calm and shoot HP5+ !
 

LarsAC

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If we all panic and stockpile today, demand will drop tomorrow. Steady (or increasing) demand is the best we can contribute to a long life of film, I guess.

Oh, and voting against stupid EU decisions, of course.

Lars
 
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Andre Noble

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APUGuser19 said:
To stockpile film is to curtail using it to avoid depleting your cache....
Click to expand...

Stockpiling usually happens after company has determined loss of financial justification for continued manufacture of a particular film. The ensuing stockpiling of endangered film boosts revenue and might allow a company to make a few more production runs, thus making the film available for more people longer.

So I disagree.
 
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Andre Noble

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John Bragg said:
I see no need to hoard or panic buy Ilford film. ....
Click to expand...

Was one of the best B&W film ever made - Kodak Plus X - discontinued because of stockpiling? No.

Do I have any 120 Kodak Plus X? Very Little.

So bump that!

I am going to stockpile Ilford FP4+ and Ilford Delta 100 8x10 sheets in the future? Likely.
 

removed account4

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not only that ..
1 person's stock piling film is a drop in the bucket ...
if EVERYONE who used film stockpiled it all at once ...
that might be kind of stressful for the makers ..
maybe not? who knows, i sure don't.

==


have fun andre !
john
 
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pdeeh

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Are we all doomed yet?
 

Richard S. (rich815)

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Viability of Stockpiling B&W Film with Recent Ilford News in Mind

LarsAC said:
If we all panic and stockpile today, demand will drop tomorrow. Steady (or increasing) demand is the best we can contribute to a long life of film, I guess.

Oh, and voting against stupid EU decisions, of course.

Lars
Click to expand...

Ask any business if they'd like you to buy 1 month worth of their product now and each month for the next 24 months or buy and pay for 24x worth today and guess what would be their answer...

"Our loading dock is over there, please back up your truck!"
 

alanrockwood

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Richard S. (rich815) said:
Ask any business if they'd like you to buy 1 month worth of their product now and each month for the next 24 months or buy and pay for 24x worth today and guess what would be their answer...
Click to expand...

Lots of revenue today is better than the same amount of revenue spread over the next 24 months. I made a somewhat similar point in one of my posts. Even better is if the customer buys 24 months worth or product now and then keeps buying more during the next 24 months, which is the scenario you described.

Therefore, the increased short term demand resulting from a fraction of customers hoarding product is actually an advantage to the manufacturer, provided they have the manufacturing capacity to meet the short term demand.
 

MattKing

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The world runs on credit.

Manufacturers borrow money on the security of unfilled orders.

A manufacturer with an order book for X items each month for the next 24 months is much more likely to be able yo obtain low cost credit and to maintain things like trained staff and working machinery than one that has just one order for 24X items.
 

alanrockwood

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That's not how the (fairly large) company where I work operates, i.e. we do not rely on the credit market to operate the business.

Also, I could be wrong, but I doubt if the film business relies on a book of advanced orders. At least I know that when I place an order for a few rolls it is generally for immediate fulfillment, not an order for advance delivery. How about you?
 

Pioneer

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I am certainly doomed if my wife ever digs down below the food products spread strategically across the boxes of film I already have stored in the freezer.

This is part of my children's inheritance as it will undoubtedly be worth more at that (hopefully) future time than it is now. Since I keep buying more it is unlikely I will be running out anytime soon.
 
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pdeeh

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I am planning on never running out of my favourite films by adopting the following cunning strategy:

I will keep all my film in the 'fridge or freezer and never take it out to put in my camera(s), and instead of actually taking pictures with it, I will talk about it on internet forums at crashingly tedious length, thereby ensuring that I will always have some on hand.
 
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Sirius Glass

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The MAN does have a PLAN! :w00t:
 

MattKing

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Harman sells to distributors (except possibly in the UK, where they may do their own distribution).

The distributors sell to retailers.

Finally, the retailers sell to end consumers.

Only the end consumers rarely, if ever, order early.

When I used to work in retail, we would order film weeks to months ahead, based on historical trends. We also had access to additional stock when we encountered unexpected shortages, but that came from local resources, rather than the manufacturer.
 

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i worked in the coffee trade (not the same obviously but different )
stores have what is known as their "par" what the suppliers send them on a
weekly bi-weekly or whatever basis.
i imagine the photo retail stores are exactly the same .. they get an amount, the same amount
every month, or whatever, they sell and they get replenished.
if someone goes to the store and buys the whole shelf full of film or paper or chemistry,
the supplier just sends them more at the end of replenish cycle,
it really doesnt' disrupt the store unless 30 customers all arrive and try to buy the sam thing
the next day and the day after that .. i bought 20 boxes of film all at once from b_h
they boxed it and mailed it to me, and had a warehouse of film to sell still ...
i can't imagine ( and i have heard industry experts also say this ) that 1 or 2 or 3 people all buying
a TON of film or paper or ? will disrupt the cycle ...

maybe it does now, IDK ...

the only thing folks who buy a ton at once miss out on might be their favorite supplier having a sale
or wanting to buy from another store if they are having trouble &c ..
i know that was my only regret ... having a ton of film makes it not easy to buy more
when you can get a 100 sheet box of faux fp4 for $25 of buy handful of boxes of j+C
or 1lb of silver nitrate to make one's own strange syrup ..
because of limited shelf space and limited funds and the guilt that you might not use it all up before it goes bad ..
 

Jerevan

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I am thinking slow and steady buying makes more sense than panic and hoarding.
 
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