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  #1  
Old 23rd January 2012, 08:26 PM
R Montgomer R Montgomer is offline
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Default I'm going to open a little shop...

Although my studio is a first floor we have a ground floor entrance with a nice window area and some floor space at street level. I'm in the process of turning this into a little shop.

My main target will be the analogue shooters so it'll be film, darkroom chemicals and paper and bits and bobs like that as well as some second hand cameras.

The nearest shop doing anything like this is Jessops, 25 odd miles away and we have the only college doing an HND in photography in Northern Ireland local to us. I don't expect to do a huge amount of business but as it's costing me nothing I may as well use it.

My question is, if a shop like that opened local to you, what would you hope to see in it?

I posted this on PNET and was asked to specify what I was planning to do so:

Film - Kodak Professional c41 range, Fuji Pro c41 Range, A nice black and white range all in 120 and 35mm
Paper - Kentmere & Ilford 8x10 & 12x16 to start.
Chemicals - No idea yet
Misc - Maybe some developing kits? Again Not sure!
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  #2  
Old 23rd January 2012, 09:35 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Sounds good to me, maybe some d76 or ID11, print developer and a fixer, and maybe some 9/12x12 paper, a lot of people seem to use that size today. Good luck with the venture,
Richard
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Old 23rd January 2012, 10:00 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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First find out what ilford and kodak dealer minimum order volumes are. Then work out whether you really think you can shift enough of those minimum order quantities so that they don't go out of date before you sell them.
As you can see on this forum, everyone is a cheapskate and will source their consumables from the cheapest supplier and not support their local shop if its more expensive, regardless of what they say. A lot of small outlets buy their stock at retail prices because they can't shift enough to make minimum order volumes from manufacturers. That means they have to add a premium to price making them much more expensive than some online retailers.

If I were you I would set up a colour film developing and printing service. The printing machine should take film, CDs, USB sticks and camera cards. People will happily just bring a camera card and ask for a couple of hundred images to be printed.
Also setup a wide format inkjet printing service (upto 24 inch wide).
Then sell other optic stuff like telescopes and binoculars and consumables like albums etc. Also cheap point and shoot digi cameras. Also passport photo service.

The shop will then serve the whole community and not just a very small number of black and white photographers. It will also increase your profile as a local photographer and bring in the clients for commercial, portrait and weddings.
You will need trained staff to operate machines and keep the shop open when you are not there such as Saturdays when you are at weddings or when you are in the studio.
Have fun.

Last edited by Argentum; 23rd January 2012 at 10:11 PM.
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Old 23rd January 2012, 11:28 PM
Michael Michael is offline
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Ryan, do you want local enthusiasts to drop in for idea-sharing? Portadown's easy enough to get to.
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Old 24th January 2012, 12:16 AM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is online now
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I'd modify Argentum's comment on FADU cheapskates(in my case, guilty as charged m'lud) to the extent that compared to other online retailers you have the postage cost to play with if enough consumers can and will travel to your shop

For instance I can get into Northampton very cheaply or free if I use my bus pass and on that basis there is even a few b&w Jessops items that compete with the best of online retailers.

Even if you have to charge a little more then if the consumers can reach you easily that day then this can tip the balance in your favour.

I'd check out the HND college to see if (a) it sells material for the students and (b) what it charges

Mike
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Old 24th January 2012, 08:08 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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I agree with Mike that you should find out what the students are paying for their material, I suspect that both they and the college get a discount.
Have you factored in staffing cost?
Other than that start with the basics and work away from that according to demand.
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Old 24th January 2012, 08:08 AM
Leigh Y Leigh Y is offline
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I'd also check out Ilford's pricing for educational outlets. My experience is that, although retired, if I do a photography course through a local college I can buy film at about half retail price through the college shop. All I need is to have a student card.
They must be giving the college a hefty discount.
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Old 24th January 2012, 10:02 AM
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dsallen dsallen is offline
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Just a couple of thoughts that might be of help:

The advantage of mail order is that people can buy what they want rather than choosing from the (understandably) limited range of stock that a local photographic shop can carry. The disadvantage is the postage costs and/or the need for a minimum order - especially with film and chemicals which would not normally add up to Martin's minimum price of £100 at Silverprint. If you choose to open a shop there is real potential in you being the focus for group orders. i.e. You buy a range of products for a range of customers and make a small mark-up on the items whilst still supplying the goods at the online price before postage and packing.

Here in Germany there is a firm called Max Aab who supply good frames at very low cost. The problem lies in the additional transport cost for small numbers of frames. One of our local framing shops started to advertise that they will supply Max Aab frames in small numbers and achieve this by taking pre-bookings that add up to a sizable order. They can then spread the transport costs and add on a mark-up and still provide the frames for less than an individual could order them direct from Max Aab.

When my father had his photography school/gallery/shop he made up a limited range of developers, fixers, tones, additives, etc himself. These attracted a following from local photographers because they retailed at half the price of Agfa and Ilford and were also supplied by mail to people who had attended his workshops.

You can still make chemicals yourself for a fraction of the cost of buying finished products from the main suppliers. In this way you could sell the chemicals for way less than the main brands (even beating college discounts), still make a profit and, importantly, become a central figure for analogue photography in your area.

Best of luck with your initiative.
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  #9  
Old 24th January 2012, 11:37 AM
R Montgomer R Montgomer is offline
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Hi guys, and thanks for the feedback!

The local college student's can't buy anything through the school and the school buy through a retailer (as a mature student there myself I can confirm all this first hand).

I'm not sure about minimum orders, but I'm willing to make the investment needed. Apart from stock, there are no overheads as everything is already covered by the studio.

I'm not sure about offering the printing as it's very big money to get into and must be manned all the time, I would consider a postal processing service 24/48 hour like chemists do (don't know where to start there) and I already offer a hand developing service (at a premium) for black and white and c41 but admittedly I only do maybe 5 a month.

I would be happy to mix my own chemicals, if I knew how! Anyone got instructions?

The other thing I would offer is once a month doing a studio day, where my studio is open to the customers to take some photo's. I know my insurance covers this already but it's something that needs thought.

As for online selling, I'm not sure. I can set all that up myself but we'll see how it goes.
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Old 24th January 2012, 12:31 PM
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Steve Smith Steve Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dsallen View Post
You can still make chemicals yourself for a fraction of the cost of buying finished products from the main suppliers. In this way you could sell the chemicals for way less than the main brands.
Something I would be interested in is pre-packed chemicals for mixing your own developers. I know they are available but you usually have to work out what you need then buy them separately. A kit of ingredients with the correct quantity of everything to make one litre of a variety of developers might be a saleable idea.


Steve.
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