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  #1  
Old 6th February 2020, 12:55 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I too was about to test BC's out yesterday, as they listed the cheapest paper (RC Fotospeed) that I could find, which I mainly needed to do LOADS of contact sheets with.

They have Fotospeed 10 x 8 at a good price, but I mulled it over for a few days because of the negative remarks customers have made about them.

Still thinking about it and just before ordering, I thought that I'd have one last look on ebay, just in case...

It's there where I found (at a total of £1.00) cheaper, RC Kentmere paper, which I also like.

I ordered two boxes, with £3.00 p/p being quoted for each item, which made them £2.00 dearer in total, than BC's, but I thought it worthwhile to try them out, and worthwhile if there is less hassle than how BC's come across.

Clicked for the total, to find out that p/p is £3.00 PER ORDER and i.e. £1.00 cheaper overall than BC's!

After all that, I should mention the ebay store:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/studentphotostore

I will let you all know how my first order goes with them, although I expect no problems as they have 99.9% good feedback and seem very helpful with the few negative remarks that they've received.

Terry S
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Old 8th February 2020, 06:26 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Thanks for the link Terry. I just had a quick look and the range of darkroom film processing stuff is quite small. Some of the film prices beat our sponsor but for instance the price for Microphen is considerably more than AgPhotographic

It is back to the old adage I suspect. There are some items that are very keenly priced( 120 HP5+ for instance) but if you have a wide ranging order of items then the BC price advantage disappears

Mike
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Old 9th February 2020, 01:48 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I am starting this link, for other users to give their recommendations for particular sellers, both on ebay and elsewhere online, who give both good prices AND good service.

To start it all off, I have just bought two boxes of 10 x 8 Kentmere RC Lustre paper, at a much lower price than anywhere else that I could find, either on ebay, amongst FADU sponsors or via google.

The p/p is on their ebay listing as £3.00 for each box, but at the end page, only £3.00 was charged for the rather heavy total order, which took just two days to arrive by UPS. The overall saving was just over £10.00 when compared to my usual supplier - so an offer I couldn't refuse!

The current price per box is £39.99 + £3.00 (per order) for p/p.

The store I used and have bookmarked and of which I will definitely check prices at, for future items, is on ebay.co.uk

Their link is:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/studentphotostore

But I must point out, that one has to continually look around to get the best prices, as they can fluctuate at different times.

They might not stock everything, but, at this moment in time, they have some very well priced items, so if you are after e.g. just film or paper, I would definitely check them out.

Terry S
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Old 9th February 2020, 01:52 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
Thanks for the link Terry. I just had a quick look and the range of darkroom film processing stuff is quite small. Some of the film prices beat our sponsor but for instance the price for Microphen is considerably more than AgPhotographic

It is back to the old adage I suspect. There are some items that are very keenly priced( 120 HP5+ for instance) but if you have a wide ranging order of items then the BC price advantage disappears

Mike
Hi Mike, I'm not sure which of the two links you are referring to - BC's or Studentphotostore, but I will presume the latter, especially as that is the seller that I have just used and i.e. have experience of.

And yes, their inventory is quite limited, but most stores start this way and I am happy to support polite service and good prices for us consumers. They do seem to have a VERY limited stock on their co.uk address at present though, when compared to their ebay shop but I presume this stock will grow, as they already have five shops in the USA, most being in Miami.

As pointed out, they have Kentmere paper at a much lower price than all the other stores that I checked, saving me over £10.00, with it's very competitive £3.00 p/p on my two heavy boxes of paper ordered. The paper btw, arrived in two days by UPS - so I am very impressed, as the initial estimate for receipt was originally 14 days, so I presumed that they would have to order from the supplier first, but I was willing to wait based on the price. So 5 stars on ebay from me!

The Microphen price is a bit odd, as it seems to be in the minority of products that include p/p at an unknown price, rather than (around) £3.00 for a total order, as mine was. Maybe this could be sorted out by contacting them, if one orders a few different items e.g. the addition of some well priced film?

But as you point out, one has to continually look around to get the best prices, as they can fluctuate at different times.

Finally, based on my first order I will be saving Studentphotostore as one of my favourite sellers on ebay.

To help other members with their shopping, I have just started a new link on FADU, to get forum users to list sites of other polite AND competitive sellers, that they have personally used.

The link to this thread is:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...ad.php?t=12993

Terry S
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Old 9th February 2020, 02:45 PM
Tony Marlow Tony Marlow is offline
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Just a word of caution on buying from ebay. I tend to avoid it for materials as I wonder how old the stock is, has it been stored in the right conditions, where did it originate from, direct from the manufacturer or some other questionalble source? We can spend a lot of time and money on our photographic expeditions which could be wasted if we used say dodgy films. For my own peace of mind I try and stick with established retailers who hopefully have a reasonable turnround of supplies obtained direct from the manufacturer but maybe I could be seen as over cautious. My experience with old films, papers and chemicals has not been good. Does ebay provide a platform to shift old stock?

Tony
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Old 9th February 2020, 02:54 PM
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Barry Barry is offline
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I have to agree with Tony. The fadu sponsors were selected as being well established and trusted suppliers. There are of course many other reliable suppliers but Caveat Emptor.
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Old 9th February 2020, 03:13 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Terry was there any particular reason why you went via their ebay store rather than their website?

https://www.studentphotostore.co.uk
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Old 9th February 2020, 04:54 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I clicked on your link Marty and the items there seem even fewer than on the e-bay link. It would look as if Terry's e-bay link is the one to use.

Terry I made a mistake in that I did not spot that the Microphen price includes postage so yes it is still very competitive. A bit confusing when some stuff incurs postage and other stuff is free postage.

Mike
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Old 10th February 2020, 01:25 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I totally agree with both of you Tony and Barry.

It wasn't just the price that made me buy from this particular seller, it was a mixture of very good feedback over a number of years, a small range of stock that looks like it turns over quickly and a very polite service.

Unless I am open to huge experimentation, I won't buy (even if it is the cheapest) film or paper from anyone who is selling just the one box of paper or a couple of rolls of film occasionally. For me they have to have a track record of being a good all round seller.

But along side the above, the bottom line was the £10 difference between their prices and anywhere else - not an amount to be sniffed at.

On another thread there is mention of two sponsors whose price on film is HUGELY different, and as I said, one has to regularly shop around and compare before buying anything. But, sponsor or not, I am not willing to be ripped off. If other sellers can sell at certain prices, why are others trying to sell the same at much higher ridiculous prices?

As you say Barry, Caveat Emptor.

Terry S
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Old 10th February 2020, 02:48 PM
Quendil Quendil is offline
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I used student photostore several times for paper and chemicals without problems. I think I stopped using them as they don't seem to hold much stock and although some items were cheap others were expensive
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