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  #11  
Old 26th January 2020, 11:50 PM
soulstar soulstar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
My sympathies. Either this is the increase in price that Kodak needs to continue making C41 film in which case I'd expect Fuji to need a similar increase so its grin and bear time for C41 film prices and maybe Kodak trad B&W film as well or Kodak had decided to take advantage of what is claimed to be a big jump in demand and is charging what it judges the market will bear.

If it is right about judging the market correctly then expect to pay this price permanently with no respite. If it is wrong and demand drops enough to cause it to reconsider then you may see a reduction in price.

For someone like me such a reduction in price would cast doubt on Kodak's integrity in pricing matters and is likely to affect my view of Kodak products but I may be in a minority of 1

Judging by the chorus of "Hurrahs for Kodak" on another site then 1 may be the right number

Mike
i must say i feel this increase is insane. 10% ok thats fair but the amount they have increased confuses me. i am rather late to film photography my look on prices are only from 4 years ago. in any business you would source outside investment via loans or selling a percentage of business. kodak on the other hand raises prices to buy more equipment to handle the growing rate of orders. completely backwards.

i agree with you regarding integrity. i dont think they will lower the price as the younger generation (wow i cant believe i said this being only on my 30's lol) will class the price as normal due to not having anything to base it on.
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  #12  
Old 27th January 2020, 09:54 AM
John King John King is offline
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It is not only Kodak who have increased prices, the others are on the same track, but still trailing behind. However what has not been mentioned is that Kodak have also increased the prices of their chemicals and paper too.

A couple of years ago I was able to buy a 20 litre kit of RA4 developer and bleach for around £70-£75. (20 litres of each) I wanted to buy the same chemical from the same dealer last week and this would have cost me very nearly £130.

Is it down to packaging, or simply greed? There are other manufacturers who will supply twice the quantity for only a little more but 40 litres of chemical present problems with storage and the risk it would 'go off' before I was able to use it.

I buy my Kodak colour paper in a roll, simply because that is the only way that I can get my hands on their product and it is cheaper (and better) in the long run than buying FUJI in cut sheets. If I wanted to, I can also buy FUJI paper by the roll and it is cheaper, but you have to by 2 rolls at one time. The price of a 88 meter roll of Endura paper 12" wide, 3 years ago was around £65. The last roll I bought cost me very nearly £90. The last time I looked this is way above the rate of inflation!

Last edited by John King; 27th January 2020 at 10:11 AM.
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  #13  
Old 27th January 2020, 09:55 AM
mpirie mpirie is offline
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In some respects the Kodak model of raising the cash needed for expansion from sales does make some sense.

If you look at how Kodak was affected by the advent of d****l when the bottom fell out of the film market, there were a lot of shareholders who lost a lot of money. (I'm sure they made a lot of money at some point too, so i'm not sympathising with them)

Fast forward to today when there is an apparent resurgence in film sales and those same investors will be reluctant to invest in something they probably see as transitory and short-lived. Once bitten.....etc.

The acceptance of the price rise by our friends on the other side of the Atlantic is more in line with the insular approach they (and their governments) have taken for a long time......"Make America Great again"! If Ilford film was made in the US, i doubt a similar price rise would have been so readily accepted since it's not a US company.

In the UK and Europe, we've long had a market where the strongest (by whatever measures you want to use) will survive. Our market is nowhere near as large as the US, so in some respects Kodak won't give a toss about any sales dip in Europe.

If Ilford can get away with selling a product made in Europe cheaper overseas than it's sold in the home country, then, to me, that gives an indication of the complacency they feel towards European customers.

Mike
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  #14  
Old 27th January 2020, 10:08 AM
John King John King is offline
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Going on from my previous post, I have just checked my supplier and the cost of an 88m roll of Endura is has now had ANOTHER price rise to an eye watering £105. That is a £15 increase in three months!

On the upside the 88m roll will give me a theoretical 214 sheets of 12x16 or 343 sheets of 10x12., a lot cheaper than inkjet paper. and cartridges!

Last edited by John King; 27th January 2020 at 10:16 AM.
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  #15  
Old 27th January 2020, 02:05 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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This note that follows will not change things but it would appear that at least one explanation is that Kodak has a supply problem because its facilities are now scaled back and this relatively sudden increase in demand has meant that it needs to re-invest in equipment.

On the surface this sounds plausible but probing below the surface raises a few questions such as why was Kodak's equipment not simply "mothballed" and if it was destroyed then what is the equipment and the cost of said equipment that is now required to balance supply with demand

Clearly if there are good reasons on investment grounds why Kodak has had to invest then Kodak feels no obligation to supply the information and based on the voices of support on Photrio it has no reason to. Of course what are in effect a few voices only on Photrio may not reflect what the whole consumer market feels and Kodak's bottom line has to be: Will the large price increase add more to the profitability than a more modest one would. That remains to be seen I feel

Others who feel that Kodak's action on price is fully justified do put forward reasons but these essentially are speculative as they do not know either. When pressed for more detail I was met with the kind of response that hinted strongly I should be less "tiresome" and just rejoice as well.

So it comes back to "you pays your money and takes your choice"

Mike
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  #16  
Old 27th January 2020, 06:57 PM
John King John King is offline
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Are they killing the golden goose? I simply don't know. With all this seemingly sudden rush of price increases, there will be a time where some people will say enough is enough! It cannot be far off. As for the claimed apparent difficulty of finding the supplies to manufacture chemicals, my last bottles of developer and blix were marked as being made in the Peoples Republic of China. The Tetenal one come from within the EU and they too are 'having difficulties'.

I have around 3/4 or so of a roll of paper left which will see me printing almost certainly, for the remainder of the year. I have jumped ship and not replaced my current Kodak chemicals, but reluctantly moved over to Tetenal and have just taken delivery of a 5 litre kit of Tetenal. I know it is has about 1/3rd of the capacity of the Kodak developer/blix, but it is much more friendly and sympathetic to my wallet over the short term.

Last edited by John King; 27th January 2020 at 07:03 PM.
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