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Yikes - it is about time to get another 100' roll of TMY2. It is listed for $115 at Henry's. This is about double what I payed last year! HP5 is still somewhat reasonable.
Interestingly, TMY2 at BandHPhoto is only $65. I am wondering what the big difference is!
B&H is the best.. I order everything from them except for Rodinal because they wont ship it. By far the best prices i can find.
The big difference is that Henry's thinks the market will bear this price. You and others need to persuade him that it won't.
pentaxuser
Precisely why I have not purchased any photographic materials in Canada in over a decade. I am tired of hearing the usual excuses of higher transportation costs, smaller markets, ad infinitum ad nauseam to justify the extortionate prices here. Personally, I often find myself wondering if the attitude of our national capitalist class is a legacy of pre-NAFTA: having a captive market, we Canadians often paid prices far in excess of those charged to our southern neighors (maybe some attitudes are hard to break...like the appalling levels of service we still have to suffer ALMOST EVERYWHERE we shop in this country!). Thank God for places like B&H Photo, Adorama, Freestyle and others that keep prices affordable (and offer service FAR, FAR BETTER than we could ever hope to have in this country!Quote:
Originally Posted by tom_bw
Beau photo has been getting more realistic with their chem. prices but it still bothers me that I have to do larger orders and pay the extra $60-$80 shipping prices AND it is still far cheaper to do when ordering paper etc.
A big outfit like B&H is probably undercutting just about everybody on either side of the border. Fact is they are cheap and they have just about everything, hard to beat that combination. I would disagree that anybody is trying to gouge or rip people off. Nobody is getting rich in retail, they are setting prices based on their own costs and it is up to you as the consumer to pay them or not. A local shop has to earn your business somehow and if they can't compete on pricing then they need to do it some other way.
I've always believed in shopping local if I can. I'm lucky to have a lot of good local businesses in my small town but, in my case, 'local' for film and paper is 2000 km away in Vancouver where I order most of my film and paper from Beau Photo. They've been great to deal with and their prices are reasonably close to B&H by the time I factor in shipping and duty.
For example. The regular selling chemicals are very reasonable. But the ones that are not in stock like the Ilford ID-11 5 liter@ Freestyle is $12.00. I asked @ Beau and I was told $37.00. Another is the Kentmere 400 100' rl. film. Henry's price: $60. Freestyle price : $36. Need I say any more ?
They also only carry the Ilford & Oriental (Seagull) brands which are superior papers but for someone on a budget (me) has to go after the lesser priced options (Arista, Kentmere) which are not available any where in Vancouver.
I think I will try B&H. I guess I have to be a little careful to make sure brokerage fees do not kill my savings! Thanks for the recommendation.
Tom
B&H, like some other big U.S. stores, have a system in place that allows them to give you a total price that includes all duties. There are no brokerage fees, no customs delays and delivery is very rapid (3 days on average for the least expensive option). Sometimes, it's so quick it's scary.Quote:
Originally Posted by tom_bw
Another place you might want to look at is the film photography project (FPP) store, they're now matching B&H prices (on Kodak film). I haven't ever ordered from them, but my next film purchase will be from them.
http://filmphotographyproject.com/store