Local Stores vs Internet Stores

[arigram]

I have been in an ethical and economical dilemma for a little bit now and want to know where you stand.

There is a single store in my hometown that sells film stuff.
I buy my Ilford paper and chemicals from her and often other equipment as well. The owner of the store passed away recently due to cancer and left it to his wife. His widow and he was very friendly and extremely accommodating when I got almost all my present equipment, including most of my Hasselblad and studio kit through them. Sometimes I will order something from abroad that isn't sold in Greece, but my dilemma concerns buying something the local store offers, but I can find online a lot cheaper.

I had no second thoughts about ordering a thousand euros worth of PanF+ 120 as its not sold in Greece, but I need now to restock my most common FP4+ and HP5+, which go here for almost double the price.

I want to support the local store, but at the same time, since I never get less than a few 10-film bricks, have to also think of my pockets, which are hardly deep.

I guess I will continue buying paper and chems and maybe a few rolls on an emergency, but with large orders, my hands are tied.

You have the usual problem then:
No stock and high prices, no customers.
Yet, local photo store owners can't compete in this problematic market.
Support them, so one can still have a film market close by, but at what cost?
When does it stop being good business practice and becomes a charity?
What do you think?

[FirePhoto]

Ari: your desire to support your local photography store is admirable. Have you approached the owner for a quote for purchasing such a large amount of film? Perhaps they will give you a price that is closer to the internet price.

[arigram]

Originally Posted by FirePhoto

Ari: your desire to support your local photography store is admirable. Have you approached the owner for a quote for purchasing such a large amount of film? Perhaps they will give you a price that is closer to the internet price.

She does what she can: she will give me a discount when possible and recently sold me a few expired rolls for half a price.
But, the store is a small one and there aren't really customers for BW film like myself. Any time I've been there, others only buy albums for their weddings and baptisms.
She is also just a distributor. For example, for Ilford stuff she has to go through the main representative in Athens, who doesn't have the greatest stock or best prices to start with.
I don't think she can do anything, especially match a very low price from a store in Germany.

[Sino]

Apart from some exceptions because of time [when I need something "right here, right now"] I buy almost exclusively from the net. Even for small items/quantities and the shipping included, it is much cheaper with the dollar going down.

I would like to help the last local store that brings b&w materials too, but I can't afford to pay 7-8 euros per roll of film, or 60 euros for printing paper. It's not like I have an option, when I'm getting paid 650 euros per month.

I'm interested to hear from you guys, how are things in other countries? I wonder of that pretty often, because it seems so damn difficult here in Greece being in any side of the game [shop owner, client, amateur, professional photographer] and using analog photography with these prices.

-Sino.

[polaski]

If you can afford to support your local store, then do it. If it is beyond your means, then welcome to the 21st Century. At least your intentions are pure, if not your pocketbook.

[snegron]

There is no way that you are her only client. If so, she would have either offered you a partnership or gone bankrupt long ago.

As many labs have done in order to stay in business, she will probably have to start printing images from digital sources (oh no, I said the "D" word). There have been sevral labs that have gone 90-10 in terms of their output (90% digital-10% analog). This might be the road that lab owner might need to follow in order to stay in business.

On the bright side, if she can still cater to your film needs despite going mainstream, you will be lucky to have a film lab so close to your house.

As for buying things from her, remember, she has to have other clients who are consuming other products in order for her to stay in business. Buy bulk from your online source, buy more specialized stuff from her.

[Sino]

snegron,

You are right, but I believe that this logic has made b&w films and materials so hard to find and so expensive here in Greece. If we keep not buying what they sell, they won't sell it at all. One might ask: if you don't intend to buy the stuff why should they keep selling it? I think that's the dilemma, you can't always keep track and order film and materials a month before you intend to use them...

We can't have it all, can we?

-Sino.

[arigram]

Originally Posted by snegron

There is no way that you are her only client. If so, she would have either offered you a partnership or gone bankrupt long ago.

I am not her only customer, that's for sure. She tells me that she sells the Ilford products for medical reasons, but that's also a dying market.
The store is not retail: its for professionals. But as professionals have all turned to digital, she can't sell even Polaroid for passport snaps anymore.

The point is not that specific store, is what Sino said:
its about all the local stores around the world that are struggling to survive, but its also about the film photographers who can't afford too high a price.

So, how does this market work?
Should we let the local stores die and any chances of new photographers picking up film?
What are the chances that someone will learn about film photography when they have no access
to film save for buying large packages online and paying for shipping? That doesn't seem to work,
unless you are all ready very dedicated.
What do you do when you run out of film all of a sudden, especially visiting another city?
How do we photographers deal with the situation when we can't give away money just to support them (and not ourselves)?

I would honestly like to hear from people from inside the business.
What is Ilford's plan? Fuji's? Kodak's?
Do they care? Or have they already put all the eggs in the online/franchise scheme?

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'm very fortunate to have B&H as my local shop, but when I'm traveling, I try to buy film from small shops as needed, both to avoid excess X-ray exposure in airports and to support those shops.

[snegron]

Originally Posted by David A. Goldfarb

I'm very fortunate to have B&H as my local shop, but when I'm traveling, I try to buy film from small shops as needed, both to avoid excess X-ray exposure in airports and to support those shops.

You are way too lucky! B&H is the ultimate toy store! I think that it should be included in New York's Tourism Guides as a must-see attraction together with the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, etc.