Portra 160 4x5 just doubled in price on Amazon

[nonuniform]

WTH? In the past 24 hours, the price of 10 sheets of Portra 160 4x5 jumped from $36.27 to $64.05. It's not available on Adorama, but B&H has it for $39.

What's going on? Is this the *new* Kodak?

[vinny]

Omg!
I'd buy it from b&h then.

[Jan Pedersen]

Why buy film from Amazon when you can buy it from a real photo store? Amazon don't give a rat's ass about photo, B&H or any other photo store that want to stay in business does!

[nonuniform]

Why buy film from Amazon when you can buy it from a real photo store? Amazon don't give a rat's ass about photo, B&H or any other photo store that want to stay in business does!

Thanks for the helpful response. What I was hoping to discover is whether there is a giant price hike on Kodak films. I do buy film from Calumet locally, so please don't make assumptions. I don't think B&H cares much about anything but a buck either.

[Daniel Stone]

b&h make money from selling film. so they sell film. if it wasn't profitable, they'd probably not do it.
simple business.

keep buying from those that sell film at reasonably priced rates, like b&h, adorama, samy's(well, they're somewhat reasonable), calumet, etc... Even mom'n'pop stores I've been in keep a box or two of 4x5 on the shelves sometimes.

just don't keep buying a lot unless you're shooting a lot, or plan to freeze it long-term from the start.
buying consistently tells retailers "it's moving" so they keep ordering it because there are people buying it.

[Otto Seaman]

Amazon had silly high prices on some films last year too, some sort of glitch because everyplace else was consistently priced.

[StoneNYC]

I can't answer your question but I can say B&H as great as they are, don't have a clue, I asked them when Velvia 100 in 4x5 would come back, they said they have provia100f, just by that, I said its a different film with a different color, they said the purchaser only buys new stock when the old is low, just buy Velvia100f, I said that's a different film and it's not being made anymore but Velvia100 still is and they have 0 stock, so has new stock of Velvia100 been ordered? They haven't responded but I'm guessing they won't. So pricing and info can sometimes be off with photo stores too. I would just buy where you find it cheapest. However I would never buy from amazon that's just asking for trouble IMHO

[Marc B.]

Strange...checking today (this early AM), with Amazon USA, they're not listing Portra in 4 X 5.
It doesn't matter what product you're shopping for, you need to check prices and availability from several sources...and check often.

Adorama, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.95 w/free shipping USA:
http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=portra+4+X+5+film

Badger Graphic, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $38.99 + shipping:
https://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=3578

B&H, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.95 w/free shipping USA:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=portra+4+X+5+film&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

Blue Moon Camera & Mach. (not listing Portra today), Ektar 100 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.50 + shipping:
http://bluemooncamera.com/inventory.php?menuID=4&catID=500&deptID=566

Freestyle, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $42.49 + shipping:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/1710516-Kodak-Portra-160-ISO-4x5-10-sheets

Glazer's Camera, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $44.99 + shipping:
http://www.glazerscamera.com/store/kodak-portra-160vc-4x5-10-sheets.html

Midwest Photo Ex. (160 Portra not listed today) Portra 400 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.99 + shipping:
http://mpex.com/kodak-portra-400-4x5-10-sheets.html

Samy's (general website) Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, (currently on back order), $41.95 + shipping:
http://www.samys.com/p/Film/1710516/4-x-5-Portra-160-Color-Film-10-Sheets/49405.html

Marc

[StoneNYC]

Strange...checking today (this early AM), with Amazon USA, they're not listing Portra in 4 X 5.
It doesn't matter what product you're shopping for, you need to check prices and availability from several sources...and check often.

Adorama, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.95 w/free shipping USA:
http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=portra+4+X+5+film

Badger Graphic, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $38.99 + shipping:
https://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=3578

B&H, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.95 w/free shipping USA:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=portra+4+X+5+film&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

Blue Moon Camera & Mach. (not listing Portra today), Ektar 100 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.50 + shipping:
http://bluemooncamera.com/inventory.php?menuID=4&catID=500&deptID=566

Freestyle, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $42.49 + shipping:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/1710516-Kodak-Portra-160-ISO-4x5-10-sheets

Glazer's Camera, Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $44.99 + shipping:
http://www.glazerscamera.com/store/kodak-portra-160vc-4x5-10-sheets.html

Midwest Photo Ex. (160 Portra not listed today) Portra 400 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, $39.99 + shipping:
http://mpex.com/kodak-portra-400-4x5-10-sheets.html

Samy's (general website) Portra 160 4 X 5, 10 sheet box, (currently on back order), $41.95 + shipping:
http://www.samys.com/p/Film/1710516/4-x-5-Portra-160-Color-Film-10-Sheets/49405.html

Marc

True, and don't forget about shipping... I often use B&H because they give me free shipping on almost every order, either because I buy a specific item that gets me free shipping, or I've spent nigh with them in a time period that they give me free shipping on everything after that. I JUST ordered a box of Fuji Provia100f in 4x5, just a single box, and it was free shipping. That's a big savings over amazon I'm sure.

[Drew Wiley]

Any distributor who expects to remain in business has to attempt to buy in quantity at a favorable price and sell at a realistic markup. If someone is too low in price,
they might run out of that commodity prematurely, then end up buying at a higher price while their competition is still selling lower. It's a lot like playing the stock market. Nobody has a perfect crystal ball. And someone will always try to undercut the average price, yet do so with a higher long term business risk. Bears who
don't put any fat on while they can might not survive a long winter. As consumers of film, we're always looking for deals, of course. But inflation and distribution are just the facts of life. Shooting color in large format is just gonna cost more than it used to. But would you rather have no film available?

[nonuniform]

Seems like the Amazon price on Portra 4x5 160 is still at $64.45. So weird. I guess we'll never know. I can deal with price hikes, but I don't expect 100% increases!

[jp]

Sometimes Amazon's prices on obscure things are not good. I imagine it's largely automated. I've seen prices jump around for no good reason.

Generally I don't go film shopping at Amazon. I'll throw a pro-pack of 120 into an order once in a while, but they limit me to 3 pro-packs, so I tend to use B&H for actual maintaining/building the film stockpile. Same coast, good prices, quick shipping.

[nonuniform]

I use my Amazon cart as an ever-changing reminder of stuff I need/want/heard about. I prefer to buy my film locally. I put it in the fridge as soon as I get home.

[Harley Goldman]

Amazon (and many others) does a lot of virtual warehousing, i.e. they don't necessarily have the stock in their own warehouses, but show the stock of distributors, who then blind dropship on behalf of Amazon. Depending on availability with their various suppliers, I imagine the posted pricing can jump around quite a bit. The pricing on the film is definitely bizarre, but I am guessing that is what happened.

[Drew Wiley]

Amazon is partially a direct retailer, yet in another sense a big octopus with arms extending all over the place, licensing their search engine and checkout services to
all kinds of subscribers. A closer look will tell you where the product is actually coming from. You take your chances... it might be from Bill's Bait Shop and Underwater
Soggy Film Salvage. Helps to do your homework. A deal is not always a deal. Don't want to say too much, but I happen to be a distributor of certain things which
compete directly with Amazon, and people definitely have a valid reason for preferring to shop with David instead of Goliath at times.

[StoneNYC]

Seems strange to limit you on ordering large amounts of film. I mean 3 pro packs isn't even enough for one gig for some people ...

[Jim C.]

Amazon shills for their affiliates, used to be when you ordered from Amazon it was Amazon you're ordering from
what you saw may have been an affiliate price.