What is Polaroid 55 worth?

[Lenrick]

For those of you who don't want to read all the text below, just read the following five lines:

What is a reasonable price to charge for:
two unopened boxes of Polaroid 55 sheet film
one opened box with 19 sheets left of Polaroid 55
9 sheets Polaroid 54 sheet film
all expired in November 2005

The whole story:

About 5 years ago I used Polaroid sheet film. I still have a few boxes of 55 and 54 left. I was in the process of trying to finish them when I was contacted by a man in Stockholm who wanted to buy them. He sent me an e-mail and wondered how much I want for the lot.

All this film expired in November 2005, so it is very old. It is kept dry, cool and dark but not in refrigerator or freezer.

It seemed he really wanted the film and I more or less just played around with it, so I figured the film could be put to better use in his hands. I tried to find out what they could be worth, if anything. On the Impossible Project Europe Web Shop (http://shop.the-impossible-project.com/shop/film) they seem to have sold the 55 film (from 2009) for 200.00 EUR (~ $270). Which to my ears sounds pretty insane, you could buy a descent camera for the price of 10 boxes of film.

Can anyone help me to set a fair price on:
two unopened boxes of Polaroid 55 sheet film
one opened box with 19 sheets left of Polaroid 55
9 sheets Polaroid 54 sheet film
All expired in November 2005.

Thanks.

/Filip

[Emil Schildt]

the prices of type 55 is often insanely high, but if you look at this thread:
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=75552

then I bought the lot for the asking price. (they have been kept cold, but there's no garantee)

That price was in my reach and 5+$ for a film is ok with me...

I have seen peices reaching 16$ a sheet.... which is insane...

But maybe I am insane..

Insanely happy to have 100 sheets to play/work with...

[Michael W]

55 seems to go for about $130 per box as a median. Late '05 expiry should be fine if it was stored well. I'm always after a box - one film I've never used.

[Vaughn]

If you go by what the market can bear, then anything up to the price you mentioned is fair game for the Type 55. Personally I would offer them for about $100 to $150, and if I like the person's work who is buying them, I would also request a print as part of the deal.

I am using some Type 55 that expired in 1995, give or take a couple years. Kept cool or in the fridge. Only an occasional dud. I have about 5 boxes left. I was thinking of selling them, but I am having too much fun using it -- trying to solarize the negs with varied success. Gandolfi makes it sound so easy!

I burned thru a box the other night and had a ton of fun.

I thought I had about 12 boxes, but half ended up being Type 69. They have not aged well, as one might expect with color material.

Vaughn

[Lenrick]

Sorry gandolfi, when I clicked the link I got this message:

------------------
"Lenrick, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?"
------------------

Do you think I could make some serious money on these boxes? How would one do this? I could actually use some money to buy a holder for Fuji Instant film packs.

[Ari]

I've lately seen a box go for around $130, less if a few boxes were bought.
I expect the price to go even higher than $200/box as we get down to the last few boxes.

[Emil Schildt]

Sorry gandolfi, when I clicked the link I got this message:

------------------
"Lenrick, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?"
------------------

Do you think I could make some serious money on these boxes? How would one do this? I could actually use some money to buy a holder for Fuji Instant film packs.

first: here's what the thread said:

"I bought as bunch of T55 over the last few years and this is what's left.

I have 5 boxes of unopened film. Stored flat in the fridge. Expiration dates as follows:

12/08
12/08
05/08
11/07
10/07

I have a 6th box I just opened and used - its dated 12/06 and the film worked perfectly, so I can only assume this stuff should be good too, but obviously I can't guarantee it.

I'd like $130 per box or $500 for all five.

Thanks!!"
maybe it is because you're a new member? I don't know...

Second: you might get a good price for your films, but be careful! If you havn't stored them in a cool place, then the risk of the films going bad is rather high, and you'll end up with very dissatisfied customer...

Be honest in your description and see what happens..

[Emil Schildt]

I was thinking of selling them, but I am having too much fun using it -- trying to solarize the negs with varied success. Gandolfi makes it sound so easy!


Vaughn

it IS easy!

try and overexpose one stop - develop for about 10-15 sec - peel apart and then put the negative in front of a powerful flash, and re-flash - leave the film for a couple of minutes before putting it in water...

If not, then give up and sell the rest to me....

[Vaughn]

Can one over-flash?

Also the film seems to be a little on the low-contrast side of things, perhaps due to its age -- it did solarize better when I had something white and bright against a darker background. Nothing at all happened with a normal landscape scene. And nothing (yet) as good as your images! Maybe by the last shot of the last box!

[Emil Schildt]

Can one over-flash?

Also the film seems to be a little on the low-contrast side of things, perhaps due to its age -- it did solarize better when I had something white and bright against a darker background. Nothing at all happened with a normal landscape scene. And nothing (yet) as good as your images! Maybe by the last shot of the last box!

I don't think I have ever tried to solarize landscapes...

But in case of that, I'd think solarization before actually doing it...

A "normal" landscape contains a lot of light (?).. the sky - the clouds and so on.

Remember the blacks gets light in solarization - nothing will happen in light areas..

When I do it on my portraits and so on, I will normally use a dark background, and I want that to be light...

Then it is all easy!

Over-flash? maybe you can (I think so), but it is more important to think about when you chose to re-flash... very soon (after ca 10 sec) will give much more effect (too much some times..) - late (after maybe 20-25 sec will just give a hint in the very dark areas...