What Is Happening with Kodak?
The dealer cost on Kodak film in 35mm and 120 format is increasing 10-25% on March 1st, which means the retail price for consumers also increases. Film is one market where the selling price is unregulated, which is why it can vary so much between websites and in-person camera stores.
The one thing to understand about film is it’s historically a very, very low-margin business. People reselling film make cents on each roll (post shipping) and can often lose money with lost shipments, rising shipping costs, etc. We don’t believe increases in costs are based on profit gouging. Instead, we believe it’s tied to the challenge in making film (rising) combined with the increase in demand (also rising).
What you can expect…
- Dealer costs on Kodak film go up on March 1st, 2023 (see the list of film below).
- We expect MSRP (what customers pay) to also rise on March 1st (see estimate table below).
- Any orders before March 1st will ship at the current prices.
- Any orders NOT fulfilled by March 1st will be canceled.
- This looks to be a permanent change and not a temporary one.
- This change is happening globally to everyone selling Kodak film.
Most of these suppliers shuttered their film businesses decades ago because demand has fallen so far. There is no real economical way to restart the facilities that existed decades ago as most of those facilities now produce an entirely new different product.
None of us who love film have the economic means to recreate what Kodak has built over the years.
The real long-term solution would be to create new manufacturing facilities and processes that enabled you to both keep up with demand and maintain affordable prices.