Australia/New Zealand The perils of being a film shooter in Australia.

[Keith]

Not that I am at the moment but if I was I'd be pretty miffed about what's happening here in Oz currently. The 'gummint' is about to take the one thousand dollar ceiling value GST exemption on imported goods back to zero! 😱

Add this to the Aussie dollar going backwards at speed and suddenly the cheap film option from the US via Freestyle or B&H is not looking so rosy. It's worth about seventy cents against the greenback at the moment and is rumoured to go a 'lot' lower.

And if you buy film here ........ 🙁

 

[lynnb]

Yes it's outrageous Keith. The retail sector lobbied to remove the threshold for GST while the AUD was high - and now it's fallen, there's marginal benefit, if any, to charging GST (the cost of collection will be about the same as the money raised, due to the reduction in online shopping caused by the falling AUD). So it's a lose-lose.

But we're Aussies and we're used to being scr*w*d!

Best bet at present appears to be Fomapan at $6 a roll from Blanco Negro in Redfern. Also the 3-packs of FP4+/HP5+ for AUD$23 from Vanbar, if that promo is still on.

 

[Keith]

Yes it's outrageous Keith. The retail sector lobbied to remove the threshold for GST while the AUD was high - and now it's fallen, there's marginal benefit, if any, to charging GST (the cost of collection will be about the same as the money raised, due to the reduction in online shopping caused by the falling AUD). So it's a lose-lose.

But we're Aussies and we're used to being scr*w*d!

Best bet at present appears to be Fomapan at $6 a roll from Blanco Negro in Redfern. Also the 3-packs of FP4+/HP5+ for AUD$23 from Vanbar, if that promo is still on.

One of the main protagonists was Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman .... a complete whinger. No doubt he's pleased with the outcome.

 

[tyrone.s]

One of the main protagonists was Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman .... a complete whinger. No doubt he's pleased with the outcome.

Ah Gerry, I was about to say - there's nothing like the sound of a billionaire whining about how unfair things are!

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

One of the main protagonists was Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman .... a complete whinger. No doubt he's pleased with the outcome.

Yes, yes, and yes, I reckon, Keith.
The only small shred of hope is that I understand there will be a turnover threshold in order for sellers to be required to collect the GST. It won't help much for film but perhaps there will still be a little scope for tax free equipment purchases ex-eBay from private sellers?
I might have to think about stocking up on film before the threshold drops.
Cheers
Brett

 

[mfogiel]

Just buy a bigger freezer and order once a year or two Keith...

 

[lynnb]

I'm glad I've just stocked up...

 

[Keith]

Just buy a bigger freezer and order once a year or two Keith...

I currently have enough film in my freezer to last me for years.

 

[thereabouts]

When does this come in?

 

[Leica All Day]

well, at least they include the box…..all joking aside, that price is painful. I was just telling somebody earlier today what a great city Bangkok is to shoot/buy/develop film…


cheers, michael

 

[michaelwj]

Yes it's outrageous Keith. The retail sector lobbied to remove the threshold for GST while the AUD was high - and now it's fallen, there's marginal benefit, if any, to charging GST (the cost of collection will be about the same as the money raised, due to the reduction in online shopping caused by the falling AUD). So it's a lose-lose.

But we're Aussies and we're used to being scr*w*d!

Best bet at present appears to be Fomapan at $6 a roll from Blanco Negro in Redfern. Also the 3-packs of FP4+/HP5+ for AUD$23 from Vanbar, if that promo is still on.

Even better is 30m of fomapan from blanco! The 3 pack is still on - at least last time I was in there.

I'm going to stick with blanco for the foreseeable future, great product at a great price sold by someone who cares.

 

[yanchep_mike]

That $14.66 is about the pay for a junior per hour in the fast food industry.
Got a freezer full will last me out no problem here.

Here in the west it's like that for a while now, sad.

 

[Kent]

That is terrible. I can buy a b&w film here in Germany for between €3,50 and perhaps €6,- (except special ones).

 

[michaelwj]

To add to the gripes, I shot a baptism in the family recently so went to Vanbar to pick up some Portra800. They had none and the salesman said they can't get it anymore. A quick call around and Michaels have a fridge full, received a new batch a few weeks ago.
So my point is, just say that you don't want to stock a product instead of telling blatant lies to the customers. There is the internet for f's sake. You can't get away with that anymore.
After that I decided that Vanbar don't want to sell film anymore. I'll get it from people who do.
(When I worked in retail before the Internet was common, I used the "we can't get that" or "its out of stock" when someone asked for something we didn't have. As soon as the net was common, you couldn't get away with that).

 

[skibeerr]

***, thanks Keith for the heads up.

I'll put in an order this week end.

The sad/crazy thing is that even with the lower au$, GST and very high B&H shipping prices film will remain cheaper imported from the US.