Let's address the elephant in the room: film is getting expensive. While increasing the price of an already costly product to our community hurts, we want to be as transparent as possible about Kodak's film price increase, what that means for Moment operations, and how it will affect customers.
Why Are Kodak Film Prices Increasing? What’s Changing & What Isn’t
Kodak film prices are going up on March 1st. Lots of questions floating around, so we wanted to keep you updated on what we know.
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.
Why Are Costs Rising?
From what we understand, the cost to make 35mm and 120 film continues to increase for many reasons — including rising production costs, competition from digital photography, and changing consumer preferences. Even if demand were to drop, the cost to make and ship film continues to rise at astronomical rates, which in turn increases the prices to customers.
Some additional reasons:
- The number of available manufacturing facilities is decreasing.
- The equipment used to produce films is no longer being produced, so everyone is trying to maintain what they have as best they can.
- Environmental costs continue to rise, especially for chemicals, which have a direct impact on the cost of manufacturing film.
- Direct production costs are increasing because the cost of inputs, such as paper, chemicals, labor, etc., is rising.
- The cost of logistics continues to go up. Beyond the pandemic, it costs more to ship than it did just a few years ago.
Which Film Stocks Are Increasing?
The cost of Kodak film is rising, so we expect the MSRP to rise. Below are new retail estimates as a quick reference guide. Film does not have a regulated price, so we expected prices to range heavily in the next few months until more final prices are established.
We're Here To Help!
Now that it's out in the open — we highly suggest ordering what's in stock now before the prices go up. If we're sold out of a particular item, sign up to be notified when we'll get more and we'll email you ASAP if we're in stock before 3/1. Alternatively, you can stock up the film fridge with amazing non-Kodak film brands!
It's important we keep our community informed and stay sensitive to our loyal customers with the utmost transparency and information we can offer.
As always, we're more than happy to help answer additional questions or be open to feedback. You can email our Gear Guides at any time for 1:1 support (hello@shopmoment.com), or strike up a conversation with us on Twitter!