Small Format Film Forum

OK, but you did say in your original post - "it is the fairest way to do it....."

Michael - point taken! But the statement inferred by me was it was the "fairest way to do it" from "their" point of view. As we have already established over a number of posts, there is no "perfect way" to do it, to please everyone. As I also said , I am sure they wished there were a way - but there ain't is there?

This thread can go on forever and you will never find a solution that will please everyone. Even if Derann issued their list at midnight on a Monday evening, manned the phones and e-mails 24 hours a day, seven days a week, once a film is sold, it's irrelevant.

I am not here to fight Deranns "battles" or to convince anyone that they are the "be and end" all of Film sellers - that's their job, if they choose to do it. I merely state the proceedure they have chosen to adopt, with regards to their "Used Lists".

Well, they are the only people who have this issue, so I'm not sure I buy your argument that "there is no 'perfect way' to do it". I bet I sell as much (if not more) 16mm film as they do (not talking about super 8), and I never get complaints about fairness.

But Steven, there is a small difference, and that is the history of your film selling business.... You started in the internet era and modeled your film selling around it. They started in the dark ages and when going into the internet era, they decided to keep their model based on the old model. I don't know any numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if a very large proportion of their customer base still only receives the paper lists. I think it is a matter of loyalty to not disadvantage that part of your customer base.
It is as inconvenient for me as for all the other people who have been complaining about it. I'm normally at my desk when the new lists arrive by email on Friday afternoon. My request is often in within minutes after the list arrived. There is not often something that is a must-have for me on the list, but when there is, I try to arrange it in such a way that I can give them a call on Monday morning. If I can't, I just have to wait and see if my email was successful. Sometimes it is,often it isn't. Tough luck.
Another reason their prints are in demand is that the pricing is very reasonable.
I think Keith is spot on. There are pro's and con's for every method. You can't please everyone. You sell most your stuff in auction. I don't particularly like participating in an auction. When it is a print I really want, I would rather just agree a reasonable price for it. The Big Reel wasn't ideal for me either, because I always got the magazine a few days later than you guys. At Ealing there is always the people who have a stall who start buying prints from the other tables before the convention starts. A few years ago, I bought a print of 'Sunrise' from a dealer who bought it before opening from another dealer and marked up the price by 25%. Not ideal, but hey what can you do (I was still very happy to have found a print!)

Ha, Ealing is just 2 weeks away!


- Rob

ER, I started buying/selling film prints in 1989 - a bit before the 'internet age'.

With that said - If they don't adjust with the times, they'll go the way of the dinosaur.

Personally, I'd rather bid on a film and have a chance at it, than to have it sold already before I even see the list... If I lose it on ebay, it's because someone was willing to pay more than I was, not because they could get to a phone at 4:00 in the morning and I couldn't. There's a big difference.

Steven,




Derann has been in the business of selling films since 1964, well over 40 years. They may be a "dinosaur" but they haven't become extinct yet.

My last word on this, is that my post was to highlight their "proceedures" for selling - not to advocate that they suit everyone, but that the proceedure suits THEM. Let's face it they must have done something right to have survived the "big bang" of video, laserdisc and DVD.

""You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time"

Famous words of poet John Lydgate. They were, however, later adapted by President Lincoln to include the word "fool", rather than "please".

I think that most of Derann's business these days is not film related. I don't look at the 8mm lists, but from the 16mm lists, it appears that what they have for sale is getting thinner and thinner.

Steven - of course film is not Deranns "core" business today. Their name is 'Derann Audio Visual'. You could not run their type of business today on 'Film Sales' alone. However, they do have a dedicated staff who have worked for the company longer than you have been "selling film".

As for their stocks getting "thinner" - is that not the case throughout the hobby in general? Is that their fault?

Probably, at one time, there were multiples of the 'Mona Lisa" - now there is only - is that the fault of The Louvre Museum? (before anybody 'jumps' at that one - "I'm only joking" - everybody knows there were TWO - Da Vinci's and Nat King Cole's)

FINAL WORD ON THIS POST -DEFINATE!

If this was called "Let's Knock Derann" I would have also put in a reply, however, it's called "favourite place for buying films". So here's my input.
http://www.filmcam.co.uk/films.htm
Doug Palmer of Bridport in Dorset has some great Laurel & Hardy on 16mm. True, they're not cheap, but I understand they all came from a collector who had pretty good copies and most, if not all, are on blue Tuscan spools in matching cans.
If you buy more than one I am sure Doug will do a deal for you.

Maurice

Thanks for the link Maurice.

I hadn't heard of this seller before.