Polaroid Hoedown: How Much?

I want everybody to know that I'm doing this because I'm a geek. My brain is part EntrepreNERD. Being self-employed for many years requires you to sit around and think of things that other folks find really boring, like how to find unusual things, or novel ways to sell them. That half of my mind is always churning. At any rate, I just went ahead and did a little shopping, just to shut-up the little voices. Just a couple of things that I was surprised by: It's a buyer's market. Speculation and flooding has occurred, especially on Ebay, where 600 film is bountiful, but still selling near retail. That's good news for photographers. A few are actually dealers that are augmenting their normal sales, and making normal profits. So why do hundreds of people buy at retail and make just a couple of bucks? I don't know. It's probably a psychological thing where the idea of polaroid extinction overpowers the discipline to wait until supply starts to dwindle, and prices and demand creep up. Never sell low during a glut if you know for certain that the demand will far exceed supply eventually. The big boys know this- and I guarantee you they are stocking-up, and packing the giant refrigerators to the brim. That's why Polaroid, Amazon, Walgreens and Shamrock are about 10-50 cents above everyone else. They'll get that with no trouble, and just sit and wait. The best business folks I ever knew were patient, if nothing else.

Cameras: Avg. price/$ (Ebay/US)

SX-70: $52.00

Model 2: $68.00

Sonar: $45.00

600 Film: Price Per Print/$

Polaroid: $1.55

Amazon: $1.75

Shamrock: $1.70

Walgreen's: $1.45

Walmart: $1.21

Ebay: Avg. PPP/$

600: $1.40

600/Expired: .75

So get thee to Walmart! But be warned: there are seasoned speculators waiting to pounce most days of the week, at least that's what they tell me here. I can't imagine that it's any different anywhere else, since a pack of 600 film is going to be $12.14 no matter which Walmart you go to. Good Luck!

P.S. How about in other regions, anything different retail-wise? And my European friends and others: Are you taking advantage of our weak-ass dollar? I'm dying to know what's going on, and how you are doing it.