MPB used or Kerso new?

EMA747

EMA747

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I am after a Canon 24-70 and MPB have some for £819 + p&p described in mint- and Exc++ condition. Kerso quoted me £925 + p&p for a brand new one.
I'm not sure which way to go. The £100 saving would pay for my flight to Copenhagen in December BUT I have read several things about numerous soft copies of this lens and I am always wary of used lenses without being able to contact the seller as you don't know why they sold them, they could have been soft so they got ride.

Any advice?
 
I'd only pay around 75% of new price for a secondhand lens, for me £100 isn't enough of a saving to buy secondhand, the 12 months warranty and peace of mind knowing it hasn't been dropped is easily worth £100

Plus should you want to sell it a new lens is worth more
 
Hi

Their price is approx a 17% saving from the high street (11% from Kerso) - I tend to work on about 20-25% saving, depending on where it's coming from

Do they say how old the lens is ? I presume they give 6 month warrenty, so this should give peace of mind re soft lens etc

For me, it's very close and if I was having the doubts you seem to be having, I'd be buying new, I agree with Darren, the £100 is worth that peace of mind.
 
Based on the the savings not being that great I would buy new. kerso is great.
 
Word of warning, I've known some colleagues buy new from WEX, they had a 10% off offer the other week, bring down their 24-70 f2.8 to £890 new, however they sent it back as it was a soft copy. So new doesn't mean that you'll get a decent copy, and I should imagine that sending back a soft copy to Kerso will be even more of a nightmare than MPB - bear in mind you do get 3 or 6 month warranty from MPB, and pretty certain you can return within 7 days if you're not happy with the sample.
 
Why would you think buying a lens from me would be a nightmare? You imagine it being more of a nightmare than buying from MPB? Most members on here know that if they get a bad copy then they can return to me for an exchange. To date I have never let any TP buyer down over last 5 years. All items I sell come with 1 year warranty not 3 or 6 months. Ian.

Matholwch said:
Word of warning, I've known some colleagues buy new from WEX, they had a 10% off offer the other week, bring down their 24-70 f2.8 to £890 new, however they sent it back as it was a soft copy. So new doesn't mean that you'll get a decent copy, and I should imagine that sending back a soft copy to Kerso will be even more of a nightmare than MPB - bear in mind you do get 3 or 6 month warranty from MPB, and pretty certain you can return within 7 days if you're not happy with the sample.
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Nothing against Kerso, but I'd buy from MPB and save myself £100.

£100 is £100, a decent amount of money.
 
Mank said:
Nothing against Kerso, but I'd buy from MPB and save myself £100.

£100 is £100, a decent amount of money.
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Would you say the same about a car ? £1000 for a new car or £900 for a 2nd hand one that has 30K on the clock??

The lens might of been dropped, rained on, could have internal dust, nocked, all these things apart from the dust wont show up from just looking at it and could start appearing after the 3month warrenty runs out.

£100 extra to get a new lens is a no brainer in my book.
 
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kiteninja said:
Would you say the same about a car ? £1000 for a new car or £900 for a 2nd hand one that has 30K on the clock??

£100 extra to get a new lens is a no brainer in my book.
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Comparing a lens to a car is a bit different. I very much doubt a lens a few years old has as much wear compared to a car thats done 30k miles. Not sure how many new cars are out there for £1000 either, but if you find one tell me! :D

You're paying the £100 for an extra 6 months warranty. Would you pay £100 for 6months extended warranty on a TV?
 
The thing is buying a 2nd hand car even something 6 months old you will make a significant saving I saved about £6k buying a 6 month old car which was about 30% off the original price. If I was buying anything 2nd hand I would be looking for similar savings as others have said 25-30%
 
kerso said:
Why would you think buying a lens from me would be a nightmare? You imagine it being more of a nightmare than buying from MPB? Most members on here know that if they get a bad copy then they can return to me for an exchange. To date I have never let any TP buyer down over last 5 years. All items I sell come with 1 year warranty not 3 or 6 months. Ian.
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I shouldn't have made an assumption about your returns policy, and I do appologise.
I was only trying to point out that only because a lens is brand new doesn't predespose it to not being soft.

I've often been tempted to buy from you myself, and have enquired a number of times about your prices (hope I'm not prejudiced against in the future :thumbs:).
 
No problem at all I appreciate your reply to this thread. I will happily do business with you in the future I try to look after all TP members. I plan to have a website running before Christmas so please look out for it. Best regards Ian.

Matholwch said:
I shouldn't have made an assumption about your returns policy, and I do appologise.
I was only trying to point out that only because a lens is brand new doesn't predespose it to not being soft.

I've often been tempted to buy from you myself, and have enquired a number of times about your prices (hope I'm not prejudiced against in the future :thumbs:).
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sounds like you are judging 2nd Hand as out the paper or eBay or even forums... MPB are most definately not in that category, Matt and the gang know there stuff and are 100% trustworty.

I have bought from MPB and Kerso and have never had anything but class A service.

kiteninja said:
Would you say the same about a car ? £1000 for a new car or £900 for a 2nd hand one that has 30K on the clock??

The lens might of been dropped, rained on, could have internal dust, nocked, all these things apart from the dust wont show up from just looking at it and could start appearing after the 3month warrenty runs out.

£100 extra to get a new lens is a no brainer in my book.
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Mank said:
Comparing a lens to a car is a bit different. I very much doubt a lens a few years old has as much wear compared to a car thats done 30k miles. Not sure how many new cars are out there for £1000 either, but if you find one tell me! :D

You're paying the £100 for an extra 6 months warranty. Would you pay £100 for 6months extended warranty on a TV?
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Comparing a TV To a lens is also diffierent I see where your coming from but your buying a new TV and adding the 6months warrenty in this case you are buying a 2nd Hand lens of which you do not know the history of said lens and only saving 10% on the new price.

strumstrum said:
sounds like you are judging 2nd Hand as out the paper or eBay or even forums... MPB are most definately not in that category, Matt and the gang know there stuff and are 100% trustworty.

I have bought from MPB and Kerso and have never had anything but class A service.
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I'm not disputing MPB as to being dodgy but do they employ a Crystal ball so they can see the exact history of the lens ?? other then that how do they know it hasn't been abused just because something looks good on the outside doesn't mean there is something wrong & yes you get a warrenty and a returns policy but for me I would rather buy new and be assured that it'll be ok.

I bought my 24-70L 2nd hand but I saved a hell of lot more then £100
 
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So what would you lot say was a reasonable price for a used 24-70 over the new price from Kerso?
Ordinarily I would just order a new one from Kerso but the difference could probably mean a trip to see my friend in Denmark or not going.
 
If you buy a lens from Matt (MPB) and he says it's mint and it's not absolutely incredible, I'll eat my hat.

As for soft copies of the fricken most common and depended upon professional lens on the market? Pah, I'll bet that 90% of that's just idiots doing something wrong. And the other 10%... well, I can probably get a gentle nikon:canon jibe in here ;)
 
I have bought lenses from Kerso in the past & i would highly recommend him.:thumbs::clap:
 
If you read the MPB small print then you will find that "soft" lenses are not covered as it is a matter of subjective opinion as to what the sharpness is.....

What is covered:
Parts and labour cost in relation to the repair of any fault which occurred during normal usage of the item.


Specific exclusions:
Consumables such as batteries are not covered by the warranty.
General exclusions (What's NOT covered):
- wear and tear
- faults caused by shock or fall, sand, dust, dirt, damp or corrosion, leaky batteries, an act of war or terrorism, fire, theft, attempted theft, accidental or malicious damage, vandalism, corrosion, water contamination or ingress, frost, flooding or other adverse weather conditions, repair or cleaning by unauthorised personnel impact;
-faults that have occurred because you have not used, stored or handled the product properly; or have not followed our written instructions for the product, or those of the manufacturer; or damage or defect due to wilful neglect or negligence by anyone other than us;
-faults relating to image sharpness of a lens that is clearly open to human judgement;
- faults occuring to items where parts are no longer produced, such that the item cannot be repaired
- loss of quality, degradation of performance or actual damage that results from the use of spare parts or other replaceable items (such as consumables) that are neither made nor recommended by the manufacturer;
- faults due to the connection of other fittings or accessories to the product which we have not approved;
- lost or damaged data;

 
Wouldn't that be pretty much the same with a new one though? Canon surely wouldn't replace it because you thought it was soft.
 
EMA747 said:
Wouldn't that be pretty much the same with a new one though? Canon surely wouldn't replace it because you thought it was soft.
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I expect that the "distance selling" regulations allow you to return it whether is faulty or not. Simply decide within the alotted timeframe and you're safe.

Bob
 
Just to clarify the above small print is in relation to the warranty, not the return period. If you were not happy with an item we would always arrange a refund, whatever the reason within the normal return period.
 
EMA747 said:
Wouldn't that be pretty much the same with a new one though? Canon surely wouldn't replace it because you thought it was soft.
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How fussy are you, you can't it both ways!
MPB has always been pretty fair with me, but sharpness can be subjective.
Canon can obviously test for this and see if your rejected lens is within their spec.
 
kiteninja said:
I'm not disputing MPB as to being dodgy but do they employ a Crystal ball so they can see the exact history of the lens ?? other then that how do they know it hasn't been abused just because something looks good on the outside doesn't mean there is something wrong & yes you get a warrenty and a returns policy but for me I would rather buy new and be assured that it'll be ok.

I bought my 24-70L 2nd hand but I saved a hell of lot more then £100
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That is why businesses like MPB are still in business - they provide used products that people trust. If they didn't, they'd be out of business.

I've bought about four or five lenses from MPB and all have been as stated or in better condition. Not one has performed any different to what i would have expected from new. That is why I continue to use them instead of buying new because I save money and I get a good product. New isn't always flawless either.....
 
bought a lens from MPB recently.. ordered lunchtime and received the next day.. described as mint but could pass for brand new!.. very pleased and wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again
 
I have bought off Ian(Kerso) in the past, new stuff. Faultless service and a great guy to deal with. I appreciate it may be a bit daunting, but there is nothing to fear, he has many happy customers and has been in business for a long time. Buy new with confidence.


I have bought off MPB in the past, secondhand stuff. Faultless service and great to deal with.Gradings are always lower than what they really mean. If they say good condition, they mean bloody good.........:)

Both are good people to deal with, your choice on wether you want new or used.
 
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I have bought three lenses and two bags from Mbp, and they are top guys! I drove up to pickup some kit to have it for the bank holiday, really friendly and happy to help. I'm sure getting a second hand lens from them will be fine.
 
I should update the thread with the outcome. I ended up buying a used 2011 model 24-70 from MPB. It is almost as new and I am very pleased with it. I am also very pleased with the service from MPB.

Having said that I must also make a mention of Kerso to balance things out. I have spend many £1000s with him over the last few years and have received top notch service and great prices. In fact a few weeks ago I purchased a 70-200 f2.8 IS mkII and a 2x III converter off him.

So to conclude both are excellent sellers and will more than likely be receiving more custom from me over years. To any future readers of this thread don't hesitate to purchase anything off either MPB or Kerso, you are in good hands with both.
 
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