MPB

I recently decided on buying a monopod - found a perfect one on MPB - Manfrotto 561BHDV - £104, bought and delivered within 2 days to Northern Ireland, in perfect condition, very pleased.
 
Contacted MPB for a price on a lens which was in mint condition, quote was acceptable so agreed to sale. In-between pick up and payment Sigma announced a MkII version of the lens and then MBP adjusted my quote from mint to excellent (due to marks on the body and internal dust) and dropped the price by £185. Lens arrived back today as I refused the ammended quote and there is absolutely no internal dust or any marks on the body. I have sold many lenses to them in the past with no problems but not so sure next time.

Internal dust my foot

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Mike.P said:
Contacted MPB for a price on a lens which was in mint condition, quote was acceptable so agreed to sale. In-between pick up and payment Sigma announced a MkII version of the lens and then MBP adjusted my quote from mint to excellent (due to marks on the body and internal dust) and dropped the price by £185. Lens arrived back today as I refused the ammended quote and there is absolutely no internal dust or any marks on the body. I have sold many lenses to them in the past with no problems but not so sure next time.

Internal dust my foot

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I had the very same experience with MPB with my Sigma 17-70 OSS USM had a quote for an excellent lens with all original box, packaging, manual, warranty form ect. When they received it that down graded the lens stating a stretch on the inner rear lens glass, and even stated it had no effect on the optical quality.

When I got it back from MPB I got my R7 with EF 100L IS USM macro lens, and took many images from different angles of the glass. I could not find any starches at all., and the only things on the lens was dust ( on the outside, not internal ) which moved around every time I cleaned the lens.
I purchased my lens the direct from Sigma, and it has been well looked after since the day I got.

I am sure there a few people at MPB who pull this crap on customers, and though other members on here have had positive deals with MPB. When it goes wrong with them it costs the customer a lot of money.
I will never buy from them ever, and I might sell old crappy gear to them if I ever get any !
 
I think that some people forget that, when you buy or sell things like cameras or lenses, the transaction is always part of a negotiation.

When you sell to a buyer at a distance, they can either agree to buy your offering at a fixed price or they can offer to inspect your goods and decide what price they'll offer you. MPB works in the second way. They'll make a conditional offer and you decide if you want to carry the deal further. If you do, you send them the goods and they'll inspect them. . Even if the goods are exactly as described, they are still entitled to adjust their offer, up or down, as they see fit and you are similarly entitled to agree, disagree or negotiate further.

I have yet to find any fault with MPB, having bought and sold several pieces with them.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I think that some people forget that, when you buy or sell things like cameras or lenses, the transaction is always part of a negotiation.

When you sell to a buyer at a distance, they can either agree to buy your offering at a fixed price or they can offer to inspect your goods and decide what price they'll offer you. MPB works in the second way. They'll make a conditional offer and you decide if you want to carry the deal further. If you do, you send them the goods and they'll inspect them. . Even if the goods are exactly as described, they are still entitled to adjust their offer, up or down, as they see fit and you are similarly entitled to agree, disagree or negotiate further.

I have yet to find any fault with MPB, having bought and sold several pieces with them.
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fair comment, though that is not what I experienced.
My experience is a lengthy story which is listed in thread.
My advice is dealing with any exchange entity always with eyes very much wide open !
 
Tysonator said:
fair comment, though that is not what I experienced.
My experience is a lengthy story which is listed in thread.
My advice is dealing with any exchange entity always with eyes very much wide open !
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Mine too. Buying things has been good. One big value sale not so much. I won’t sell to them. Maybe a battery.
 
Tysonator said:
fair comment, though that is not what I experienced.
My experience is a lengthy story which is listed in thread.
My advice is dealing with any exchange entity always with eyes very much wide open !
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MBP offered me £775 for the lens in mint condition and ammended it to £590 in excellent condition. I just did another quote and the mint condition valuation is now £620 and excellent is £590 so to me that just proves they used condition as an excuse to reduce the price because of the MkII lens
 
Mike.P said:
... to me that just proves they used condition as an excuse to reduce the price because of the MkII lens
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That is exactly the point I was making.

They look at your item(s), they look at the market, they decide how long they think it will take to find a buyer and what the likely sale price will be and then they change their offer to suit. It's the way many businesses work.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
That is exactly the point I was making.

They look at your item(s), they look at the market, they decide how long they think it will take to find a buyer and what the likely sale price will be and then they change their offer to suit. It's the way many businesses work.
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You obviously have a different idea of what constitutes good business practice to mine.

At least tell the truth and say we are amending the quote due to the release of a MK2 model rather than lie about condition.
 
Mike.P said:
You obviously have a different idea of what constitutes good business practice to mine.
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I've not made any comment on whether their business practices are "good" or otherwise. I've simply pointed out how the observed effect is probably caused.
 
Hogboy said:
To be fair to MPB, the reduction could be due to the £175 cashback recently introduced on the 24-70mm Sigma ?
www.parkcameras.com

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens Sony E | Park Cameras

The Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens for Sony E-mount provides flagship optical performance in a versatile zoom, with state of the art optics. Order here.
www.parkcameras.com www.parkcameras.com
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Again I have no problem with that but why not say so rather than lie about the condition.

Anyway, I have had my say, which I guess is the whole idea of this thread so onwards and upwards.
 
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MPB seem quite good at fixing problems quickly - I recently got a Canon 1Ds from them and it came with a third party battery rather than OEM so they refunded me £25 based on another 1Ds being listed as same condition but without OEM battery for £25 less - The supplied battery (DSTE) seems to work ok and an original Canon battery could well have been well past its best.
 
boliston said:
MPB seem quite good at fixing problems quickly - I recently got a Canon 1Ds from them and it came with a third party battery rather than OEM so they refunded me £25 based on another 1Ds being listed as same condition but without OEM battery for £25 less - The supplied battery (DSTE) seems to work ok and an original Canon battery could well have been well past its best.
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MPB should at least have sent you a used original Canon battery as £25 is peanuts for a genuine replacement battery.
 
Tysonator said:
MPB should at least have sent you a used original Canon battery as £25 is peanuts for a genuine replacement battery.
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the Canon NP-E3 was discontinued some years ago - was used for 1D, 1D mk II, 1Ds & 1Ds mkII so pretty ancient battery tech from the early 2000s - I'd imagine a newer non oem could work better than a very old OEM battery
 
boliston said:
the Canon NP-E3 was discontinued some years ago - was used for 1D, 1D mk II, 1Ds & 1Ds mkII so pretty ancient battery tech from the early 2000s - I'd imagine a newer non oem could work better than a very old OEM battery
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They do. It's just 8xaa rechargeable batteries bunched inside
 
Another "not great" for MPB. Ordered a 100 - 400 Mark 2 IS in Like New condition, which arrived today. Box is incredibly battered, plus the lens has clear marks on the tripod mount plus near the zoom, and on the filter thread. Plus tons of dust as well, both external and deep in the lens.

Sent an email so will see.. Not exactly cheaper, close to 1300 I think - so I had expected better!
 
stickytape said:
Another "not great" for MPB. Ordered a 100 - 400 Mark 2 IS in Like New condition, which arrived today. Box is incredibly battered, plus the lens has clear marks on the tripod mount plus near the zoom, and on the filter thread. Plus tons of dust as well, both external and deep in the lens.
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Part of the email MBP sent me when I complained about them reducing my quote due to condition. :

As part of our checking process at MPB, our Product Specialists check all cosmetic areas of the lens and review the internal optics with bright lighting, with this bright lighting this can show any internal marks or dust that may not always be visible when just looking through.
 
Mike.P said:
Part of the email MBP sent me when I complained about them reducing my quote due to condition. :

As part of our checking process at MPB, our Product Specialists check all cosmetic areas of the lens and review the internal optics with bright lighting, with this bright lighting this can show any internal marks or dust that may not always be visible when just looking through.
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I believe I had this same gr*p e mail about degrading my lens value.
When I got my lens back I used my R7, EF 100mm L macro lens, and a few LED lamps, and took lots iamges view on my PC monitor. I could not find any scratch on my lens !
 
For anyone thinking of selling to MPB if there is a LCE near you I suggest you try them. Take the goods into the shop and they will either match or beat MPB pricing on the spot.
That is what I did as I did not fancy sending expensive items with DPD and hoping they arrived OK.
 
Nikon f1.8 said:
For anyone thinking of selling to MPB if there is a LCE near you I suggest you try them. Take the goods into the shop and they will either match or beat MPB pricing on the spot.
That is what I did as I did not fancy sending expensive items with DPD and hoping they arrived OK.
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That’s an interesting thought! Thanks for the heads up! There is one near me actually!
 
stickytape said:
I've been trying to find the original link to the one I bought but it's not there sadly.. but they are annoying. They list this as excellent with marks on the glass, but its more expensive than the one in "good" condition... Honestly!

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All they could do is offer a return.. fair enough, they don’t have a real “as new” in stock but hey.. they agreed after seeing the photos that something went wrong with quality control, so we will see. I’ll try and have a good go this weekend and make a decision.
 
stickytape said:
All they could do is offer a return.. fair enough, they don’t have a real “as new” in stock but hey.. they agreed after seeing the photos that something went wrong with quality control, so we will see. I’ll try and have a good go this weekend and make a decision.
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They have recently added one in excellent condition.

Might be worth looking at this Site:

usedlens.co.uk

Used Cameras and Lenses

Search used cameras and lenses from over 60 UK retailers. Price comparison for used digital, film, lenses, medium and large format cameras
usedlens.co.uk usedlens.co.uk
 
Recently had a quote for 2 cameras, I was quoted just a touch over £200 each for them to purchase.
One had a shutter count of 19, the other was 40. All original packaging as new.
I’ve now sold both for just over £2000 on eBay, and that’s after eBay charges and post.

First time trying these comedians out and it’ll be my last.
 
bumper said:
Recently had a quote for 2 cameras, I was quoted just a touch over £200 each for them to purchase.
One had a shutter count of 19, the other was 40. All original packaging as new.
I’ve now sold both for just over £2000 on eBay, and that’s after eBay charges and post.

First time trying these comedians out and it’ll be my last.
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Am I reading this correctly they offered you £200 for both, and you sold them for £2,000 on ebay ?
How strange mpb offered so low, what were the cameras you were selling ! ?
 
i stopped using mpb a long time ago when i sell a product i say like new it is like new bring a magnifying glass with you but mpb stuff ive bought like new wasnt each to there own i suppose then again im OCD with quality
 
Just used them to sell my camera. Previous camera was also sold to them last year.

Another extremely positive experience.

Posted using their DPD label on Monday.
Email to advise arrived with them Tuesday.
Email Wednesday to say increasing their offer by £25.
Money in account by end of the same day.

Well done MPB (y)
 
bl0at3r said:
Just used them to sell my camera. Previous camera was also sold to them last year.

Another extremely positive experience.

Posted using their DPD label on Monday.
Email to advise arrived with them Tuesday.
Email Wednesday to say increasing their offer by £25.
Money in account by end of the same day.

Well done MPB (y)
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Phew, that’s fantastic! How did you package your camera, and did you choose between MPB and Wex?
 
Well that's another very positive experience I have had with MPB.
I have bought the Canon R5 mk ii and wanted to sell my original R5. MPB offered a very reasonable price for it in excellent condition but when they examined it they assessed it as like new and paid substantially more, in fact very close to the new price of a "grey" market new one. It was Collected on Tuesday, assessed on Wednesday and paid out today. I have to say I have always had good service from them when I have used them.
That is not to say that their quotes are always acceptable, I enquired with them about selling my excellent condition Fuji GFX 100s which is under 12 months old and the offer was really low. Obviously it is all down to the current demand for the equipment.
 
I have a lens due today via DPD and was described as excellent, we will see as they were £100 cheaper than WEX and LCE for the same lens
 
My experiences has always been good and have used them both for quite a few years but this time it has been rubbish that’s all I can say at the moment.
 
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