Are MPB taking the P*ss

Swissy

Swissy

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I had a few items to sell and got what i thought was a decent price from MPB, one of the lenses i was selling is a Canon EF-S 55-250 STM, i purchased the lens boxed brand new from a dealer in November and have never used it, i only took it out of the box to check it.

Just had an email back from them and, i quote 'Your Canon 55-250mm lens has a fair amount of dust within the optics. Due to this your item has been graded our 'Good' condition rating.' and they knocked £20 off the valuation lol

I know zooms are susceptible to dust but surely that only occurs when you use it, anyway i've emailed them to cancel the trade, honestly i've lost all confidence in them.
 
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I've used them on a number of occasions and once had similar but it was arguably justified. I have also had them come back to me and pay me above what we agreed as the lens I sent was a higher spec than I thought which was unexpected. I have therefore found them very honest and good to deal with.
 
I sent them a lens a while back that was in very good condition, they had offered me a reasonable enough quote - like you, I got an email claiming there was moisture in the lens - I requested they send it right back as I had checked that lens inside out and there wasn't any signs of such. It is one thing I ensure to not allow happen! My lenses are always well wrapped when not in use and smothered in silica gel packets. Needless to say, when the lens was returned there was no signs of moisture inside, I shone a strong flash light through it and examined it in detail, not a spot of moisture to be found. I think they chance their arm on trades, but I have on the other hand bought twice from them and the gear was as stated. Either their standards are very high, which is good for buyers, or they are chancing it with traders and that's how they make their bucks.
 
Swissy said:
I know zooms are susceptible to dust but surely that only occurs when you use it, anyway i've emailed them to cancel the trade, honestly i've lost all confidence in them.
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It is not only zooms that are susceptible to dust but ALL non IF lenses.

Did you check it as well as they did?

As a business, they wish prime stuff, to sell prime stuff and not have to
deal with any warranty claim… in an ideal world, but… you know.

Since all is not prime stuff and clients are just as critical as you are, they
have to be as well. In such business, fairness is bread and butter.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
It is not only zooms that are susceptible to dust but ALL non IF lenses.

Did you check it as well as they did?

As a business, they wish prime stuff, to sell prime stuff and not have to
deal with any warranty claim… in an ideal world, but… you know.

Since all is not prime stuff and clients are just as critical as you are, they
have to be as well. In such business, fairness is bread and butter.
Click to expand...

As the lens was boxed, sealed, brand new, i just assumed, like you do, that it would be dust free, maybe i'm too trusting, or MPB are being less than honest.
 
Swissy said:
As the lens was boxed, sealed, brand new, i just assumed, like you do, that it would be dust free, maybe i'm too trusting, or MPB are being less than honest.
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If they are not too far away, ask them to show you their
findings… maybe you can learn to look at lenses the way
they do!
 
Kodiak Qc said:
If they are not too far away, ask them to show you their
findings… maybe you can learn to look at lenses the way
they do!
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I don't need anyone to show me i know how to check lenses, i naively thought that because it was brand new i didn't need too, my stupid mistake.
 
I've not sold anything through them, but have bought some lenses from them. On my most recent order, for two legacy lenses, they sent me a wrong lens by mistake. Then it turned out they'd just sold the one I wanted, which is quite hard to come by at a decent price. However, the lens they'd sent me by mistake turned out to be very good (though from an extremely obscure manufacturer, Cimko) so I decided to keep it, and was refunded the difference plus ten quid. The other lens, described as vgc, turned out to be as near mint as any second hand lens I've bought (and the lens is 20+ years old). Overall, I think they are a good company, and I'll probably buy from them again.
 
Indeed, I'll happily buy from them but selling to them hasn't always worked out ideally.
 
I bought a new one of this lens last week from HDWE after tracking prices for about 2 weeks and asking advice on here and although the Canon guarantee Card was marked USA/Canada only I have an e-mail from them giving instructions on what to do if there is a fault within the first year. Some of the used/refurbished lenses were selling on Amazon for more than I paid for my new one but it seemed that the prices were going up and down like a yo-yo. Someone is definitely trying to make a profit out of selling ‘pre-owned’ lenses and I don’t suppose they have paid the previous owner anywhere near what they are asking on Amazon.
 
Wait until you receive the lens back, take a look, and then update the thread. As much as you might think it was new and sealed - having not checked it, you can't be sure. Probably best to establish the facts before ranting. If there's not a sign of dust anywhere, then a rant is well called for, but I'd wait and have a look before making a song and dance :)
 
MPB ? They sell a camera for £1800. I get the same thing for £1100, overprice much ?
 
I messaged them about a camera body the other day and they gave me a quote of £250. I put it up for sale on Facebook and sold it within 45 minutes for £850. :D
 
f/2.8 said:
I messaged them about a camera body the other day and they gave me a quote of £250. I put it up for sale on Facebook and sold it within 45 minutes for £850. :D
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That's typical of these companies. Wex offered me £140 for a 1D MK 3 with box and all the bits fully working.

Broken ones go for that
 
hmmm mpb yes i have used them they gave me an estimate of £1200 for my d810 against a d4s i agrred the sale sent my camera to them they sent my d4s back minus a battery and battery door messages back and forth finally got my battery and door.also mentioned there was no strap in the box not really a problem as i don't use the nikon one anyway no problem they said we'll put one in the post yep they did ....one for a d4 :(:(:( although i was very satisfied with my camera the ball ache of it all has put me off and i don't think i'll use them again.
marks out of 10=2
 
2 choices. Accept their valuation and sell to them ( bearing in mind courier costs both sides, margins, staff etc ) or don't.

They've given me some low prices in the past and also some fair prices. I decide if I'll sell...if you don't like their offer, go elsewhere. No drama
 
No different to the price a garage gives on a trade in and what they sell it for.

Not fair to compare prices for instance on here to a business with all manner of overheads.
 
damianmkv said:
2 choices. Accept their valuation and sell to them ( bearing in mind courier costs both sides, margins, staff etc ) or don't.

They've given me some low prices in the past and also some fair prices. I decide if I'll sell...if you don't like their offer, go elsewhere. No drama
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It is also obviously a question of supply and demand. If they have a higher than usual second hand number of the same model in stock they might not have the demand for another one and thus offer lower prices.
 
*UPDATE*

I have had reply to my email from MPB, and they have upped their offer by £20, so essentially i'm getting the original quoted amount for the lens.
 
Swissy said:
*UPDATE*

I have had reply to my email from MPB, and they have upped their offer by £20, so essentially i'm getting the original quoted amount for the lens.
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Well that sounds like they were actually trying it on initially!
 
GTG said:
That's typical of these companies. Wex offered me £140 for a 1D MK 3 with box and all the bits fully working.

Broken ones go for that
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£250 offer from Grays for my D3 (low mileage), MPB offered £650. No hassle and free collection is a positive
 
Complete speculation on my part, but having used them since day one pretty much I feel like they may have just grown too quickly to keep up with things / to train appropriate staff. I'll buy from them all day long as generally they play it cautious on descriptions, but for me selling to them has lost the ease/speed that they used to be so good at.

Turnaround times have been horrendous in the past 12 months in particular, they stuck firmly to their turnaround time on their website/emails/advertising even though at times it was getting on for double or triple that in reality. Two of my trades were only fast-tracked after I posted on here long after the quoted time-frame.
 
Hi, I put up a lens for sale on the For Sale section here and two other sites and had no interest after a week so I decided to try MPB to try and get a trade in for what I wanted to buy with the proceeds of selling the lens on the forums and they offered me £20 below what I advertised it for but that also included the pick up and postage from me here in Greece and I had estimated that at around £25 for a three to four day delivery from here to the UK in my forum advertisments so came out about pretty equal.
For those who have purchased from MPB, How long after payment do they post the item/s please? Thank You, Russ
PS. Forget that last question received email on item sent 45 mins after posting here.
 
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In a past listing I wrote what had happened to me over selling camera gear to them.
I sent to them a D800 camera and two lenses, they were originally listed as "excellent", a couple of days after sending them they emailed me to state that they had downgraded the camera and did not want the lens as they both had fungus in them, I told them to return everything which they did, I then took the lens to the nearest Nikon service agent who inspected the lens and they said the lens were in excellent condition with no sign of fungus.
I emailed MPB the findings so they offered to reinspect the lens, told them "no way".
I then sold them Ffordes were I got a better price.
Must add I have dealt with MPB in the past and been satisfied, will have to think carefully in the future tho.
 
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