My meh experience with MPB.com

[@jimjones-pz1tt]

I started buying from MPB in 2023. So far, I've purchased a Nikon D200, a Nikon D90, a Sigma 17-50 F2.8 lens and two camera bags. I choose only excellent and like new condition and I am a very happy customer. Everything I got was in like new condition. The cameras had about 4,000 shutter actuations. I chose MPB over the other large used store because they report shutter counts on DSLRs. I've noticed a lot of KZbinrs buy equipment in fair or worse condition in order to clickbait super low prices. This is foolish because the difference between "Good" and "Excellent" or "Like New" for both of my cameras and the lens was between $20 and $30. MBP USA has been great and I feel very confident buying anything in "Excellent" or "Like New" condition.

[@uncertainrelease]

Yeah, since this video I've used MPB quite regularly and my experience has been overall good. The thing I'm complaining about in this video is that they listed the cameras as "good" condition, but didn't bother to check if it was working at all, since taking one picture with it would have highlighted the problem right away. I don't know if that was a lone occurence or if they just consider cameras as generally reliable items that do not require to be tested thoroughly. That mentality works, just not with older cameras with a lot of moving parts like Nikon and Pentax DSLRs !

[@jimjones-pz1tt]

@@uncertainrelease As I wrote, everything I've purchased from MPB in New York was listed as Excellent or Like New. I'm extremely picky and have not been disappointed. The cameras lenses and even bags all look brand new. Given my experience, I only search MPB for Excellent and Like New. I believe the extra dollars for a camera with 4,000 clicks over "Good" with 20,000 - 100,000 is worth it. Before buying anything, I called and spoke to humans. I refuse to buy anything from a business that doesn't pick up the telephone. When I have a problem, I call and bitch. Emails are for low testosterone guys who are afraid to talk to other human beings. Can the New York MPB employees be better than the UK or Euro MPB guys?

[@carlosenriquez2092]

The D700 is an awesome camera portraits are buttery and silky and landscapes render mythical and dream like.

[@wullieg7269]

the shutter makes me jump! my next nikon will be a 2nd

[@93greenstrat]

I recently ordered a D300 from MPB (my first DSLR....yay!) along with a Tamron 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 and my experience was good. Nothing special but it met my expectations. So far, this has been the only time that I've used them, but I am inclined to order from then again in the future.

[@philipfoster7269]

Generally, in the UK, I have had very few problems with MPB. If I have had a problem I've had a replacement or a refund within days rather than weeks. But I have heard different stories from other countries.

[@uncertainrelease]

yeah, their service seems to be really reliant on where you're located. In the US it seems to be generally worse than in mainland Europe or in the UK for sure

[@llambert6951]

@@uncertainrelease The UK services are brilliant and their agents on the phone are all helpful and polite

[@5675492]

I just purchased a Canon 50D from MPB and I'm happy and relieved (lol) to report that the experience was great . The 50D arrived in 6 days from ordering in near perfect condition and customer service was great sending Fedex free of charge to my door the next day to pick up a lens that I ordered by mistake .

[@uncertainrelease]

Yeah as far as customer service go, MPB is pretty good. My first D700 was faulty, I was able to send it back the same day. The was delays involved ans stuff, but everything was free of charge so I can't complain

[@5675492]

@@uncertainrelease They take in 3,000 to 5,000 pieces of gear per week according to their advertising - and it all has to be hand inspected presumably ( that's where most of the delays occur probably ) - so it's a bit of a miracle that the process is this smooth overall lol . And , by nature , it's always going to be a YMMV situation when buying used gear .

[@janneroz-photographyonabudget]

I looked at a camera, ordered it, good price, heard nothing, so I waited, checked online and it was gone, I contacted them and was told it had already been sold. Good job I always take a screen shot. I checked later to see if they had anther a bit later in the week, the same camera had reappeared!! But guess what,? It had gone up in price! Another occasion, I sold to MPB. Two items were zoom lenses. One was effectively brand new, just out of the Cellophane wrap and with its original box. I sent them off to MPB in Brighton, amongst other stuff, got my online quote. The first telephoto, apparently, there was a spot on the lens "that couldn't be cleaned" but did not affect performance, so the quote was reduced. The second lens, the brand new one, apparently, there was a spot on the lens "that couldn't be cleaned", hmmmmm. Another item was reduced down as there was "no lens hood", although, when sealed in the box to send to them, there it was. It must have teleported itself out in transit. Strange how two zoom lenses had exactly the same fault, even though one was effectively brand new, the other, hardly used but with a UV filter on since new. Personally, I would suggest anybody stay clear of this bunch. As I needed the money because I had already ordered another lens from somewhere else, I had to accept their greatly reduced quote. I would imagine, that they never "up a quote". Steer well clear, bunch of sharks.

[@davin2002]

oh crap, i just ordered a zeiss lens, hope no issues with the shipment; i have no tracking yet

[@uncertainrelease]

they usually take a couple of days to process

[@MorningNapalm]

My experience with MBP has not been great either. I find their prices quite reasonable, given that they offer checked, cleaned and warranted equipment, but I haven't bought anything from them yet. Their purchase prices are dramatically low, however. I wanted to sell 4 Fuji GF lenses, but before I got my quote, I checked their own sales prices for the same lenses. They offered me 2/3 of their sales price. Given that these lenses are from 1000-1600 used, that added up to nearly 2000 Euros less than they sold them for. I rejected their offer. From then on, I was pestered by some friendly guy who was completely tone deaf, and kept hoping I would change my mind. I never did, and got a little short-tempered with him in between, because he just wouldn't stop his low-ball offer being repeated and repeated. I will never sell to them, but I might buy from them.

[@uncertainrelease]

Yeah, this is my policy about them too. The prices that they have on gear is generally pretty fair as you said. It's generally a bit over the street price (like if I wanted to buy a camera I can get locally for about 550€, MPB would sell it around 600/650€. Which is fait considering it's checked, that you havea 14 days no questions asked return policy and a 1 year warranty), but sometimes you can find some bargains. For example, I bought a Sigma 100-400 for Nikon F mount for about 460€ while the normal price for such a lens is more in the ball park of 650€ just because there was some scratches on the plastic body of the lens, which I don't care about in the slightest (lenses were all clean). In a similar fashion, I got a Nikon D300 in nearly pristine condition (20k clicks) for 60€ while they go for 100 to 120€ usually just because there is some moisture in the screen (that I can't see in person anyway). Their selection of gear is generally great and it's a nice and efficient one-stop shopping in my opinion. But that's pretty much where the positives end for me. When you want to sell gear to them as you said, it's extremely undervalued. Sometimes the gear is not checked properly (as explained in this video) which can cause delays and the prices fluctuate a LOT on a basis that I cannot make head or tails of. For example, at one point I wanted to see how much MPB would pay me if I were to seel all of my gear and start again, so I listed all my cameras and lenses in the quote, and it quickly got above 2000€ in quotation. Problem is, all of my gear combined is worth more than double that amount if I were to sell it myself. For a pristine condition Fujifilm X-T2, they were giving me 190€, while they were selling the same camera around 580 at that time, and I could very well manage to sell it myself for at least 500. And since the quotation was pretty high, I got some dude in my inbox asking when would I like to do the pickup (I ignored him, turns out it was just an automated response, not an actual human). Also the price fluctuations makes it really difficult to keep track of some cameras and lenses you have your eyes on. I was looking for a Fujifilm X-H1 on MPB, an one month you could find some at 530 in good condition, and some in pristine condition for 600, and 3/4 weeks later the cheapest would be 650 and the most expensive 800. This is some wild variations and I really don't know where they're coming from. Anyway, TL ; DR : use MPB to buy gear as it's generally a pretty nice platform to do that (having a warranty on used gear is nice), but NEVER EVER sell gear to them, that's just a waste of money. People sell to MPB because they can't be bothered to find a buyer for their gear, they're just accepting to loose money for a bit of comfort and I'm not here for it at all. Anyway, thanks for commenting !

[@UKMike2009]

You were perhaps expecting them to NOT make a profit? Their markup on equipment seems entirely fair as they have business expenses and salaries to pay. The only way you will EVER get the sales price is by private sale or perhaps eBay. You were unrealistic in your expectations. .

[@MorningNapalm]

@@UKMike2009 I think you really don't understand what I am saying here. That high a markup is a no-go for me. I will NEVER use them for selling. If enough people feel the same way I do, they are out of business. It doesn't matter how much rent and how many wages they have to pay, it doesn't work. I guess we will see if there are enough lazy or ignorant people around to support their business model in a few years. If they are around, yes, if not, no.

[@uncertainrelease]

@@UKMike2009 there is a difference between being profitable, and straight up scamming people selling gear to you. MPB is giving you less than 50% of what the item is worth on the used market, which they oversell anyway. For Fujifilm cameras for example, if you compare to the street price that you can find them at, you're looking at a below 50% buying offer while they sell the same exact camera at 110 to 120% of the street price. That's not acceptable from a consumer perspective : if you're okay with the quotes they give you, good for you. I'm not.

[@dominicwroblewski5832]

I'm careful what I buy from MPB, mostly lenses. They do not provide enough info or photos of the camera bodies for me.I will say that the lenses I have purchased from MPB I have been happy with. I do not hesitate to buy a camera body from Used Photo Pro as they have tons of photos of the Items they sell. That may be why I ended up with 27 DSLR bodies. (I'm retired and have nothing better to do but indulge my photography hobby) You made a great choice in the D700. It's a legend for good reason. I might also suggest trying the D300 (I have 7) It's a mini D700. Look for a deal on an old Nikon "push/pull 80-200mm f2.8 ($150) wow what a great lens at a great price.

[@uncertainrelease]

yeah, the D300 have been on my bucket list for a while, I just didn't really looked into it too much since I'm trying not to buy too much cameras that I know I wouldn't use that much (my Fujifilm and current Nikon stuff get me plenty occupied for now) I looked at the push/pull 80-200, but I'm not a fan of push/pull lenses and I need a tripod collar on a lens this long and heavy (my tripod isn't exactly stellar), so I ended up going for the Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 which isn't push/pull and has a little tripod foot. It's a bit soft wide open but it's still a very good lens

[@dance2jam]

I can not speak to MPB except that I've read hundreds of complaints over the years. I haven't bothered to order from them because they always seem to be trying to advertise with prices that are rock bottom in the industry (like some other companies) - and given the volume of complaints, it's just not something I want to deal with. On the flip side, I have dealt with K.E.H. for 5 years. I had only one issue when they sold a fairly expensive lens as a newer version when it was the older version (but in great/near new shape). As soon as I realized that they had advertised the newer version with higher price and sold me the older version at that price I contacted them providing them with the receipt (which stated newer version) and photos of the lens they shipped with serial number. After a brief discussion, they offered two options: Keep the lens and they would reduce the price to match the version or ship the lens back for a complete refund. Fair enough. Mistakes do happen. Needless to say, the issues was resolved in 24 hours and all parties happy. Just that piece of mind is worth it. It would have been nice to know what happened when you called MPB to tell them the prior D700 was not in good working order. Did they try and make it sound like it was your fault and buyer be aware? (Sorry, you got to this at the end of your video). That was exactly what I was talking about.

[@uncertainrelease]

I don't remember if I cover this in detail at the end of this video, but I spoke through the message service on their website to the person that was responsible for my area (France) and I was able to either get a full refund, or the ability to swap out my SKU for another one in their inventory. I onlyhad to pay for the initial shipping obviously, the return and the second shipping fees were both free, though I would have liked if they made the second SKU free of charge as well. I paid 300€ forthe first one, the second was at 305€ on the website and I had to pay the difference. There wasn't any shaming anywhere, but they sure didn't make a commercial move even though it was their mistake. It went down like if I had made a simple return through their 6 month warranty return policy

[@dance2jam]

@@uncertainrelease Good to know. Given your response, I'll offer one last thing. At K.E.H. I was able to speak to a person - and put through to the same person each time that had handled sales to me - so it always felt like it was going to get resolved, and they apologized for their mistake. No going through the website and waiting for an email response. Thanks for your response. Merci. Happy shooting with the D700 and beyond.

[@uncertainrelease]

@@dance2jam Thank you ! I wish we had services like KEH in Europe, MPB is probably what comes the closest

[@David_Quinn1995]

I will say I like that mpb reports shutter count which keh doesn't but keh is better about grading

[@uncertainrelease]

MPB also tends to NOT show shutter counts for some cameras. Like pretty much all mirrorless cameras don't have any shutter count on MPB for some reason (do they think that mirrorless don't wear like DSLRs?)

[@raytaylor4199]

Shame this happened to you, I have sold a lot of equipment to mpb, especially upgrading to mirror less Canon RF and all the lenses, I sold about 5 EF lenses to them and bought 1 EF 70-200 F2.8 mk2, I’ve had no issues with them in the UK, very fast & fair valuation and swift payment.

[@uncertainrelease]

I gotta say I was kinda pushing my luck, ordering a 15 year old Nikon DSLR which is one of the most mechanically complex cameras to completely check. Still, could have been avoided just by putting a lens on and pressing the shutter once, kinda weird that they didn't even bother

[@raytaylor4199]

@@uncertainrelease yes I agree, they should definitely have experts looking at the gear and ensuring it’s all working properly and having a good understanding in photography equipment, this is what puts me off buying 2nd hand equipment, especially technical equipment. Glad you got it all sorted in the end though 😊

[@twesttv]

After sending my gear to them they dropped their offer (with no explanation) over $300. I told them to send my gear back and they claimed they tossed out my original Sony box. Then I noticed that my owner's manual for my camera was missing. They claimed they tossed that out as well. Anyone believe they threw an original manual away? Anyone interested in filing a group complaint against this company with the State of NY?

[@uncertainrelease]

yeah unfortunately the service provided by MPB USA seems to be of a lesser standard compared to the one provided by MPB UK and MPB Europe. A decent rule of thumb in the US seems to avoid MPB and go straight for KEH apparently

[@twesttv]

@@uncertainreleaseIndeed. Have not tried KEH but definitely avoid MPB

[@suzannemullaney3205]

I needed to return two Nikon D200’s with focus issues. The return service was good. I purchases a D3000 and it was coded, Excellent. The focus screen had a big particle on it. I took care of that myself. A while back I ordered a D700 and all was good. They do need to check their gear better. I ordered from the MPB in the USA.

[@paxYmo]

Mpb is most likely an offshoot of focus camera. You’re dealing with the black coat Guys. Try keh or used photo pro insteed

[@uncertainrelease]

neither are available where I live as they are USA only

[@rayvaughn5546]

I used Meh for the Nikon Battery Pack for my D700. When I got it the battery hold had the locking clip missing so I could not load a battery in. I wrote Meh 8 times about it and the said that they would take care of it. The never, ever did to this day. So I purchased one on Ebay. Meh completely ignored me and my issues. I would not recommend them for anything.

[@uncertainrelease]

Oof, that's rough man I'm guessing they don't have the same standing of customer service everywhere. My case with this D700 was pretty bad as I had to send the camera back, but in the end I got to talk with somebody really quickly, and the issue was sorted in the end, even if it took more time than I expected going into it. On the subject of battery backs, I bought a Meike one for about 50 bucks, and it works really well, I don't know if it's built to the same standards as the Nikon one, but at least I have a warranty and a return policy

[@jimjones-pz1tt]

I love how people complain in 2023. PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THEM INSTEAD OF EMAILING. Most people today are afraid on human interaction.

[@johnyoung1606]

I have been collecting in my old age (72yo) shit I have always wanted.... Collection of interesting film and digital... ThankYou for the memories I have a D300 and D700, D50, D70 a Nice set of Lenses....and more :) :) But I Luv My Z6II n new baby the Z8,,, The lenses for Z Cameras are Stellar!!!!! I started with a Nikon F, and 2nd with a FTN in 1967, FM & FE these 4 made Me $$$$ :) :) :)

[@danncorbit3623]

I've never had a problem buying equipment on MPB.

[@uncertainrelease]

I made a follow-up video after a couple of years buying from them. Overall not too bad, but not too great either. Each time it was a surprise on which issue would show up first.

[@UKMike2009]

I think you have judged MPB unfairly. The volume of sales they have, prevents them from checking everything in the detail you refer to. However, their return policy is faultless. I appreciate I am in the UK where next-day postage is a reality but I have successfully returned cameras on a couple of occasions with no problem whatsoever. One thing I would say though is that secondhand camera prices have rocketed since the "chip shortage" and show no signs of going down, so secondhand cameras are not the bargains they were 2 or 3 years ago.

[@uncertainrelease]

Uh... no? judged MPB unfairly? The only thing they had to do was to put a lens on, and fire the shutter. For a company that calls themselves "experts" that's the bare minimum I ask from them. They didn't even manage to pass that bar. I recently bought a Sigma SD Quattro H from them as well, at a terribly low price... because they listed it (and priced it) as if it was the much more affordable SD Quattro non-H. They didn't even bother to look at the product name ! And you think I treated them too harshly? No, I'm being fair here. And also, there is superb deals to be made second hand, on MPB or somewhere else. The chip shortage crisis was a reality in 2020/2021. We're in 2023. If anything, that's inflation, not the chip shortage.

[@rayvaughn5546]

Meh SHOULD READ MBP.

[@dance2jam]

or K.E.H.? Very confusing post.

[@carlosenriquez2092]

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