My experience with MPB USA

[Barbara]

I recently sold five items to MPB. I generally sell things privately, but these were larger items that would entail substantial shipping costs, so I decided to try used equipment companies. I checked with MPB, KEH, and UsedPhotoPro. In the aggregate MPB gave me the highest quote. So far, so good. But there were a couple of negatives also. The largest one for me was their terrible method of communication. As far as I can tell they use contract CS reps who work remotely, have limited if any access to my prior communications, and can provide only canned responses. And that's after often significant wait times. Really frustrating. And then the final price offered was a little lower than the original quote, and I couldn't get any explanation from them. In the end, it wasn't enough to make me want to start over, but I think it was a poor practice not to provide some sort of explanation for the change. Finally, their website talks about being paid instantly, but in fact it took 4 days from the time I accepted the offer until the funds showed up in my bank account.

So overall: B+ on price, but C- on customer service. In a similar circumstance in the future I'd have to do much better on price with them than KEH or UsedPhotoPro, which in my experience have superior customer service.

 

[Pistnbroke]

Purchased camera described a 9000 shutter count which turned out to be 19000.

People generally overestimate the condition of items sent in. Service is very good in UK

 

[Chad Huff]

Thanks for the review. I always look at their site and sometimes see reasonable deals there. I've just had such great luck with Used Photopro its hard for me to switch if they have what I want. I've been tempted but so far I've only ever bought from UPP and KEH. Did you trade or sell outright? Were you happy with what you purchased from them (if you did purchase?) Just curious. They have som thing right now that I've been looking for, I just haven't hit "buy now".

 

[GrandNagus50]

I have used MPB with reasonable success. I also have used KEH, and every time they have downgraded the condition I estimated for my gear, so it could happen with any of these dealers. KEH has one advantage for people in certain areas, i.e., they go out into the "field" and buy things in person on a regular basis so you don't have to box up and ship large items. I will add here that I just checked some of the estimated prices offered by KEH for several pieces of kit I have thought about selling and I was shocked at how low the offered prices were/are. These are Nikon F-mount items and I gather the market is starting to glut for them, but my goodness . . . . I would rather keep these items, I guess, even if I only use them occasionally, than to virtually give them away to a reseller.

 

[Barbara]

Thanks for the review. I always look at their site and sometimes see reasonable deals there. I've just had such great luck with Used Photopro its hard for me to switch if they have what I want. I've been tempted but so far I've only ever bought from UPP and KEH. Did you trade or sell outright? Were you happy with what you purchased from them (if you did purchase?) Just curious. They have som thing right now that I've been looking for, I just haven't hit "buy now".

I didn't buy anything from them.

 

[Barbara]

People generally overestimate the condition of items sent in.

MPB's condition evaluation seemed random to me. They downgraded the condition of one lens from New to Excellent, but didn't change the price on that, and then did change the price on another lens without downgrading the condition.

 

[Woody Meristem]

I've never sold anything to MPB but have purchased two cameras from them which were at least as good as they were described; in all I was very pleased with the prices and the entire process.

 

[Palmor]

I have used MPB with reasonable success. I also have used KEH, and every time they have downgraded the condition I estimated for my gear, so it could happen with any of these dealers. KEH has one advantage for people in certain areas, i.e., they go out into the "field" and buy things in person on a regular basis so you don't have to box up and ship large items. I will add here that I just checked some of the estimated prices offered by KEH for several pieces of kit I have thought about selling and I was shocked at how low the offered prices were/are. These are Nikon F-mount items and I gather the market is starting to glut for them, but my goodness . . . . I would rather keep these items, I guess, even if I only use them occasionally, than to virtually give them away to a reseller.

I agree, if you can get KEH at a local event it's the best. No shipping and no wondering if they are going to downgrade your stuff. When I switched from Nikon to Sony I got lucky and they had a local event and I was very happy with the process and the amount I got. It was dead on what I thought I'd get from them (knowing I was losing some not selling myself) but I just had too much to deal with.

 

[Dan291]

I had a sale pending inspection at the time of the original post, I waited to respond until it’s completion. MPB took four business days to inspect. Two days after I OK’d the deal, the payment has appeared as pending in my bank account. They paid what they had originally quoted, even for a Like New item. A hassle-free process throughout.

 

[cj5thwheel]

I sold. D 7500 and a Nikon lens. to MPD on March 11th. I did not get paid. Till March 29th. They weren't too quick with me. I was not too happy.

 

[cj5thwheel]

They did not. Do anything for me till I. Sent them an email asking what they were doing .MPB not too happy with them.

 

[crjPO]

I've sold many items to MPB and it's been a smooth easy process everytime. I've always gotten the original price. Friend of mine sold a lens to them and they actually upgraded from his evaluation. Very positive with MPB. Just sold my Z7 yesterday.

 

[Jaxpropix]

My experience was similar to yours. Communication was poor and the entire deal took longer than advertised. I did get what they had initially offered in price.

would I use them again. Not sure.p but I’d definitely look elsewhere first.

 

[Calson]

I sold 4 lenses to MPB in January and the entire process was completed in 3 weeks total. I was easier than selling lenses on fredmiranda or Craiglist and none of the problems with fraud that I have experienced with eBay and Paypal. They reduced the payout by $50 which was dishonest as they claimed a problem with a 16mm fisheye prime which actually was in pristine condition and included the rare rear filters in their factory case. I think that it is standard practice for them to do the last minute reduction and if I had killed the deal and had them ship the lenses back to me they would have folded and gone back to the original quote.

 

[Ken Miracle]

So far B&H has beat ore equaled everyone elses quote and I have never had then go lower when they received the gear and only once slightly higher. They send payment quite quickly but by check via fedex so about a week. So slower than electronic transfer. So far KEH has always been the lowest quote.

 

[GrandNagus50]

I found this thread and thought I would add my two cents'. I have dealt with MPB before and had satisfactory experiences, but now I am hopping mad. I sent them several items a few weeks ago. They lowballed me on the Sigma Sport 150-600mm zoom I sent, telling me there was "light moisture" inside the lens. I was skeptical about this and asked them to return it to me. A complication was that I had substituted a Jobu Designs Arca-type lens foot for the original Sigma foot. I placed the Sigma foot in the Jobu box and included it with the shipment, noting this in my correspondence with them. MPB returned the lens to me, but they had apparently replaced the Jobu foot with the Sigma foot, and then they did NOT return the Jobu lens foot to me. This is a $120 item, for which actually they had proposed no payment. I have contacted them about this and have heard nothing back so far. Even if they are able to locate the Jobu lens foot and send it back, there are two strikes against MPB here. I examined the returned Sigma Sport lens and found NO 'light moisture" inside. It is a first-rate lens, carefully stored, and it (still) takes first-rate photos. I think that they are in the habit of lowballing an item or two in a shipment in hopes that the customer will just shrug and let the transaction pass. The second strike is their sloppiness in not returning the Jobu lens foot to me. If they remain unresponsive (likely) I will have to buy a new one. Phooey.

 

[Ken Miracle]

I found this thread and thought I would add my two cents'. I have dealt with MPB before and had satisfactory experiences, but now I am hopping mad. I sent them several items a few weeks ago. They lowballed me on the Sigma Sport 150-600mm zoom I sent, telling me there was "light moisture" inside the lens. I was skeptical about this and asked them to return it to me. A complication was that I had substituted a Jobu Designs Arca-type lens foot for the original Sigma foot. I placed the Sigma foot in the Jobu box and included it with the shipment, noting this in my correspondence with them. MPB returned the lens to me, but they had apparently replaced the Jobu foot with the Sigma foot, and then they did NOT return the Jobu lens foot to me. This is a $120 item, for which actually they had proposed no payment. I have contacted them about this and have heard nothing back so far. Even if they are able to locate the Jobu lens foot and send it back, there are two strikes against MPB here. I examined the returned Sigma Sport lens and found NO 'light moisture" inside. It is a first-rate lens, carefully stored, and it (still) takes first-rate photos. I think that they are in the habit of lowballing an item or two in a shipment in hopes that the customer will just shrug and let the transaction pass. The second strike is their sloppiness in not returning the Jobu lens foot to me. If they remain unresponsive (likely) I will have to buy a new one. Phooey.

Ironically this string was what led me to MPB and I luckily have had no such problems. There are now newer strings and with both positive and problematic experiences.

I sold a lot of Nikon and Tamron gear to them in my change to mirrorless ... from a Nikkor 600 f/4E to a FTZII adapter. They consistently offered more and the only change they ever made was minus $50 for the 600 f/4E not having the mono pod foot which I did not have since Nikon did not send it with the refurbished lens I bought.

 

[Owney]

So far B&H has beat ore equaled everyone elses quote and I have never had then go lower when they received the gear and only once slightly higher. They send payment quite quickly but by check via fedex so about a week. So slower than electronic transfer. So far KEH has always been the lowest quote.

I sent a bunch of Nikon F Mount and a D500 to MPB the first week of June. Communication was terrible and after 4 weeks I filed a complaint with BBB and asked for my stuff to be returned. I then emailed B&H asking for a quote, took my gear there in person, and walked out with a slightly higher payment than the quote.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

My experience has been up and down. One transaction took forever but most were reasonably completed. That being said buying and selling on FredMiranda was smoother.

Tom

 

[Barbara]

I recently sent a batch of Nikon lenses to UsedPhotoPro after getting quotes from them and from MPB. The MPB quote was just $8 higher, which was not enough to risk dealing with them again. I've always found UsedPhotoPro's customer service to be excellent.

 

[John_DE]

I first try selling my used items within my camera club. When that fails, I then look at the on-line prices offered by MPB, KEH, and B&H and go with whichever one is higher. So far I have has good experiences with all three. From this forum, I will now also try UsedPhotoPro.

 

[RichF]

I dealt with one story that initially offer me $7000 for my used 600 F4 in mint condition which it was. When they got they quoted $6300, when I asked why they said they made a mistake it was really worth $7000.

Poor practice, attempt to defraud, or just sloppy.

 

[RichF]

I first try selling my used items within my camera club. When that fails, I then look at the on-line prices offered by MPB, KEH, and B&H and go with whichever one is higher. So far I have has good experiences with all three. From this forum, I will now also try UsedPhotoPro.

do the same. Rather give camera club members a break. I look at sales on ebay and Fred Miranda, discount 10 - 15% from what would expect to get from these outlets.

 

[toneloc1958]

I have dealt a lot with MPB, they generally offer higher quoted prices. I am a tough grader and they usually upgrade my original quoted price. With that being said their service is spotty. They claimed I sent a lens in without a hood and since I have had previous experience with them which was not good, I took pictures of it. They have yet to give me credit for the hood. I had last year sent them a 24-70 Tamron and when they received it they said it had a cracked focus indicator. I was befuddled because I had not noticed it and I requested they send it back. Well after 3 weeks I contacted them and told them I had not received it, and they said they would track it. Well, apparently they had sent it elsewhere and were able to locate it and were shipping it back to me. I received the lens but didn't open the box for a week and when I did the lens was in pieces. front element loose in the package. I took photos and sent them to them and their first response was why didn't I tell them sooner so I recanted the lost shipment story. To make a long story short after multiple back and forths and me sending them EXIF data from a photo shoot that I had just previous to shipping the lens in they resolved it by giving me their original quoted amount for it. So the moral of the story is I take photos of all the gear I send them and the packaging and the placement in the box. They are a bit risky but their trade-in and their pricing are actually quite good. KEH is consistently lower than everyone else on trade and their prices are generally higher. I do like Usedphoto plus. Last thing the communication from MPB is terrible when you encounter difficulties but regular transactions with no issues seem to move quickly and efficiently.

 

[Owney]

Definitely important to take photos before shipping. Multiple angles of item, serial number, accessories, packing (bubble wrap), and box your shipping in. Walgreens accepts FedEx shipments but does not provide a physical shipping receipt so instead I go to a FedEx location where you get a printed receipt.