MPB used gear

[DavGolen]

I ran across this company a while back and bought a Nikkor 24-85mm VR that was shown as brand new condition. It certainly appears that way to me and now that I have used it on two different N80's it produces great images as well.

Anyone else using these folks? Previously, I had bought from KEH for some of my used film gear.

 

[loccdor]

Yes I bought a Pentax K-1 for film digitization from them. The camera itself was fine, but they shipped it with a battery that held a 5 minute charge. They did eventually send another battery, but it was a bit of a hassle. It was advertised as battery included and the batteries for that camera aren't cheap.

 

[DavGolen]

Yes I bought a Pentax K-1 for film digitization from them. The camera itself was fine, but they shipped it with a battery that held a 5 minute charge. They did eventually send another battery, but it was a bit of a hassle. It was advertised as battery included and the batteries for that camera aren't cheap.

Interesting on the battery. I have some for my D610 that date back to when I bought the camera in late 2013. They still work, but don't last as long as they did when new, (to be expected). Glad to hear MPB got the battery issue sorted.

The lens I bought was an excellent price compared to lenses I found on Ebay, KEH, and Adorama at the time.

FWIW,

 

[Caihlen]

I’ve bought a couple of lenses from them. Top shelf outfit.

 

[DavGolen]

I’ve bought a couple of lenses from them. Top shelf outfit.

I read about them on DPReview, fwiw, and decided to give them a try. I would definitely buy from them again.

 

[mwdake]

I’d heard good things about them and found an inexpensive lens on their site that was a little cheaper than one from KEH who I have bought from many times.
I ordered the lens but shortly received an email saying I had to verify my identity via their service which included uploading a copy of my drivers license and IIRC a selfie.
The lens was only a $70-80 item and I thought it was a bit much; I could understand if we were talking about expensive gear.

I asked them to cancel the order as I was not prepared to go through their identification process. The response I got from their customer service agent was ‘yeah I understand, we get that a lot’.

Never been asked to verify my identity for an online purchase before. Only thing I can think of is I had moved a few months before and maybe they use some kind of data that still had my old address.

 

[DavGolen]

I’d heard good things about them and found an inexpensive lens on their site that was a little cheaper than one from KEH who I have bought from many times.
I ordered the lens but shortly received an email saying I had to verify my identity via their service which included uploading a copy of my drivers license and IIRC a selfie.
The lens was only a $70-80 item and I thought it was a bit much; I could understand if we were talking about expensive gear.

I asked them to cancel the order as I was not prepared to go through their identification process. The response I got from their customer service agent was ‘yeah I understand, we get that a lot’.

Never been asked to verify my identity for an online purchase before. Only thing I can think of is I had moved a few months before and maybe they use some kind of data that still had my old address.

Wow. I had no such experience. It was just the typical new account creation.

 

[Disconnekt]

I’d heard good things about them and found an inexpensive lens on their site that was a little cheaper than one from KEH who I have bought from many times.
I ordered the lens but shortly received an email saying I had to verify my identity via their service which included uploading a copy of my drivers license and IIRC a selfie.
The lens was only a $70-80 item and I thought it was a bit much; I could understand if we were talking about expensive gear.

I asked them to cancel the order as I was not prepared to go through their identification process. The response I got from their customer service agent was ‘yeah I understand, we get that a lot’.

Never been asked to verify my identity for an online purchase before. Only thing I can think of is I had moved a few months before and maybe they use some kind of data that still had my old address.

Wow, never heard of that happening with them before.

I had bought a Kmount Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 through them & it was pretty quick.

 

[Pieter12]

It is good to know they are careful about their business. Since the shipping address may not have matched what is in the public record, they were protecting both you and themselves. I have purchased gear from MPB over the last few years, a couple of big-ticket items, too. Everything was always as described or better and the prices in line or better than other resellers.

 

[250swb]

I've had a few things from them and couldn't be happier. They usually have a range of the popular items so you get to choose the price point /condition and the prices are better in many cases than auction sites. Always honest descriptions as well.

 

[Ian Grant]

They have been around for about 17 years here in the UK. I don't know how their 10 associates in other countries work.

Ian

 

[Ballinderry-Michael]

I've had a few things from them and couldn't be happier. They usually have a range of the popular items so you get to choose the price point /condition and the prices are better in many cases than auction sites. Always honest descriptions as well.

That's my experience as well.

 

[abruzzi]

I've bought a couple MF digital backs from them and have been happy. Last I looked they didn't have much in the way of film gear.

 

[mwdake]

Wow. I had no such experience. It was just the typical new account creation.

Wow, never heard of that happening with them before.

I had bought a Kmount Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 through them & it was pretty quick.

Yep, I was surprised.
Never had that happen in any of my online purchases over many years.

 

[btaylor]

Yep, I was surprised.
Never had that happen in any of my online purchases over many years.

Likely they were just trying to protect themselves. I ran an online retail business years ago and there were various scams where items were said to be “stolen” or there was an intentional address “mismatch”- in all cases the credit card processor immediately removes the money from the merchant’s account and no matter the proof provided by the merchant the debit remains. AMEX was better at resolving disputes, MC/Visa- never in the merchant’s favor.

 

[BMbikerider]

While I have never used them myself they have 'history' of being 'slow' with refunds if the equipment they sell is not up to standard. They do have a very large selection of equipment both digital and film, but I doubt if I would ever use them because unless I can trust a dealer in UK they don't get my business.

 

[Pieter12]

While I have never used them myself they have 'history' of being 'slow' with refunds if the equipment they sell is not up to standard. They do have a very large selection of equipment both digital and film, but I doubt if I would ever use them because unless I can trust a dealer in UK they don't get my business.

Is this from personal experience?

 

[mwdake]

Likely they were just trying to protect themselves. I ran an online retail business years ago and there were various scams where items were said to be “stolen” or there was an intentional address “mismatch”- in all cases the credit card processor immediately removes the money from the merchant’s account and no matter the proof provided by the merchant the debit remains. AMEX was better at resolving disputes, MC/Visa- never in the merchant’s favor.

Yes, I understand they were trying to protect themselves from such a potential large loss.
I mentioned the address change as that was the only thing I could think of; however my credit cards had already processed my address change several months before and the item was to ship to the address on file with the credit card used.

 

[Pieter12]

Likely they were just trying to protect themselves. I ran an online retail business years ago and there were various scams where items were said to be “stolen” or there was an intentional address “mismatch”- in all cases the credit card processor immediately removes the money from the merchant’s account and no matter the proof provided by the merchant the debit remains. AMEX was better at resolving disputes, MC/Visa- never in the merchant’s favor.

Actually they were protecting the buyer. If the transaction had gone through and shipped to someone else's address, the card holder would have to prove fraud.

 

[mshchem]

I read about them on DPReview, fwiw, and decided to give them a try. I would definitely buy from them again.

Good to hear about your positive experience.

 

[250swb]

While I have never used them myself they have 'history' of being 'slow' with refunds if the equipment they sell is not up to standard. They do have a very large selection of equipment both digital and film, but I doubt if I would ever use them because unless I can trust a dealer in UK they don't get my business.

I'd have thought being untrustworthy is if you never get a refund or it was a bad description in the first place? I've only used MPB's returns system once (I bought a long tele lens and it was just too heavy to lug around) and got my refund the same day the lens arrived back with them. But maybe they weren't busy on that day, but in any case I guess they have to test equipment all over again when it's been returned as you would hope has been done as the next customer buying from them. I've bought from a dealer where lenses had bits broken off (artfully photographed not to show) and on returning it the same lens was back on the web site within a day, that is untrustworthy.

 

[avandesande]

I've bought many items and had one return. They have always given good customer service.

 

[neilt3]

While I have never used them myself they have 'history' of being 'slow' with refunds if the equipment they sell is not up to standard. They do have a very large selection of equipment both digital and film, but I doubt if I would ever use them because unless I can trust a dealer in UK they don't get my business.

I've bought several items off them , high-end lenses and digital bodies and never had a problem.
Accurately described, well photographed, and at least as good or better than described when received .
Never had a reason to return anything though .

 

[jonny88]

I haven't tried MPB's gear yet, but your review really makes me curious. I used to buy from KEH, so it's cool to see another option that works just as well.

 

[Pieter12]

I haven't tried MPB's gear yet, but your review really makes me curious. I used to buy from KEH, so it's cool to see another option that works just as well.

UsedPhotoPro (Roberts Camera) is another good option. They sell through their site and on eBay. Roberts Camera is the U.S. distributor for Ilford.