MPB...selling gear

Methodical wrote in post #19159294
Update: I sold my 1D3 to MPB and the transaction went smoothly (this was a tester to see how it worked out). They even called me to let me know that I needed to complete the payment process, so they could pay me. Once I did that I received an email stating that I was paid. For anyone out there trying to sell gear, I recommend you get a quote from them as their prices were usually higher than what the going prices are on here and FM. Also, you don't pay any shipping costs. This worked out because I was not hit the paypal fee and shipping and still got a higher sale price. Plus, it cuts out all the headaches of lowballers and what not.

I am now in the process of selling my 5D3 to them and their offer is way higher than what folks are willing to pay on the "for sale" forums on here and FM and I don't have to worry about paypal fees and shipping.

Happy customer, so far...

I just dropped off my 5D3 at the local FedEx store today to ship to them. Their quote was over $300 higher than KEH for my 5D3 + EF 24-105 f/4 L.

Scott M wrote in post #19161953
I just dropped off my 5D3 at the local FedEx store today to ship to them. Their quote was over $300 higher than KEH for my 5D3 + EF 24-105 f/4 L.

Nice.

Where do you get the boxes for shipping, from FedEx? Do they offer free boxes like USPS?

SYS wrote in post #19162520
Where do you get the boxes for shipping, from FedEx? Do they offer free boxes like USPS?

I just use old boxes that I have from other orders. But, I think you can take the label to a FedEx location (not the Parcel Plus type places though) and they will box it for you at not cost. The shipping is insured.

SYS wrote in post #19162520
Where do you get the boxes for shipping, from FedEx? Do they offer free boxes like USPS?

I keep a few boxes around from other shipments I receive (in lieu of breaking them down into my recycle bin) and use those. I also keep packing materials such as the air pillows on hand and reuse those. Comes in handy when I sell on my own as I prefer to pack things myself.

ct1co2 wrote in post #19162595
I keep a few boxes around from other shipments I receive (in lieu of breaking them down into my recycle bin) and use those. I also keep packing materials such as the air pillows on hand and reuse those. Comes in handy when I sell on my own as I prefer to pack things myself.

Same here. We keep some boxes from online purchases -- my wife uses them more than me, as she sells quite a bit of stuff.

It's nice to know that FedEx will box it for free. I know the UPS Store will do that for Amazon returns, but I do not use FedEx very often.

I tend to keep all my old boxes so sell complete with original packaging which sometimes gets a better price.

I've been waiting for my sale to clear with MPB before chiming in but I just finished my second transaction with them. Everything went very smooth for me. Both times the offer was the same as the quote based on my rating of the gear. So I would definitely use them again. The only thing that gives me any hesitation is that they use direct deposit for the payout. But both times, it worked very well, no issues. I just hope they don't save that info anywhere.

I have also used KEH but the last time I had them return my gear after what felt was a lowball offer to me. I don't know if it's bad timing on my end or tricky business but this has happened now twice with them. After getting a quote and sending in my gear, they lower their offer price on that item. My quote is locked in IF they agree with my rating. But in both cases, they lowered my rating and then offer me the new lower price at the lower rating. So it's like a double whammy on the offer price. Sneaky.

I'll agree with what some others have said though that selling on the forums will generally make you more money. But I love not having to haggle over price, worry if I'm being scammed, or dealing with shipping.

rh18 wrote in post #19164717
I've been waiting for my sale to clear with MPB before chiming in but I just finished my second transaction with them. Everything went very smooth for me. Both times the offer was the same as the quote based on my rating of the gear. So I would definitely use them again. The only thing that gives me any hesitation is that they use direct deposit for the payout. But both times, it worked very well, no issues. I just hope they don't save that info anywhere.

I have also used KEH but the last time I had them return my gear after what felt was a lowball offer to me. I don't know if it's bad timing on my end or tricky business but this has happened now twice with them. After getting a quote and sending in my gear, they lower their offer price on that item. My quote is locked in IF they agree with my rating. But in both cases, they lowered my rating and then offer me the new lower price at the lower rating. So it's like a double whammy on the offer price. Sneaky.

I'll agree with what some others have said though that selling on the forums will generally make you more money. But I love not having to haggle over price, worry if I'm being scammed, or dealing with shipping.

According to MPB, they don't maintain this information, but who knows. I asked about paypal payment and they said you can always request a check. If selling a lot of equipment to them, I suggest setting up a separate account for payment if one has a concern.

Generally doing private sells may net you more (it depends), but you get hit with paypal fees and shipping, which lowers the sale price. You have to factor those fees (or non fees) in when dealing with MPB; remember they pay for shipping and there are no sales fees applied to the sale. So, you have to do the math. I heard about KEH and did not want to deal with them.

FYI. MPB only does checks for purchases under $500.

Btw, they paid me $200 more for the 5D3 than what I could get here or on FM.

Methodical wrote in post #19166760
Btw, they paid me $200 more for the 5D3 than what I could get here or on FM.

Nice! I think they paid me more for a couple of items than I would have gotten in a private sale too. And I didn't have to haggle, deal with shipping, paypal fees, or worry about being scammed!

rh18 wrote in post #19166823
Nice! I think they paid me more for a couple of items than I would have gotten in a private sale too. And I didn't have to haggle, deal with shipping, paypal fees, or worry about being scammed!

Exactly. No hassle.

Upon getting the quotes from MPB on several camera and lenses of mine, I decided to adopt a strategy of trying to sell mine on Craigslist locally. The ones that I'm not getting any buyers, I'll go through MPB. Just this past week, I sold one camera body and two lenses at higher prices than the MPB quotes. One that I'm not getting any inquiries, I'll probably ship it off to MPB after giving it another week.

I went with selling my 5d mk3 to them as well and was offered today more than what I would have done privately. As this was my first time using them, I opted to test with my 5d mk3 first. I was going to do my 7d mk2 next but was able to find a buyer that was quick to pay once i posted on POTN. Accessories like grips and flashes don't seem to get much though from MPB.

I also sold my 5DM3 with them, under 50k shutter count, and got a better price than when I tried it on eBay.