leftj Loc: Texas

Preliminary means the estimate is subject to receipt and inspection and based on your description of the gear.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

IMO they paid you the full amount of the estimate. If you were not satisfied with the estimate you should not have sent in your gear. You pretty much gave them the OK to complete the deal and pay you the estimated price. Seems fair to me.

Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL

I just completed a sale of some of my Nikon equipment to MPB and they paid me 40% of what I paid for it new. The equipment averaged 3.5-6 years of age and I rated it mostly in excellent shape and they apparently agreed with my ratings because they paid me only $5 less than their preliminary bid for all ten items. I was pleased with the price they paid me. I did hate to take a loss on some very like new lenses but I was not using them and wasn’t going to use them so MPB did me a favor and someone will get some very nice gear for a good price. I have purchased from MPB recently and was very pleased with the transaction. Roberts also does a very good job. KEH, who I have purchased from and was pleased with the gear I bought, did not offer me near as good a deal as MPB. I may have done better selling the gear myself here and elsewhere but with a lot more hassle with that many items. I have no complaints.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

I have purchased from MPB in the past. When they say “like new” it really is like new.

tropics68 Loc: Georgia

YUP!

User ID

Today we took in a Nikon two-lens starter kit, like new in all original boxes that normally retails about $500. Despite proof that it was purchased six weeks ago, the seller received $200, and that was very fair.

After expenses ... staff time, listing fees or eBay commission, PayPal fee, packing and shipping ... we will clear about $120, a 60 percent margin.

If the kit lingers a while unsold and Nikon lowers the MSRP then we will see less than that 60 percent.

If the seller were to regret selling, it will cost him about $275 to buy it back, so as to cover our costs and allow us to just break even.

Nissan offered me $17,000 for my personal vehicle. The used vehicle retail on this model is $27,000 ... there’s your 60 percent again, unless it lingers too long in inventory.

This is how the cookie crumbles.

2Much Loc: WA

I have to put in a plug for MPB. I sold them half a dozen lenses this past fall and while I estimated their conditions as realistically as I could, I was prepared for MPB to revise the preliminary estimate upon inspection. They disagreed with only one of my ratings, revising an "Excellent Condition" to "Like New" and paying me the higher price!

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I have always believed the estimate they send is "an offer to buy", not a starting point for negotiation. Business is business. IF you brought the gear in yourself and asked eye-to-eye for what they would offer, I think that could be the start of a "can you do better" or "is that your best offer" discussion. By mail, consider it a done deal.

Dannj

Agree. They can give you an estimated value based on your description which, if you’ve been honest, should hold up upon inspection. You don’t have much flexibility once the gear is in their hands and they’re not likely to cover return shipping if you don’t like the offer.

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

A while back I bought a wood lathe with it in mind that I wanted to turn a variety of pieces made from the more exotic hardwoods. I soon found out that the best way to make a small fortune in wood turning is to start with a large one

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

As a long time woodworker I can agree that wood turning is not as easy as the good turners make it look. I look at it as a special area of woodworking the same as carving and some other specialties. I can do some but don’t do nearly enough to be proficient. At least we have lots of YouTube videos to watch and learn that weren’t there when I started in the early 1980s.

usnret Loc: Woodhull Il

Way back in the day my dad got a great deal on a lathe at a farm auction ($8.00) for my tenth birthday. Either of us knew much about using one but with a lot of trial and error I kinda sorta got the hang of it. My first "master piece" was a candle stick holder made from a green log of hedge wood. It was a real beauty for the first week or two then it faded from yellow to brown and split like crazy. At least I wasn't out any money. The log came from a tree in our timber that dad cut down to make a few fence posts out of. Have you ever shopped on line at a site named Cooks Woods. I liked shopping there because of the variety and they post a picture of each piece they offer. From bowl blanks to dimensional lumber they got it all. Worth a look anyway. I shut down my sawdust factory last fall mostly because of the health risks associated with many of the toxins found in so many of the exotics. That's not to say there aren't high cfm filters out there to control that but I don't see it being worth my while. Nowadays I mostly work on improving my photography skills, leastwise I'm not out much money in that endeavor.

safariman

Who is MPB?

cboysen Loc: Homewood, IL

What do you mean online? To whom? Could you give me some names, companies, etc? Thanks.