I added the Canon RF-S 18-45mm lens to my MPB shopping cart just to test the shipping cost, expecting something normal, something sensible, something aligned with the actual size of the thing. It’s a small kit lens, basically the kind of lens that could travel padded in a jacket pocket. The checkout screen blinked once and presented only one shipping option: $99 with Fedex. Not $25, not $40, not even a polite range. Just a flat wall. Ninety-nine dollars to ship something that weighs 130g and costs $62. And the frustrating part wasn’t even the number by itself; it was the feeling that there was no reasoning behind it, no scale tied to weight or value or distance. Just a price that exists because it exists.
Meanwhile, I checked B&H. Same destination, same category of international parcel, same general courier class. They offer DHL Express for $33 and Fedex FedEx Priority for $39. These are not cut-rate postal gambles; these are professional, insured, trackable deliveries. So the natural question is: if B&H can send the same lens for a third of the cost, why is MPB locked to $99? When I asked support, hoping for at least some explanation that would make the math feel less random, the reply came back: Our shipping prices are set by our contract with FedEx and cannot be adjusted. All of our international orders incur a shipping fee generally between $59-$99, and varies based on destination. I do not know why the specific cost to your location is set at the price that it is I am afraid. It’s polite, but it’s also the kind of answer that leaves the air hanging.
There’s something a bit deflating in that. MPB’s whole appeal is built around being approachable, practical, and smart about gear recycling. You go there because it feels more personal than the big warehouse retailers, more like a community of people who understand what this equipment means to the person on the other end. But $99 shipping on a kit lens says the opposite. It says the system is rigid. It says the customer is generic. It says “we didn’t tune this part to reality.” And shipping should be the easy part, the part where you feel taken care of rather than reminded of borders and bureaucracy.
I keep thinking about how sometimes the smallest detail changes the whole experience. A lens is a thing you choose because you see something in your future with it. It’s tied to anticipation. But when the cart shows $99 shipping for something that could practically fit in a padded envelope, that anticipation sort of collapses. Not out of drama, just out of quiet, rational disappointment. It’s strange how something so small can make a place feel less welcoming.
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