Member Info for dhton

A strong Trust Pilot rating is always a positive but doesn't detract that as it stands right now the share price is 71% down on this time last year. That is just a plain and simple fact. Other than the slight increase 12 months ago rebounding from the rock bottom price of c7-9p it has been a sorry tale ever since April 2021.

Lots of talk about partnerships with Apple, Walmart, Asda have not seen a consistent and sustained uplift. Lots of talk about kiosks being a transformative approach have not seen a consistent and sustained uplift. Lots of talk about rental have not seen a consistent and sustained uplift. Do I need to persist?

As I have repeatedly said MMAG functions very well as a small operator giving consumers cash for old devices. There's likely some headroom in that space, and in the media world with books, CDs, DVDs etc but nothing like what is being thrown around in conversations here. Anybody thinking second hand media is going to send the pricing soaring is kidding themselves.

I hope for the sake of those who have invested, and for those at MMAG who have put there heart and soul into the business over the past decade, that news over the coming weeks and next few months does not lead to a similar bloodbath as we saw in 2022.

Just to add about the salaries, there are a lot of staff on low salaries and then the leadership team are on hugely inflated salaries. The middle management layer of £60k-£70k is fairly slim, they're more likely on £40k-£50k tops which is reflective of their experience.

I have no more of an agenda than you do, HedgeHogarth. You're being positive and pushing the business, I've offering a different view based on working there in the past. I don't have any funds or anything tied up in MMAG.

It was criminally overpriced in April '21 at c£200m I don't think anyone can dispute that. It's evident from how much the price has collapsed in that time and it was all fuelled by the Covid boom and the record results posted off the back of that.

To be clear, I don't think it's a bad business. I've said previously Mr Oliver has done very well and he's a very likeable chap I have a lot of respect for. It's just not something I can see ever being truly sustainable/profitable at the levels discussed on here.

I saw it mentioned about staff salaries. A lot of the HQ staff are very junior on low salaries and working practices/product development etc aren't the most progressive. It's led by old school IT pros with a focus on maintaining what is there rather than looking for new ways to scale and grow. Nothing wrong at all with the old heads in place but there have been numerous missed opps to push things forward. Mr Oliver's daughter has also been promoted to a Head role in the IT department without any relevant experience which does lead me to question the credibility of that side of the the business.

Small fry, that should read.

It's small gry really. Walmart are clearly vast and any partnership sounds attractive but MMAG have been doing the same with Asda, Poundland etc over here for years, that's where all their used media comes from. Appreciate Walmart are on another level, and there'll always be some appetite for physical, but it's not a horse I'd be backing given the other known concerns with the business.

I said in posts last year that MMAG were pinning a lot of hopes on selling new Apple products but Apple customers are not flocking to MM to buy a £800-£1200 device. It's just not on their radar. And the ones MM do sell barely make any money as margins are so slim.

The other big issue that hits the heart of their business is consumers are holding on to devices a lot longer now. The cycle of a new phone every 24 months has declined, consumers are keeping their iPhone 12s/13s etc for 3-4 years now.

I shared my thoughts on MMAG approx 12-15 months ago when the price dropped to below 10 and was challenged on my views. To recap I previously worked for the business around the time of float until 2022.

Sadly nothing I have seen since my last posts have changed my mind. The business is struggling and will never be more than a small operation turning over old devices. The media arm has been in decline for years, save for the Covid boom in lockdown, but that was very much a one-time boost. Kiosks on the face of it are great but are often out of service and require a roving member of staff to manually reset them and/or clear out the trays once the drawers have reached capacity (approx 6 devices). The technology and infrastructure that powers the buying arm is also antiquated and prone to failing leading to significant delays and problems internally.

As a small business it is a success, the Oliver family will be very comfortable but I would not put any money anywhere near MMAG.

I'd rather not play my hand too much but was part of the the wider leadership group outside of the top team. Privy to a lot more insight and access to SLT than the majority of staff.

Apologies, many of those who signed up took the easiest and cheapest option. Not many in terms of wider numbers signed up at all.

Agree. The perception of MM is of a value retailer (perception shows it to be in similar buckets as Poundland etc). Selling brand new Apple/Samsung products doesn't fit with the customer base. MM customers are not spending £1000+ on a new device. And Apple customers are not buying their new devices from MM. It's one of the last places they'd consider buying from and the margins on new products is tiny as MM are restricted from discounting them.

A lot of what MM does is sound and ticks over. The buying and selling of books and media turns over a nice profit, as does the buying and selling of phones and devices. But not at a level that makes it a truly viable investment, which is what we've seen over the past 18 months. Forget the last week or two, there has been a constant decline in the value of the business since April 2021. I don't believe it'll get much lower but I don't believe it'll get much higher either. 10-14p feels about right for what is essentially a second hand retailer, albeit of pricey items.

The kiosks aren't a gamechanger. They allow more products to be brought in, and then to be sold on, but it's not transformative. Rental has a degree of potential but far too early to say and others are way ahead, such as Raylo.

US expansion is fanciful, if I'm being kind. There's bene plenty of regulatory problems and slaps on wrists and reality is that most plans are just affiliate deals. I certainly wouldn't be pinning any hopes on big US plans.

No problem. There have been HUGE problems with them. Cameras not working, drawers getting jammed, poor reception issues so going offline and unavailable to customers. There's also a lot of manual work required with them. There is (or certainly, was) a team who travel around the country emptying devices, fixing faults etc every day. And seeing them unavailable so often because of faults leads to a trust issue for customers. Would you put a £500 phone in a kiosk that you have noticed isn't working on several occasions?

The strategy is to go ahead with over 300 across the country in the coming months. The benefits are the average price for a device is higher when coming through the kiosk (compared to the site) because we're seeing better, more recent and high end devices rather than clutter from lofts and back of drawers.

But the numbers don't really add up. They're a huge outlay and are really an ancillary stream. Nice to have and they tick over but are in no way the future of the business.

Hi all, first time posting but long time observer and wanted to offer a different perspective on this. Full disclosure - I worked at MM for several years until summer 2022.

The positive comments about CEO Steve Oliver are all true. He's a great guy. A really strong leader and has done things the hard way and deserves every success.

The rest of the leadership team is less appealing. Many are over-promoted way beyond their ability and would not be close to similar positions in any other business. They are longstanding and loyal colleagues but sadly way out of their depth. If there is a fault with Steve Oliver then it is his loyalty to his immediate team. They are often presented with plenty of evidence the sky is blue but will go to great pains to argue, without basis and purely on opinion, to the contrary. After several months of such battles it is no wonder so many staff either give up trying and fall into line or gain employment elsewhere.

It' is also true that the rental scheme does show signs of promise but the traditional business model is held together by sticky tape. I have seen posts from those wishing to pump the price of MMAG highlighting MM's 'proprietary technology' - sadly this is woefully inadequate and requires almost constant maintenance, which stifles any potential innovation, from the technology and IT staff. Of which there is an almost constant revolving door of good, and bad, people leaving. The tenure for IT staff is less than a year which has resulted in painfully inadequate off-shore teams in Ukraine, Romania and Moldova trying to hold things together with often calamitous outcomes. Some of those who are UK based offer hope but the problem of weak leadership and poor culture and spirit often outweigh this.

I have also seen comments offering hope to the SP because of strong uptake in share scheme from employees. This was relentlessly pushed from leadership to us to the point many just took the minimum option. We were sold the idea of healthy returns based on a buoyant and innovative business but the reality is funds are just locked away, with no growth, until departing the business or the term ends. Of course, it is our responsibility to understand this but many lower paid and junior staff do not fully grasp the reality of the markets and are eager to please and so sign up.

All of the above is based on first-hand experience of working at MM for several years, both pre and post public.

I left on good terms and remain friends with a good number of current MM employees but thought it right to address a few misguided comments I've seen on here recently.