Buying used dosen't have to be buying some one elses problems, here is a brief guide to help seperate the sweet deals from the "do I know a good lawyer" deals. #1 Know your seller- Ebay makes it easy and although it is not neccesary to only buy from 100% Feedback sellers, good judgement and sometimes reading the comments helps. There are five types of sellers, it might help to determine (if possible) A.) Distributor of remanufactured products B.) Distributor of bulk/customer returns C.) Hobby seller, may have several of the same type of item even a store, noted by lower feedback and fewer listings. D.) Garage sale/estate sale sellers, noted by several unrelated items, usually have less knowledge of items listed E.) Regular Guy, selling his one off, sometimes a little optimistic about condition #2 Know your product- eBay completed item search, Google, sometimes Amazon and Pricegrabber, etc.. they all let you know price and satisfaction of buyers #3 Know the tricks, here are a few A.) untested: means it dosen't work B.) Worked great last time I used it (back in 92?) it's broke C.) Small picture/no picture but looks great (he's blind, it looks awful) D.) As-is: broken E.) selling for a friend (blame him, it dosen't work) F.) buy now or it will be gone (my money dosen't leave my pocket that fast, I'll pass. Optimistic buyers are often taken advantage of but asking all the questions not listed or even if you don't like the phrasing, ask for clarification. If it can it will and if you do you won't so good luck and buy lots of stuff but check, ask and know and all your purchases will be great.