Fortunately for me, my experience has been better than Zach's buying from ebay.
It may be that I often looked for parts planes and found good users. My experience with this came from discovering that it was often less expensive to buy a complete plane with good handles than it was to buy just the handles. I kept bidding on planes with bad pictures but able to tell the handles were in good shape to get some replacement handles. Some of the planes were just dirty and are now among my users.
There is a lot of information here on SMC in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...al-wisdom-FAQs
Here is a list of links you may want to check before taking any money out of you wallet:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ne-information
Since this post, Walt at Brass City Records has added some information. (I hope someday to again do business with Brass City Records. My only experience was before I was into woodworking when I bought a hard to find recording he had.)
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...gs-to-Look-For
This thread just kept growing. Even with all of this information available to buyers, there are folks who will hide damage and picture angle can hide defects. Sometimes it is unintentional. There are a lot of people who hit yard sales every week looking for something they can make a profit on by reselling. Often these folks do not know much about the items they buy and sell. They only know enough to get them to buy something that looks old. Remember, for someone that is 20 a tool that was made in 1980 is an antique.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...Rehabilitation
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...nes-(Big-File)
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ker-to-Jointer
Most of the common items on ebay are like busses, if you miss one, there will another in due time.
If there is an item on ebay you are interested in, I do not mind taking a look to give my opinion. Just send a PM with the listing number as early in the auction as possible.
This will allow you to send questions to the seller if any come up.
In the past I have found that it is not a good idea to deal with someone who doesn't respond to questions or for some reason can not supply more pictures of an item. This is not an absolute. It is all in the feeling one gets from the seller when asking questions.
After just now taking a quick look at the listings on ebay, with their starting prices and shipping, it seems you might be better off looking for a yard sales in your area.
You might also try Want To Buy adds in a local classifieds paper if there is one in your area or even Craigslist.
Finally, you can count on getting decent deals from Walt at Brass City or Patrick Leach at Supertool.com.
Happy Hunting,
jtk