I understand that some UK members are a little nervous about buying anything from USA on Ebay because of the shipping and import fees along with the uncertainty of the sellers and also because of the cost of returning anything for a refund should it turn to be a pile of dog poo when you get it. I was one of those people myself once but after honing my skills in detecting a diamond in the rough, careful examination of the photos, description, sellers feedbacks, etc I think I've good it sorted, as this latest stateside purchase will demonstrate that it is possible to pick up some real gems if you're careful.
I purchased from this seller
http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/Express-Equipment-Auctions a HP3468A meter that was advertised as
"SOLD AS-IS / UNTESTED, Unit Is In Good Cosmetic Condition, Minor Wear and Tear
UNIT POWERS ON AND DISPLAY IS FUNCTIONING.
NO FURTHER TESTING DONE."
The display was showing a voltage reading with no leads attached to the inputs but that is a known feature with this kind of meter and is due to the very high input impedance, the rest of the description seemed to be in keeping with the photos and the feedback was impeccable. It should be noted that this was not my first purchase from this seller either, I had a couple of weeks prior bagged a Fluke 8840A that was not quite in as good a condition as the 3468 was because the metal casing had some dents, but the front and rear plastic parts were perfect and so was the meter when I changed the voltage selector to 240v it spring to life and a perfectly usable meter and passed the calibration tests easily.
I was hoping that I was going have myself another great meter that was in calibration (I can calibrate this type with ease if it wasn't) so I took it out of the packing (which is excellent with this seller), opened it up and changed the voltage tappings, gave it a once over for damage or anything wrong, looked OK so powered it up and bingo, it worked and I ran some calibration tests on it and it passed them again, like the Fluke, with ease.
So in the end I got myself an excellent piece of TE for £133.86 shipped and all duty paid that would cost here in the UK far more and when you see the photos, it looks (after I cleaned off all the users ID marks etc) as if it has just been taken out of its box as a brand new meter for the first time, it certainly does not look like a 30 year old meter which it is.
I'm extremely pleased with this meter it sits proudly alongside my other great purchases from both sides of the pond using the same techniques of thoroughly researching the product before looking for suitable rough diamond. My bench is looking great now with gear that looks as if it was purchased new recently, before it was decidedly a mix of rough looking and just about working gear that for years got me by.
Its a great feeling buying something that is either new like my Brymen 867s or something with a little effort can be made to look like new and as an added bonus, needs no repair work being done, thumbs upto that.