I purchased a CD transport and DAC (CAL Delta + Alpha, both of which I still own) off a local seller via eBay in 2001. When I arrived at his house to pick up th e goods, he showed me his new speaker find that he got off some obscure website called Audiogon. He asked me if I'd ever heard of it. "No, what's that?" I asked. He told me that it's a great website for getting nice gear.
That simple piece of advice over the years has cost me more money than this economic downturn has taken out of my 401k. But it's been fun.
Michael