There are two categories of used audio purchases that require higher-than-normal caution: tonearms, and cartridges. Hence, a major concern occurs to me: what happened to break off the finger lift? My question is not academic, as the structural integrity of the tonearm is vital to its performance.
Was the tonearm dropped, or did someone pull up too hard on the lift? Unless there was some metal fatigue or other flaw in the metal (highly unlikely, given Rega's QA procedures), the RB-300 tonearm is a single-piece casting and quite rigid (one of the reasons it is such a good tonearm). If the finger lift was broken as a result of rough treatment, the tonearm tube could have been torqued (and thus be slightly out of alignment), or the bearings and/or bearings race could have been damaged. The bearings in the Rega arms are very close tolerance (again, one of the reasons their arms are so good for the price), and if their tolerance has been disturbed, the arm may not track correctly, or may have undesirable resonances not present in an undamaged model.
Aside from the issue of the resale value of this tonearm, I personally would be very leery about buying this unit and would wait for another one to come on the market that is known to be in excellent condition. (I own a Rega RB-900 arm that I bought used several years ago here on A-gon, and I deliberately waited to buy from someone that could give me solid assurance about the tonearm's condition. My patience was repaid by getting a tonearm that was in pristine shape, and it has given me flawless performance and great pleasure.)
I am in no way casting aspersions on the seller, or his honesty, in my remarks. My comments are meant solely from the perspective of "caveat emptor". If you conduct "due diligence" by having the tonearm inspected by an authorized Rega dealer and determine that the tonearm is not damaged (except for the finger lift), then perhaps a low price might justify the purchase.
Was the tonearm dropped, or did someone pull up too hard on the lift? Unless there was some metal fatigue or other flaw in the metal (highly unlikely, given Rega's QA procedures), the RB-300 tonearm is a single-piece casting and quite rigid (one of the reasons it is such a good tonearm). If the finger lift was broken as a result of rough treatment, the tonearm tube could have been torqued (and thus be slightly out of alignment), or the bearings and/or bearings race could have been damaged. The bearings in the Rega arms are very close tolerance (again, one of the reasons their arms are so good for the price), and if their tolerance has been disturbed, the arm may not track correctly, or may have undesirable resonances not present in an undamaged model.
Aside from the issue of the resale value of this tonearm, I personally would be very leery about buying this unit and would wait for another one to come on the market that is known to be in excellent condition. (I own a Rega RB-900 arm that I bought used several years ago here on A-gon, and I deliberately waited to buy from someone that could give me solid assurance about the tonearm's condition. My patience was repaid by getting a tonearm that was in pristine shape, and it has given me flawless performance and great pleasure.)
I am in no way casting aspersions on the seller, or his honesty, in my remarks. My comments are meant solely from the perspective of "caveat emptor". If you conduct "due diligence" by having the tonearm inspected by an authorized Rega dealer and determine that the tonearm is not damaged (except for the finger lift), then perhaps a low price might justify the purchase.