I've had excellent results buying electronics on eBay, including a phone recently. I only bid on items I can pick up personally and inspect before closing the deal - which means local or, once, a reasonable stop-over on a trip. For popular items like this you should be able to narrow your search to an acceptable distance of wherever you are, still find a good choice, then e-mail the sellers to find out if they'll work that way instead of shipping it in case you win the auction or go for the Buy It Now price. (You also save shipping charges, get it quicker, and eliminate the chance of it breaking in transit - but those aren't usually a real reason to do it.)