I guess most of us have a horror story. I bought an A3000 that came so bent out of shape that the case is useless, the PSU was broken, and chips were laying all over the interior of the "package". I kept it, because it had 3.1 ROMs (that somehow survived) and most of the chips were the latest versions (DMac, etc.) but I still don't have a working A3000.
I'm afraid to purchase computer parts from an individual these days!