Ebay's great.
Deals are abundant. Prices and quality may vary a little, but there are great deals to be had on great used gear. It's a lot harder to judge the exact condition of the equipment, than an in-person look. Shipping is an added cost, but often you can bid on local items, and pick them up. The selection of stuff on Ebay is virtually unlimited, with respect to Tascam and everything else. Tascam's entire legacy can be found floating around on Ebay.
Me, I'm an Ebay/Tascam POWER BUYER, haha.
I've gotten literally DOZENS of pieces of nice gear, all on EBAY, all this year. It's a pretty great system, and like everything else on the web, it gives gear acutions a global visibility. If you follow Ebay, you can get some great deals on low-use equipment. Even older machines that may have problems, only need minor maintenance. Good, high quality pictures on the Ebay auctions really do show the general condition of the gear, overall. Things like head wear are harder to estimate, but I've even seen some clear pics of recording heads, too. On some, I'd say, "Wow, low use, cherry deck!". On viewing other pics of other recording heads, I could say, "Yikes, head wear!". Pictures of the actual recording heads is most common on 1/2" or 1" decks, typically not on cassette decks.
I'll close now, but I agree with the above post, that the 424mkIII, and practically any other Tascam, can be found on Ebay. Overall, I think Ebay is a great place to shop for vintage gear. Deals abound.
As for me, I've bought a LOT of great usd gear on Ebay, but for the 424mkIII, the current top-of-the-line Portastudio, I wanted a NEW deck, and for $350/GC, you just can't beat it. I remember the 244 originally cost ~$1100, in it's day. Price/performance ratios in Tascam Portastudio recording technology has TRIPLED since 1982.
Of all the recording gear I now have, I've only bought 5 pieces as brand new items. The Tascam 244 ['82], 38/M30 ['83], 424mkII ['97], and now, the 424mkIII ['01].
Buying used, vintage, legacy recording equipment is great, no doubt. Price/performance ratio is way up on used vintage gear, also.
Still, it felt really good to pick up a brand new Tascam, for a change. That's great, and the 424mkIII is a great machine. I just couldn't resist. haha. Send me to Tascam Anonymous. Haha.
Ebay's still a great place to shop for recording gear of all sorts.
I'll meet you out there, later.