I bought BF a 1960s Coppi on Ebay for Xmas. I showed it to him before making the purchase, he loved it, we knew it would fit, so I made the bid and won. We knew it would need a lot of upgrades, so weren't so concerned about anything but the frame.

In the pic, the frame looked red. It was a huge suprise when we opened the box and out came this beautiful orange. So, know your monitor may not show the true color. If he had his heart set on a red bike, it would have been a bummer, but he was really happy with the color. It's really pretty.

The big disappointment was that the fork was bent, despite having been well packed with lots of styrofoam and a fork protector. Luckily, our LBS had a jig, and the bike is steel, so it straightened right out, good as new. I don't know what we would have done if it didn't work out, but since the issue happened in shipping, I would have asked the seller file a claim with the shipper.

All in all, it was a good experience. The bike was obviously never ridden. It's 40 years old, and doesn't have a spot of rust and all the decals are perfect. We put a bunch of new stuff on it, and it rides like a dream.

Would I do it again...maybe, but it would have to be a really good deal on something not very expensive. I'd really have to trust my instinct about the seller, and weigh whether the risk of getting something not quite what I expect is worth it.