yea, I took a "bath" several times buying crap at swap meets - some people just don't give a crap.. they just want the parts gone and will sell it to anyone with the $$ - buyer beware all the way! it is definitely part of the learning curve..
The universe balances out tho.....for everytime I got taken advantage of on a deal because I didn't know what I was doing ......I have also had some mega awesome deals come my way as well.
I figure God is an accountant and it will all come out in the end.