Dropped $180 on a used tile saw from a guy in Mesa and it paid for itself on one backsplash job
So I picked up a beat up 10 inch wet saw off a guy in Mesa for $180, thinking it was probably a waste since the blade looked rough. Ended up using it on a kitchen backsplash in Tempe last month, and it cut through 12 porcelain tiles without chipping a single edge, which my old rented saw never did. The fence was bent though, so I had to rig a straight edge with clamps, kind of a pain. What's your cutoff for buying used tools vs just eating the rental fee? I'm at like $150, anything under that I'll gamble on it.
Funny thing, I bought a used bench grinder off Craigslist years ago for like $40 and the guy threw in a box of random wheels. Half of them were cracked and one basically exploded on me first time I fired it up, scared the daylights out of me. Ever since then my rule got more about the seller than the price, if the person seems like they actually used the tool and took care of it, I'll go higher. Some dude in Mesa selling a saw that still cuts clean tells me more than a shiny new one at the store. My cutoff is probably closer to $200 now but it depends what it is, stuff with blades or spinning parts I get picky about.