Ellen wrote: One wouldn't - there's the rub. In this case, I was assured it could be returned if there were any problems. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. As with anything else you buy on eBay (plants, for sure) you take a chance. What more can I say? Actually, one of the reasons these usually fetch a good price on the used market is that they are relatively abuse-resistant. It's nearly impossible to crash the objectives since the working distance is several inches instead of microns and even if you actually drop it, not too much is damaged since the optical path is relatively insensitive to misalignment. You might want to examine your amber jewelry for minute arthropods that may have gone unnoticed - but don't look too closely at your other jewelry. Tim