You guys should consider creating a social group here on the site for yourselves. It's a great way to keep tract of discussions without having them get lost among the many threads on the main forum. Plus, you can keep the discussions private and exchange info like phone numbers and addresses just among yourselves.
watsonr sounds like a guy with above average integrity, and you need guys of similar character for something like this to work. Most guys on the site are on the up and up, and I think that once these relationships are established, you'll find that you can rely on each other.
The trust that's needed here isn't just with the payment and shipping. You have to trust that the other guy will make the right call when he actually sees the saw if he sees something that wasn't mentioned by the seller.
One glitch I see is that, as has been mentioned, a good saw deal won't last long, and you have to move quick. So, in that sense, everyone is kind of "on call". Not everyone will be able to respond quickly and drive an hour or two to check out a saw, because some of these requests will no doubt come at inconvienent times. That would be my big weakness, I have to admit, so I wouldn't do this myself.
But one thing I've found is that the more buddys you make here on the site, the more access that you have to trade and swap saws. We have a little swap meet at all our GTG's, and most of us know what the other guys are looking for. So, even if you come across something that doesn't interest you, you can grab it for another guy.
The end result is much the same: helping each other locate some interesting saws. But the urgency of chasing a saw deal for another guy, and the chances of something going haywire don't exist.
More buddys= more saws.
Actually I had a friend pick up a cherry 046 from CL for me a couple of weeks ago so I would like to offer to do someone else a favor. I am in zip code 94565 = East Bay Area but make semi-regular trips through Sacramento/Placerville/South Lake Tahoe and would try to help out anyone who has a Cl score in those areas. But I will mention that the deal with my 046 was somewhat convoluted and I had to talk my way into it. It was definitely a money talks deal - someone lost out because I was able to have my friend meet him closer than the other guy...
