Hi Robert,
I was in a similar situation to you last September and came to the conclusion that buying an LP12 from ebay or the like was a bit of a lottery and not necessarily any cheaper. You might get a good one..or you might not and it will almost certainly need setting up properly by someone who knows what they are doing. I almost gave up looking until by complete chance I spotted an advert in the Offers page on Cymbiosis's website where they offer to build an LP12 to a budget you specify. (
https://www.cymbiosis.com/product/li...osis-build/).I should ignore the indicative price as I have seen posts from Cymbiosis on the Linn forum for less.
Anyway some four months later I am the proud owner of a used LP12/Cirkus/Valhalla/Basik Plus/AT95e which I bought from them. I have to say I am delighted with it and the buying experience with Peter Swain was first class and more like an education than a transaction. Peter even sent me photos of the various build stages and spent over two hours with me showing me the finer points of the set up and demoing it too.
I just thought I would mention it as a possible alternative source and hope this helps you. Here is wishing you good luck with your search!
cheers
Chris