I haven't watched eBay for quite some time now, but from the rant in the OP it looks like nothing much has changed during the past ten years.
It depends on the items. Back then there was only a few great sellers from Finland (or maybe it's always been the same), who had really great deals. I got my Keithley 2015 THD this way - I think it was less than €400,- - but it was not easy to find comparable deals within Europe.
My RF signal generator Anritsu MG3633A came from Finland as well - nothing even remotely comparabe was available in the rest of Europe.
When I needed more precision and accurcy than my standard lab-DMM (Picotest M3500A = Keithley 2100), which I had baught new, was capable of, I had to order from the US to get a Keithley 2001. I bought two of them from different sellers, neither was a proplem since eBay/PayPal already had the customs service included back then, so there was basically no difference compared to local deals - except for the higher price and shipping costs.
If rediculous shipping costs are quoted, then I assume the seller doesn't want to do international business and I simply ignore the offer. There have always been plenty of reasonable dealers on eBay.
In any case, the most important thing back then (as well as most likely now) is patience. Set up a search for the item you want and just wait. At one point you will get an eMail that hints on a decent unit for a reasonable price, even if it takes weeks or even months.