Great when that happens. I got a camcorder on the cheap that way at a second hand store. Apparently the view finder was not working but when I had a look, it worked. The person on duty at the counter said quietly it's your lucky day and charged the low price.
You needed to pull the viewfinder an extra little bit to make it active.

Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!