Plenty of good deals to be had on here, just have to bide your time.
Another option is to figure out what you are wanting and then post up a WTB thread. A lot of times there are people like me who have been intending on listing things, but...
For those old items that still worked the last time you used them, you're likely better off using the Perpetual Freebies thread to get rid of them for the price of shipping. You can even put up things that do not work, clearly disclose that of...
I would say methods haven't changed much since back in the day. I typically avoid eBay for the same reasons, eBay's cut along PayPal taking a cut as well. I use eBay as a reference point and drop of 10%-15% or so for fees associated with eBay...