04 Feb 09 how safe to buy laptop in eBay?

I am in USA and need to buy a laptop for my friend in India, So planning to go for eBay USA and ship it to India.

Now the question is,

1. How safe to buy in eBay?
2. Do you think buying in eBay-India will be good rather than buying in eBay-USA?
3. What if I get any repair work in laptop bought in USA after it gets shipped to India ? Does eBay comes into picture here?
4. I can even get laptops for 100$ in eBay, they are second hand, but is it good to go for?

Thanks,
Dileep.

Anibal