I'll still buy smaller, low value items from the UK, pedals, cables, parts etc, because I have a good forward shipper and very rarely get stung with any extra costs. But I wouldn't buy a bass or any other mid to high value items.
Also, sadly the second hand market here is absolute dross and decent music shops are very thin on the ground. Even when anything decent comes up it's always well overpriced. So now I almost always buy new. Thomann now gets pretty much all my business.
I often drool at the second hand basses in the for sale section here. There are some absolute bargains, but it's just not worth the risk or hassle for me now.