To get tranny rebuilt locally.. or get an eBay one?

[ReNxWar]

This is less tech and more just asking everyday advice. My tranny, I assume, took a dump on me last week. It was on its last legs to begin with.. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear grinded and every now and then it would lock me out of all the gears. It finally kicked the bucket completely so out it went.

As soon as I took the shifter off, I was picking pieces of plastic out. I'm not sure what plastic piece was in there to begin with, but it was destroyed. (Here's a question, too..what WAS that?)

Draining the oil, there was so much gunk I had to take a screw driver and swirl it around to loosen it up enough for the oil to come out. With it came what looked like metallic paint there was so much metal in it. Along with previously mentioned gunk.

The question is.. I know the tranny is probably shot. I don't know anything about internals. I've checked out ebay and there seem to be quite a few remanufactured ones ranging from 595$ to 950$. Should I get one of those and call it a day, or should I take it to a local shop? Cotmans, which a friend of mine works at said before I mentioned any of the problems to just get a new one, and that rebuilding it would be a waste of money. I take his word with a grain of salt, though. Also, those who have had manuals rebuilt..how much did it cost you? Thanks.

[Bodhi]

A good buddy bought a transmission from powerdemon.com...it lasted 250 miles before it blew up....company went poof...website is just empty page....phones disconnected....so he had to pay a local shop to rebuild it.

Buying something as important as a transmission from someone online just to save a few bucks is stupid...pay a local shop to do it and they will stand behind it.

[Indy]

Got one for my diesel through ebay 2-3 years ago, actually company was
http://www.phoenixhardparts.com/

worked well and saved money over locals.