I can get a Zenith Trans-ocienic that the seller say's does this: The radio lights up and hums. Every once in a while, it seems like it wants to tune in a station
is this an easy fix?? or should I stay away...I don't know much about tubes...will the bad tube show itself? like a blown lightbulb? or are they more complicated than i think?

My advice would be to ask yourself why the seller is selling such a highly-prized unit. Also, is this information contained in the description or has he answered a question asked by yourself & if so has he made his answer available to all to see, if not you can be sure it's a big issue.

Unless it's not an eBay deal then please forgive my overwhelming caution.

It's e-bay...and It was in the description...that's why I quoted it (even though I forgot quotations hahah)but i forgot to mention it's the Trans-oceanic 1000 not an older tube type..my mistake...i was thinkin they still had tubes in them...i looked inside the pic. they provided for viewing the item, and it looks foreign to me...I wouldn't know where to start...I had assumed that it was a tube set cause of the key word "Hummmm"...that is usually a tube set...i have bought a couple Tube radios as collectables kinda, and I recall the sellers all mentioning weather or not they hummm..and I alway's asked that before bidding on it.
Is there a better place to buy old Boomboxes and transistor radios besides e-bay? I'd be open to the thought. The thing with e-bay there is some accountability for the most part...if a seller has a 100% positive feedback rating there more likel;y not to want to mis-lead...I steer clear of newbie sellers lookin to rip people off in most cases...(Unless it's a dirt cheap item worth more to me, then I'll gamble hahha)...

In my opinion if we are talking about a tube type radio then the hum is caused by bad filter capacitors. These always go bad- always. A cheap and easy fix by someone qualified.

Looks like a tech guy needs to look at it.
So you might need to spend some more to get it fixed.

If your not tech minded, i would leave well alone. Anything electronic can be a pain in the a*se if it's not working correctly and you don't know what your doing save your money for a box that's described as fully working or stick to clockwork

YEAH...I came to my sences...

Find a tech guy in your area.
Tell him you want to get stuff on ebay
and might need some fixing.
Show the type of boomboxes etc you want
fixed and see if he can do it.

I called him and he will only do CB's...and HAM radios. I guess that there's enough business around here to be selective about which work he'll do and not do...You'd think he'd take any business available to pay for the overhead in the big store he has- but i guess not...he won't let a TV into his shop...say's he's never touched a TV and never will...oh well..

10-4 good buddy.

I guess a cassette tech would be difficult to find these days.