So they sell the part, then they sell what you need to make it work separately? Or do they have a non-working part on their site, and a working part that you can get if you ask nicely and know the secret handshake?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=320127338

did this guy get his pictures switched around or.....?

(1200.00 does sound reasonable though)just kidding

Dunno 'bout $1200...
Mismatched, pitted (I think I can see some rust, too.), Military barrel extension (I think the listing's title is misleading, but maybe you gotta call it a 20's commercial because that's what the frame is from.), refinished toggles, at least, and I don't think the grips are even OEM.
If it started out at around $600, then you'd have something. For $1200, it'd have to match and be in exquisite shape, IMHO.
But the market for these Parabellum pistols may be the most crazy of them all. I'm thinking that with millions of them still existing, most that buy and sell and shoot them are not forum members, and thereby deprived of much useful information and advice about what a particular example should look like and sell for, based on authenticity and condition. The result is definitely a free-for-all kind of market based on urban legends, emotional desires, and speculation. So, the more you love the pistol, the greater the potential to suffer when you see Bubba-fied Lugers priced over $3000, according to whatever agenda, at a gun show.

Numrich, Saamco, etc, I quit buying from them except as a last resort...

Lugers at RIAC, so far. Non-Lugers (Ermas, etc) came from G.B, another forum, and Kull's and some other more obscure online auctions. I bought them all as shooters. I have a couple Lugers that are matching but have at least one other issue, and only one (LP.08) that is original finish, nice shape--except for the ground off stock lug.
I've bought springs from Numrich, Sarco, Bob's, and Lugerdoc. Other parts from Lugerdoc, eBay, G.B., online classifieds and auctions. Sometimes I've mentioned my interests to the sellers of some guns or items with the result of my being able to buy other parts from them at decent cost. I've bought a few doo-dads from a few other forum members here, G.T., Hugh, the latest is a holster for my 1911 from Boll Lyon.
I've so far had nothing but good experience with brother forum-ites. The rest, neither good not bad. Well, maybe a little bad at RIAC for a non-gun item--but I don't heavily blame them, mostly myself. Sometimes I get a bit of a deal, sometimes I fork over full "retail", whatever that is, for something I want.

Opportunity for buying in person is really limited for me, but I need to seek and attend more local as possible gun shows, however small or obscure, to perhaps change this. I could also post an ad in the pennysavers and newspaper to maximize my chances of encountering more.