Woah!!

Right now, it's a very good deal. However, there are no bids in yet. If you're familiar with ebay, you'll know that the real action won't happen until the last five minutes of the auction. By auction's end, it might not be such a good deal.

Now, I'm completely clueless regarding world coins. I have no basis to advise you regarding the individual value of any coin in that lot. I will say that, from my standpoint, a little extra value can be assigned just because the "collecting" work has been done for you - consider the time and effort it would take to assemble over 300 coins from many different countries.

I looked into the seller's feedback and found it encouraging. Seems like someone I'd be willing to do business with. Only one Neutral feedback over almost 6000 transactions, and only one mutual withdrawl. That indicates someone who is selling what they say they are.

With that impression, I would take his word when he says most coins are worth between US$0.50 and $3.00. "A few higher" isn't statistically significant enough to change my idea of the overall worth. Since he has that number figured out, it can be safely assumed that he's gone over every coin in the lot. That would lead me to conclude that the average value is closer to $0.50 than $3.00. Otherwise, the seller would probably protect himself with a Reserve or larger oopening bid. Another consideration is that the seller appears to be a world coin specialist - you can assume that his opinions are accurate in the sense that if he's listing it cheaply, it's cheap.

So, if it were me, I'd arbitrarily assign an average value of US$0.75 per coin, and consider between $250 and $300 to be an appropriate bid for the lot. What one is willing to pay is totally subjective, though, so if you were to decide $1/coin is appropriate, I'm in no position to question that.

Do not get caught up in "auction fever." If you're going to bid on these coins, decide on the price you're willing to pay, and watch that auction like a hawk for the last ten minutes. The moment that bids exceed your set price, walk away. There are many more coins where these came from.

I am a sniper - I do not bid until the last fifteen seconds of any auction. Usually the last 5 seconds. That practice is considered a little immoral in some circles - to me, it's just good business. If you want to acquire coins from ebay at a reasonable price, I would advise you to do the same as I. Just be prepared to lose a lot of auctions.

Yes, it *could* be a good deal. It also *could* end up to be a good deal for the seller. That's up to you and the others who choose to bid.

Kid, on first blush, it looks like a fairly good deal, at least at its start price. If it were me, I'd not bid on it right now, watch it for the next couple days, and put in a last second snipe bid rather than start a bidding war and try to get it for the minimum. If someone bids on it in the interim, I'd adjust my snipe bid up to the point as suggested by SuperDave. Including shipping, I wouldn't want to put more than $125 into it.

Fred