I've bought 6 sets (1970-1976) over the past 18 months. I bought the first 4 on eBay. The prices were all over the place. Sellers like Probstein123, PWCC and a 3rd one (New England Sports Cards? Name is escaping me, but they are in Boston) will have higher prices than the average private eBayer. In my experience it's difficult to accurately assess the condition of the cards in a typical eBay listing with the cards in plastic sheets. The better listings that have a breakdown of condition would make me feel more comfortable. In two of the sets I did well and didn't need to upgrade more than a handful of cards. The two other sets needed a lot of upgrades and I probably would have been better off holding out for a higher quality set.
I bought two other sets off a third party specialty auction house, not eBay. I had mixed results there too. The descriptions weren't 100% accurate either, but the prices were much cheaper and seemed more predictable than eBay (no last minute giant spikes in the final bidding minutes).
I am also looking to build a 1968 set one day. I don't see the pre-1970 sets for sale on eBay as often. My strategy this time would be to look at these 3rd party auction houses and pay close attention to the condition of the higher number cards. That is where the costs really go up. You can go on eBay now and follow some of the card sales from GregMorris as he breaks up vintage sets every day and it will give you an idea of what the commons cost.
"In my day" we were all set builders and I've seen it's become a lost pursuit over time. I'm glad to see people wanting to take on the challenge. It's well worth it. I genuinely enjoy reading the backs of the common cards more than I do admiring the Ryans, Aarons and Clementes of the sets.
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