When looking to purchase flies from someone on Ebay, I would suggest looking at their feedback and pulling up any recent transcations to get a good look at their feedback and the actual flies they sold. There are a few sellers out there who sell some very nice flies at rock bottom prices. You can either have them put a set together for you with different sizes, based on the pattern they are selling or get into lots of 24, 60 or 120 or more flies that have a bunch of different patterns in the lot. I think I did the match on a set of 120 and with shipping they were .53 each. Go to the fly shop and get some for that price, I dare you!! Some of them you will use, some you wont. But in general, in my experience, 75% of the flies I have purchased in that group are flies I use and have caught fish with. At the prices you get them for, it is still a deal. I doubt I will ever buy commercially sold flies from the major catalog companies or even my local fly shop if I dont have to. Of course if I am in a pinch and they have something I need and dont have, and I am coming back from a frustrating stretch on the water I will buy a few!!! You know how fly fisherman are!!! But, if you take your time, and ask the seller any questions you might have BEFORE purchasing the flies, most of the guys I have dealt with are willing to help out in any way they can. I have stocked up on so many flies in the past year, I am the fly shop for my buddies when we hit the water. I usually have a couple of flies that are in the arsenal for the tailwaters here in Arkansas. I have found most sellers package them very well so they dont get smashed during shipping, and are in a good storage container for the future. So dont be afraid to ask questions, and make sure if you do buy some you are not headed out of town to fish the very next day without the flies getting delivered to you!! Remember, it takes a few days to get things in the mail. I had one seller offer to send them ahead to the place I was going so they would be there when I arrived. He will be getting more of my business. Good Luck!!