Always pay in cash if possible or at least get a cashier's check.
I would look at the overall condition of the key cards particularly and less so at the commons except for high numbers.
Complete sets are much easier to assess from a pricing standpoint.
Many collections like this that are a childhood collection are difficult to purchase at a reasonable price because they look at a Beckett and assume that is what their cards are worth no matter the condition and they want a fairly high % of that number.
I always try to get the seller to establish an initial price and bargain from that point if it makes sense. If you think you can pay $5K and they want $10K, a deal is not likely to take place.
Believe it or not, an acquaintance of mine had his 1951 - 53 Bowman/Topps boy hood collection 4 years ago he decided to sell.
I evaluated it carefully as he left it at my house to look over. It had (2) '51 Mantles in VG condition and (1) '51 Mays in P condition. The total collection was 700 or so cards with many stars. Most of the cards were G/VG with some higher. I offered $10K(The Mantles were only worth $4K each at that time. He told me that was too much but he would take $7500 if that was OK with me and that if I did not make money he would give money back. I assured him I could do OK at $10K but he insisted so I obliged.
The Mantles graded PSA 3 and 3.5 and I got $10K for the two of them which at the time was above market.
I flipped the rest of the deal for another $10K to a dealer so not a bad deal with very little work.
This was obviously the first and likely last time a deal like that takes place.
The seller normally wants twice what I can pay and wholesale deals are hard to close.
Good luck!!
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