Tonight I stumbled over what ended up being a deal, or at least a "buy" that hit dead on my target "1/7th of retail" zone. I ended up winning sixteen auctions for a total of 37 cards (13 holos and 24 reverse holos), and was thrilled to find that the shipping for the whole mess was just $3.00! Frankly, the starting bids on these (especially the individual holo cards) were pretty much at my threshold, but I knew from previous experience that the seller was very fair on shipping charges, although they don't list them in their auctions (which, I suspect, scares off a lot of bidders). However, knowing that the seller doesn't soak buyers on shipping, I went ahead and bid on a lot more stuff that I probably would have othewise. And I only had to go over the minimum on one item (a block of reverse holos from the Emerald set).
There is a certain pleasant smugness waiting when one gets a card for 99¢ which is listed on various "retail" sites anywhere from $7.00 to $24.99 ... it certainly feels like one's had a "successful hunt"!