I was wondering what would be a reasonable price for the following book:

The Peoples of Middle-earth. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, [September] 1996. xiii, 482 pp., [1] plate. (The History of Middle-earth; 12) ISBN 0-261-10337-7. Hardback in dustwrapper. Not illustrated.

Looking through AbeBooks I see prices from GBP240 all the way up to GBP1000+.

Recently a copy went away on Ebay for GBP351.02. This one was in Very Good to Near Fine condition judging by the photos I was send. It had a printed price of GBP25 on the dustwrapper and was not price clipped.

I didn't win this auction and now the seller (100% feedback) has contacted me stating that he is sorry I didnt win the bidding and that his brother is willing to sell a similar copy for GBP351. Sounds a little bit fishy to me :)

Anyway despite the inflated prices listed at Abebooks my guess this book is worth anywhere between GBP200-300. What do you think?