Using eBay to find family memorabilia

I found three letters listed on eBay written by a gr. gr. gr. grandmother.  These letters were written in 1848, 1849 and 1850 to her mother. The letters were being sold by a collector of antique letters, diaries, etc.  The auction for all three letters ended at the same time, so I needed to watch all of them simultaneously.  I was only able to win one of the letters.  The other two were won by a professional collector.  Fortunately, upon request, the seller agreed to scan the other two letters before mailing them to the other winner.  The seller realized that these were personal to me and acknowledged that it is rare that someone can have a personal connection to the various items up for auction.