A expert player or dealer to make ALL DECISIONS FOR the fiddle ig.

Even fairly experienced players can find it difficult to make reliable determinations of the playability of a given instrument, and that's a completely different thing than the marketability ($ value) of one.

If it's a good "collection," and if there's reasonable publicity, it's likely that - after the fact - you can assume that a violin from the sale is worth about 80% of what someone will bid for it. While it's just one opinion, I would suggest that an auction of this kind is NOT the place for a neophyte to find a bargain.

If it's just stock from a music store that didn't particularly specialize in "fine instruments," you might be able to get a decent and playable instrument for a reasonable price; but there's no real reason to get one this way unless you're going to play it.

John