Prevailing in a competition is a 'win' IMHO. Long tradition, there. And I've 'won' some really nice glass for that price or less. As for eBay addiction... well, I'll have to give it up for the next few months, as I'll be traveling... and I'm close to escaping this wheel of karma, as I've got just about everything I want or need. Right.
ObTopic: Many AF walkarounds are available, really cheap for the risk-averse among us --
so many that I rarely bother with them. So far, I've done pretty well, buying cheap stuff, trying it out, keeping what I like and reselling the rest, with profit margin over 100% on 140 lens and camera sales in the last 8 months. With this approach I can experience a wide range of glass. I've learned that I can't accurately pre-judge a lens by brand or model or hype. Some of those Quantarays and Promasters are quite good; some Pentaxes, ain't.
So what's a good walkaround for under US$150? That's a subject of exploration. Try a bunch and see.