Electric Comet writes:

If you look at what's for sale new or used some of the prices are
ridiculous

i guess enough people think that a wood handle and saw blade should
fetch lots of money

And "vintage" saws on ebay and bonanza must be inflated due to some
collector frenzy

complain, complain, complain.

There are reasons that some "vintage" saws command higher
prices, starting with the quality of the steel in the blade,
the stiffness of the back (back/tenon/dovetail), the thickness
and taper of the blade, the set, the tooth grind (rip, crosscut) and
not to be discounted, appearance.

That said, for amateur dovetails, get a stanley dovetail saw
from home depot or lowes for a few bucks; take a ball-peen
hammer and an anvil (or the anvil on a bench vise) and carefully
reduce the set, evenly on both sides. Don't remove the set
entirely, but minimize it. Then test the saw in some end-grain;
if it doesn't follow your line, the set is probably asymmetric and
you'll need to adjust as necessary.