That's a good chunk of change to spend on a built up dana 30, but it should be pretty stout. I'd try to see if you can get him under $850 or so. A big thing is whether or not it has manual hubs, nice strong u-joints like CTMs or OX and only then would I say yeah, it is close to $1K, but that you could do much better with getting a Waggy dana 44 and building it up. It's up to you, but if I had that $ into a front axle, I'd want to feel good about it going in a dana 44, 60 or something else rather than a polished factory axle.
In summary, I'd only get it if it has manual hubs, strong alloy aftermarket u-joints and other bling things.
Troy