Well, most stuff on Ebay had incredibly high shipping, so be aware of that. Secondly, pay very close attention to the power connector, or fans, if you want those. a 9-pin power connector seems to be standard, but kepe in mind that is EXACTLY the same shape as a PS/2 connector. Have a child plug it in by accident and ZAP. Just one thing to keep in mind.
You say you want a 5.25" one, so I won't comment on what to look for in a 3.5" enclosure. For a 5.25", usually there are two types: ones with the power supply embedded (standard computer power supply cable) and those with it external (power brick, that PS/2 connector). They may or may not have a fan. It's your call on that. For USB chipsets, here is the order from best to worst, according to the Intar-web:
Prolific - best, 300gb drives I believe, and even firmware flashable (supposedly)
Cypress - OK enough, but not at flashy as the Prolific. May only have 250GB limit.
Ali - Crappy, as they have overheating problems, and data loss can result. Usually found in the cheapest enclosures
For Firewire, try to get Oxford 911, that is proven. I don't know of any REALLY crappy firewire chipsets though. Also, you won't be very happy with a crappy plastic enclosure, at least from my experience, so try to find a nice metal one, or a rugged plastic one. The Bytec ones are plasticy, whereas other ones by AMS (Venus series) are robust. You get what you pay for, usually.
Prices for decent enclosures, you should be able keep USB 2.0 only under $28 shipped, USB+Firewire under $35. It is possible to get them that cheap, but they aren't as good as the best quality. You pay more, you get better, solid metal construction, etc.
Facebook
Twitter