[Snapolit1]

I too am very interested in the dynamics of auctions. Should have studied economics. Really interesting stuff.

It seems like the driving force behind some many of these larger purchases is "gee lot of other people think this a totally hot shit card so it much be." If something is dead it must be dead for a reason; and if it's on fire getting lots of bids it must be a great great thing. Sort of the same mentality at the horse races. I had a friend who was heavy duty horse player and he never even bothered to learn the basics of reading the racing form. His strategy was always watching the board, and monitoring what others were doing. This always struck me as crazy (and not a lot of fun), but it is the same kind of decision making that drives a lot of crowd based decisions these days. If Amazon Prime says this is a great deal it must be kind of stuff. Of course the same mentality holds for stocks. People chase winners and often times chase it way too late, and the real gains may already be cooked in.