GB's correct, no one's pointing a gun to our heads when we go shopping at CL and eBay, so no logical reason to buy any bike or component we like everytime we find it. I know it's hard to let go of something you might have been looking for for a long time and let the deeper pockets take the prize, but I found out that making sure you delete the item from you Favorite's list helps a lot to forget it quickly and move on.
We all feel the frustration of spiralling prices that don't seem to have any good basis other than maybe buyer feeding frenzies, but there's really nothing we can do other than vent once in a while.
Heck, maybe 100 dollar+ retrofriction shifters won't sound too expensive in a couple of years anyway, once we get used to it.

Chombi