Storage Wars is exactly what the first post made me think of. That show illustrates a lot of bidding psychology. In addition to the Dave Hester thing you have Jarrod, especially in the early seasons, deciding what his max bid is going to be but then actually bidding a lot more than that because his desire to win the auction overrides the price limit he had set for himself. The best way to win an auction against someone like that is to let him think he's going to win the auction at a low price until the last minute and then snipe him. If two Jarrods are in the auction early, sometimes all you can do is sigh and wait for the next one.