If the counteroffer is accepted, use ebay, the seller CAN do a private auction where YOU are the only allowable bidder.

Nevertheless, I would in the future only snipe, ebay has evolved to this, I had a potential deal where the seller had a (as I just recently learned) family member bid the item up, Just by chance I walked into the associated bike shop and overheard the "scam" they were laughing, I was not. I did not pay for the item, one bad mark is where it ended, but better than a financial error. That was one of the only times where I broke my rule and did not snipe. There are a number of sniping programs, esnipe is cheap, it works.

Regarding the rims, the pre Wolber Super Champion 27" rims have for some time been scarse. $200? Well, I did pay over $300. for a pair of tubular rims once, NOS and do not regret it.

Beyond that, often a "second" duplicate item is waiting in the wings, remember it takes two to make a bidding war, and if legit, one of the two has the goods. Many times a duplicate item auctioned later does not fetch the Mt. Everest price. Then again, sometimes it does, the fluke of ebay the best prices at "that moment in time".