Ha, ha, ha! Just strikes me as funny, I got the same rack on the same auction as you. (What's really funny is that I bid $15 on the same rack a week ago on another Dutch auction by the same retailer, and was outbid.) I also got a Vistalight rear flasher for 3.99 and a Blackburn frame pump for 4.99, and since they are all from the same guy (e-Discount Bike) I only have to pay the $8 shipping for the rack. That's another good way to get a bargain, buy a few items from the same person and they will almost always let you combine shipping.

I agree, the ridiculous prices usually come about by a combination of overstatement from the seller and ignorance from the buyer. I, too, have paid too much on occasion (the guy selling the Willow soundtrack said it was out of print, and I bid about $30 as a newbie....later found it on Amazon.com for $12! Now I check prices first.)

I also agree with Cycletourist that it's a wonderful place to get books. I found three books I've been looking for for years, and bid unopposed for them. (Hardcovers of Mistress Masham's Repose by TH White, Once On A Time by AA Milne, and The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine by Frank Stockton. I also got Animation in 12 Hard Lessons for $41--I was bid against--and the lowest I saw that on the used-book search sites was about $90.)