I like eBay. I can buy stuff there at prices I'd never see anywhere in town or the state unless I'm willing to spend many, many hours of my time searching. But once you figure in the cost of the time spent looking, the possibility of getting a "deal" goes way down.

If you think a shill has outbid you on something, just laugh at the poor seller who has to pay eBay a percentage of that shill bid. I doubt the RB-1 was won by a shill, people go crazy when one of those hits the market. Funny, if they'd sold this well back in the 90's, Grant might still be selling Bridgestones and Rivendell wouldn't exist.

I've been to coin auctions where bidders went crazy over walking Liberty half dollars; bidding way over even red book prices or what the seller was asking for the day before in his store.

Houses that sat unsold for months at price X sell at auction for X + 20%X as bidders get caught up in the excitement. That's why good auctioneers are well paid.

Like others have said, do your homework on the price and don't bid more than what you want to pay.