I tend to believe that there are eBay "partnerships" working together to build up the price. For example, a couple weeks ago, I bid on a chip and it went up to almost $90. The next week, the same seller listed either another chip or the same one from the original listing, and it bid up to only $21. Very strange if there are 9 "bidders" on the first and this second one, there were 7 I believe, but still. Makes you wonder, especially since the timeframe was so close. What would account for the $70 difference on the exact same item, within a week apart? It's not like the chip lost that much value or gained in a week or all those bidders found one!? This happens on other things I collect, such as antique bottles as well. I even commented to one seller after I lost almost all the auctions (and I bid high on some of them that would pretty much guarantee a win in the past year) that I must be biding against Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or the likes. Seller was really quiet about it and avoided the statement. Hmmm...…

Also, another thing I believe is that a bidder just "doesn't want to lose". It doesn't make sense to bid, say, $100 for an ounce of silver when it is, say, a 2018 American silver eagle, when it is realistically valued around $18-20 give/take. You lose your you know what on this and will never recoup your initial investment. Unless your not filthy rich, I guess this doesn't matter how much you pay for something!