Good question, Pete. I regard an auction being nothing more than a buyer telling a seller how much he is willing to pay for his item. As with anything I buy, I know my limit, as I would think most buyers would know theirs. In this respect I feel that I'm not "bidding against" anyone or "outbidding anyone" but simply attempting to make my purchase either below or exactly at my limit. Nothing else enters my mind as to who else may want to purchase the same item, as it's of no concern to me as it is no concern to me what the person in the supermarket checkout line is buying. Of course I'm just as normal as anyone else (I hope) and use restraint should human emotion enter the picture causing a complex reaction. <g> The thing that I don't understand pertaining to auctions is why some potential bidders concern themselves with a seller's reserve...unless, that is, they have no idea as to what they are willing to pay for a certain item, as it's quite difficult to overbid in an eBay reserve auction or any other auction for that matter if one knows what they're willing to pay. AND, I guess that's where some problems can begin to come into effect when a buyer doesn't really know how high to bid trying to find a bargain and getting caught-up...it's eBay's dream. I don't feel the word "loyalty" has anything to do with what I'm willing to pay for something; to powerful of a word to belong here. It does make one kind of wonder, though, as to how low the price of some chips would be if very few of us bid on them because someone else we know was. <g> Which could lead up to another very good question regarding bidding and what may or may not be legal or pimitted by eBay.

JB