Mark, while what you say is true for "most" cars, this sale represents the beauty of the internet for guys that are "finishing" a car. The simple items are the worst...... Yes, this was a crazy amount for an air cleaner, but if it is an air cleaner to a car that is selling in the $200K range.....is it worth it? Could it make the car "appear" to be worth more money now?
One of the special Goose only idler pulley brackets popped up on ebay this week.....for $99 starting bid. Is it worth it? I'd say that if you are missing/needing one to move your car project forward, and you have exhausted all of the usual suspects that may have one...then yes, it may be worth it.
How much to pay a machinist to cut one out for you at $65 an hour?? Hmmmm....
The Mustang world went thru this phenomenom when eBay started, and all the parts for Boss & CJ Mustangs went thru the roof. All the low buckers complained....how they should have bought one last week....blah blah blah....but for the guy sitting there with a project car missing a shvanzenheimer valve thingy to be able to call the car finished....he'd gladly pay high dollar to find this part!
If you think back to pre-ebay days, all you had was the Hemmings Motor news, local swap meets, and a few large national meets to try and find parts....and clubs.
All you could do was spend money and time searching, writing letters or calling, and at best, "hope" that you stumbled across a part somewhere, or that someone would have pity on you and turn a piece loose from their inventory. (How many times have you come home empty handed from a swap meet..nothing rare or needed found?)
I think that is what happened here....someone turned a piece loose from their inventory.....it's just that instead of paying for air fare, hotel, meals, rental car, beer, etc, all buyers had to do now was use your keyboard to buy the part......still may have cost the same in the end! Beer would still be optional........
Ciao!
Steve