I can see the "human nature" side to your 
argument. It is unfortunate that that happens, 
but that is the "nature" of some online auctions, 
especially eBay. It doesn't happen so much in my 
experience with YahooJP or some of the other 
Japanese auction sites, but eBay in the States is 
scary sometimes. You have to keep your guard up 
so much for bad bidding behavior. I have just 
about stopped even dealing with that site as a 
buyer because it gets so nasty at times. If I do 
bid there it is as a last minute sniper, and I am 
usually not alone...what I mean is that I am not 
the only one waiting to place a last moment bid 
in place. So, I usually "snipe" with a big amount 
over the present bid and try to let the other 
side "panic" with their small incremental 
amounts, if they look like they are catching up 
and if I really,really want the cel (usually) or/ 
and if I haven't reached my limit, I continue to 
pad my lead until the "noise" disappears. 
Psychological warfare is what it amounts to. And 
yes, I know that someone is just driving up the 
price out of sheer frustration it seems. It's 
just another aspect of American culture = hating 
to lose at any cost. Americans are very 
competitive and it shows up in their bidding too. 
They throw reason and "sportsmanship" out of the 
window very quickly when they feel they might 
become over powered for what they want. 
Machiavellian principles are very much alive on 
online auctions, so I am not really surprised 
now. The first few times it happened to me I was 
shocked, amazed, and furious, but overtime if you 
have enough experience as both a seller and 
buyer, you get a chance to see it all! ^-^