This story about an impromptu auction at a swap seems perfectly normal to me.
An owner is entitled to get what he or she can for their goods, and if someone's willing to pay the freight, I see no problem with people making multiple counter-offers in an effort to get a bike.
Had the owner put a firm price on the bike, and I was first in line, and I had my cash out ready to pay, and *then* someone came up and offered more, that might be rather annoying (the owner didn't ask for an offer, they set a price..that's the difference to me)...but, you know, even then, the owner is entitled to get when they can for their stuff, and if someone else is willing to lay out the money, then so it goes (the phrase really should be all's fair in love, war, and commerce----)
But, I will tell you what *does* bug me in this connection. When there's a bike for sale, offers are sought, and some do-gooder decides to tell the owner that their bike/part is worth some huge amount of money, but said do-gooder is not willing to *pay* that for said item. That really rubs me the wrong way. Now the seller has what is very likely an inflated sense of what their stuff is worth, and I have to try to put him or her back in touch with reality in the course of negotiations. I've had this happen to me more than once, and I must confess, *that* is very annoying.
Charles "what's the equivalent of *caveat emptor* for a seller?* Andrews SoCal
"...logic is man's most destructive illusion. All thinking is done with the glands, and the logic part gets stuck on afterward to neaten things up."
-- John D. MacDonald