Am I the only one who is mystified by this? There are three days left to go in an auction on ebay…3 people have been outbidding one another for the last two days in an attempt to "win." The only one winning is the seller as the price goes up and up. Is there any reason why we wouldn't wait until 5 minutes, or as I do, 1 minute left to go in the auction? There is a zero percent chance someone will "win" bidding one, two or three days in advance, yet that whole model is predicated on people acting irrationally.

If you think this doesn't happen in B2B negotiations, have you ever been part of a reverse auction or watched competitive bidding drive down pricing and give away free service until there is no margin left in the deal for the "winner?"