Heh, yeah in this first case the optimal economic choice would've been to bid, then lose the auction but get the 10% off code, then buy at slimfoldwallet.com for a price of $18. EDIT: But then again, one point of auctions is that the retail price is not necessarily perfect in the supply/demand curve, and there's nothing inherently wrong with paying a bit more if you value it more (For instance, maybe "I won the first ever shoptheshelf.com auction" was worth $2)

I bought one retail for $20 from his site. Love the Etsy tie-in. I was hesitant about giving payment info to a new auction site, but this helps the trust factor a lot. (May want to emphasize the seller info early on for this reason?)

You bid $22 on an item with a retail value of $20?

http://shoptheshelf.com/auctions/1

It is still lower than the item + shipping on etsy. which is $23.95

I was thinking of commenting that the retail value was $20 and nobody should bid higher than that, but I figured that nobody would... Oops.