Has anyone talked to the auctioneers to see if the longer auctions and more bidders is costing the auctioneer money?  I would think the increased bids will outweigh the longer time periods.

I find it interesting how people on here and at the actual auctions think they own the profession.  Just in this thread alone people bid up others and admit to bidding each other up in fun.  So that means that in most auctions you are paying more than a true auction because someone is having fun at your expense.  In the long run people bidding up others will get their butt handed to them.  If the guy in this thread had stopped at 1350 or whatever the bid was before you would have eaten 1000 bucks.  See if your "buddy" stepped in to "offer" half then.
In my experience over the years the auction is really for a lottery ticket that you have 2 of 6 certain numbers.  After that you are gambling the rest is like what you see.  You may get the other 4 but in reality you will probably only get 1-2 more.
And when all is said and done treat people like you want to be treated.