No third bidder.  Just my bid and the previous bidder that I raised.

I have done business with Richie Bros. and everything was disclosed and agreed to up front.

With Purple Wave the conditions were chosen after the fact.  I read and re-read all of the "terms and conditions" and found nothing disclosing a $1,000 charge requirement or the delayed refund time frame.  The demand that was made was "per the terms and conditions" according to the email, but it isn't consistent with what is disclosed before bidding or what is posted on the web site. 

The email was received after I was out bid and the new bid amount has been allowed to stand all day.  That is the rat I'm smelling and a stink that is nauseating me.  Here's the report copied from the auction:

Return - View recent bids for all items in this auction.

I am bidder #69253 and as you can see I put in one proxy bid of $36,000 when the action was at $23,000.  Then the bidder #69150 kept bidding until he had exceeded my proxy and was again the winning bidder.  It looks like I raised it by $13,500 instead of $14,500.  There still isn't another bidder involved with this price discovery.  Yip, that's a rat I'm sniffin'.