Please don't fall for behind the scene auctions

I realized that the thread has somewhat turned into yet another complaint about auction-y posts, but my gripe was much more specific. In both given scenarios, the trades posted were NOT vague, yet once going into discussion, they became auction-y, where the person ISO wanted to get more than what was offered up FT originally.

I'm not sure how my trade count, experience, and knowing "what everything is worth" affected what I cautioned the trade community not to fall for other than what I further explained in post #3, that even with extensive experience, I too, fell for behind the scenes auctions.

A side note, I generally know roughly what a beer can get, should get, and may get. It's also not difficult to figure out what beers are on similar trading level so you don't really have to spend a bunch of time on trade boards to know what trades for what. For the most part, I stick with $4$ between similarly sought after beers and make up any significant difference in easy locals. Other than that, I am very patient, build trade relationships (if you looked at my trade count, you may have noticed the number of repeat trades), and/or wait for a trade posted that I feel is fair, rather than going overboard and throw 1/2 of my cellar out for any bottle.