Ben wrote:.... Hmmmmm, interesting scenarios, but in both cases, the
buyer still paid what they were willing to pay, no more, no less.
.........

Not necessarily. I've seen more than one high end item re-appear after
the deal fell through, including a couple of items I've sold on eBay.
One $350 item I ended up listing three time before the deal finally
closed.  I expect this happens a lot more than we might guess.