That was my bid. I'm going to study your argument until I understand it, I'm not much of a strategic thinker! But in the meantime, let me explain the reasoning behind my bid:
First, I'd be willing to pay $20 each - although after I placed the bid, I began to wonder if the cells inside are in very good shape, I've had brand-new NiCads that got "frosty" over time even though they were never used!
Second, since it is a dutch auction, everyone whose number of lots bid on are among the 100 highest lots bid on will get them at the lowest bid among that group of bids - I have that right, don't I? If not, I'm very sorry! I have just tried to insure that I will be among the highest 100 lots bid on. And since I'm trying to avoid spending too much time on Ebay every day (compulsive disorder!) and since my ISP connection often mysteriously locks up at the last moment when I try to snipe, I just wanted to bid once and wait till the auction is over.
In the scenario you describe, if the person who bid on 95 lots opts out, why isn't that treated like a retraction? Is it because Ebay is out of the picture at that point? I can see that it is a different case from an auction for 1 lot, where I was the second highest bidder, and the highest bidder decided not to buy, and the seller then contacted me - in that case, I would know something happened to the winner so I wouldn't pay his winning bid, in fact I would only be willing to pay one increment more than the third highest bid, as if the winner hadn't bid at all.
But in the case you describe, since I thought I won my lots, I wouldn't know if the big bidder opted out unless the seller told me.
Wait a minute - if that big bidder opted out, how does the seller avoid paying Ebay the commission on those items without notifying Ebay (suppose there was just the 95 lot bid and a bid for 5), and if Ebay is notified, why don't they treat it as a retraction?