It's called market-value and it is indisputable.

Sometimes I see a used S&W that I want but what I am willing to pay is a ways away from its actual selling price. I may like the gun a great deal, but I just do not think the current price is "reasonable," according to my own built-in price barometer. The actual buyer thinks the price is reasonable enough that he pulls the trigger. This doesn't unduly influence me, much less make me consider another interest! I have been shooting, buying, tinkering with, and generally immersed in, S&W revolvers all of my life. During that period I have been out-spent over and over and over again by others with more money and/or more desire. I would never expect it to be otherwise. Don't see the current situation as anything really new - just accelerated by the electronic media, which we all enjoy. That same media has generally accelerated virtually everything it comes in contact with - both in good and not-so-good ways.