I carefully research every item I buy, then I list everything I sell on auction starting at a penny and let those who throw caution to the wind fill my cup again to over flowing.
Your Ruger doesn't amaze me, the ones that make me shocked are the pencil barreled mini 14's selling for $1,200 or more! Now if somebody in this current climate wanted to shell that out for one of the 580 or newer tactical models with the tapered barrels, considering the current market, I might understand - they're solid guns. But $1,200 for a model that was just hard to sell before all of this? I know the people bidding haven't really researched that rifle at all, other than finding the commonalities with the AR15.
When the smoke clears and the panic dies I can see a lot of fire sales in the making.
EDIT (on further though):
Actually, I did indeed buy a gun unresearched before. Last March, on vacation, I came across a Freedom Arms M83 4.75" fixed sights 454 casul in a package deal with a mint condition S&W 586-1 4", $1500 for both guns. Both guns were like new in the factory boxes, and it was a legitimate dealer selling a large number of items from an estate sale. I knew what the S&W was (and my wife was in love with it at first sight), but after handling the M83, and considering my experience with my Ruger Super Blackhawk, and the apparent step up in quality, I bought the package without hesitation - and indeed minutes later in my car opened a thread from my iphone titled, "What gun did I just buy?" I figured all things told, I had $900 in that gun - my gut instinct was it had to be worth at least that, and I really wanted it, having never seen such exquisite workmanship before.
So maybe all of us do it occasionally when there is a good enough deal on the table, and we think we might know enough to not mess up too badly. Maybe there's some of that in all of us - we think we know what we're doing, and the kid in us just wants that thing we're touching.