bid history showed 3 bidders- all with fewer than 20 feedback
For what it's worth, the winner of the 9.8 has been a member since '03. The low feedback guy who threw in one bid at the end was from Asia (even though I clearly state U.S. and Canada only).
The other bidder, who won the 9.6, actually retracted a bid of $280. The reason given was that he couldn't contact me. I was certainly available and answering questions.
These prices seem to be a fluke and unsustainable on the surface, but I wonder. It seems to me that amount of first print #1's up for auction (both raw and graded) has decreased over the past several months. I expected to see a pile of 9.8's go up after my auction ended, but it hasn't happened yet.
The tax refund theory probably is a factor, but these last two auctions have had enough motivated players to spark bidding wars. It seems too soon to make a call. I'm very curious to see how the next couple 9.8's end up.