Buying Items on Ebay?

[Isolde]

But your hypothetical is strained and unlikely.

That's the story of most hypotheticals, no? ;) Though not the better ones I'll admit. But then again, if a strained hypothetical was good enough for Plato sitting in his cave, then I won't be too harsh on myself over it.

There is nothing left to build, there is nothing left to really do, there us no gear realistically to look for. So, just what is the purpose of buying it? To get onto b.net and look cool?

Having the gear is a goal which we've already established (or at least I think we agree on this at any rate) isn't the goal of Diablo, rather the goal is to have fun playing it, that is the goal is in the process. Therefore the purpose of purchasing an item is to skip part of the process the player dislikes, that is monotonous item runs, in order to get to the part they enjoy, that is, playing with that item, or dueling perhaps, or whatever other strange purpose they have for it (perhaps staring at it in their inventory with lustful eyes helps them through puberty), since it seems to me that different people enjoy different parts of the process. Though buying items surely shortchanges part of the collector's aspect of the game since most collectors are at least hoping that their purchases will appreciate whereas we all know that diablo items only depreciate (which would make anyone who bought items with a collector's mentality a fool truly, or at least I wouldn't trust them with my money) But different people enjoy the game in different ways.

Cooking is something that, like walking, can have both a process and a goal that are worthwhile.

I believe I said that first. Well not actually first, but it is in my post above, which is above your post, though I can't discount that you probably said that before I did, since you're older than I. Co-opting your opponent's words in a debate is a worthy strategy, so I won't fault you for the maneuver ;) (not to imply that you'd care if I were to fault you, since you hardly need or even desire my approval, yay or nay).

Would it make you feel better if I said that those people were fools IN MY EYES?

I had assumed that anything you wrote was in you eyes and not someone else's, though that's not always a safe assumption in this world of masks. And I'm not looking to feel better by means of what you say either, though if everyone were to bow down and worship me I'd probably feel giddy for a few moments until I spotted the hidden cameras (and even then).
Actually I only write because I find it therapeutic, or fun at least.

Let's try to set some boundaries. Take the extreme: a person who buys a level 80+ character fully decked out that has completed the game on all three levels. Buyer plays the game for a few minutes, gets bored and quits. Fool or not? Maybe we can find where we each draw the line.

Oh, that one's easy. I draw the line at the point where said buyer didn't feel like they got their money's worth. For me personally, I wouldn't even consider buying Diablo items. But I have been known to occasionally buy Magic:The Gathering cards, which also have no intrinsic value. And I've often enough felt foolish doing so ;)

PS. I don't drink much wine, especially not by the bucketful, but perhaps if you let the sewage settle, the wine might not taste so bad?