I've noticed that some ads state that the buyer will ship, for example,
to the US only. However, this doesn't stop bidders from outside the US
from making bid after bid on the item being sold. It seems a little
weird to me that they can jack up the price of the item with their bids
when the item couldn't even be shipped to their location.

Of course, it's possible that someone in Australia, say, might have a
friend in the US who could take delivery of the item, and that's fine.
But it's doubtful that this is always the case! In many instances,
these bids couldn't *win* an auction because they'd require shipment
outside the US, but they can still *jack up the price* of the item.

Am I missing something here, or is this just the way it is?

Steve