I, too, miss the old days of eBay -- from when I joined it in 1998 and for the first several years hence.
I think half the blame for what it has become rests on eBay itself, which chose to become the "other Amazon". But also, people's ideas about what stuff is worth was changing, due to the rising popularity and influence of Antiques Roadshow and other such things. Suddenly, every old thing anyone had was worth a bloody fortune. And it wasn't just on eBay one saw this happen. Local "Bargain News" papers, tag sales, estate sales, etc. etc. etc., all changed over a period of just a few years.
I do still check eBay for certain things, and I can still find a treasure now and then. (None of which is in the price bracket BK is talking about.) And I'll always remember it for the community it was, for - truly - one brief shining moment.