(Shrug) ... it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself. I'm not saying it should be illegal, but there are many things that I don't think are a good thing to do that I don't necessarily think should be illegal. This is one of them. To me Reverb is a place to buy/sell used gear at a bit of a discount, because it's used and being passed on. Let's just say it's not something I would do, and that I hope you find other ways to improve your situation (and maybe even be able to keep your gear) than knowingly selling it for an inflated price. Look at it this way: you yourself say "sorry you got ripped off," which implies you agree that I was ripped off. The guy was just doing what you're describing doing, basically.
Like I say, I don't think it's morally the worst thing in the universe, and the buyer does have some responsibility to look out for themselves here. With my example, I feel I was kind of ripped off (or would have been -- I was able to back out of the sale, as it happened, at the cost of a "restocking fee") ... but I also accept that it was partly on me for not shopping with more care. But personally I'd just prefer to be able to trust that sellers are offering me a reasonably fair price. What is reasonably fair is admittedly going to be a little subjective. But, I'm only just getting into modular, and I can already tell it's a very addictive hobby, and it's certainly easy to get a little carried away clicking the "buy" button on sites like Reverb -- even with non-inflated prices.