Is there an eBay scam to make me pay more?

I recently bid on about five items on eBay. I was watching several different auctions for the same type of item, and bidding on them one at a time during the last several minutes of each auction. Each time, I was outbid, which was fine, since I wasn’t in dire need of the item, and was just looking for a good deal.

Shortly after the end of each of these auctions (and after I’d won and purchased the item I was seeking), I received emails from the sellers of the items I didn’t win, telling me to make them an offer. It happened for every item I didn’t win.

Is it possible that these sellers set up fake eBay profiles to bid on their own items and artificially jack up the price so they can offer them to me after the auction is over? Or am I just paranoid?