What is "win?"

I just got a weird message in my Inbox from eBay. It said I "won" an auction.

Normally I already find the lexicon of auctions amusing. When you win an auction, you don't really "win" anything because you still have to pay for your goods. In fact, all you really "won" was the opportunity to buy something... and you won it by offering more than the next guy. In a world where most people would prefer to pay LESS for something, that, in reality, sort of makes you a loser more than a winner.

Anyway, what made this particular email extra special (or extra stupid) is that the auction it was referring to was a "Buy It Now" listing. That is, nobody else had a chance to buy it for more or less than the asking price. If this is a win, then that means I also "won" the hamburger to purchased at Harvey's tonight. Or I "won" the bag of milk I picked up at the corner store. And on the weekend, when I pay out the nose for a freaking tank of gas, I will "win" that too.

On second thought, looking at a gas purchase as a "win" kind of takes the sting out of the ridiculous price gouging going on. Maybe that's better all around.