I think i have seen him too, if it is him he paints a nice face but nothing else that explains those kind of prices!
May well be Laundering.
Yeah I lean toward laundering/cleaning money...or he simply has a handful of "whales" that maybe know him personally and think it's helping him out, etc. It seems weird to use the phrase, but there are hobby "simps" that exist.
Some people who unrealistically support certain hobby professionals or companies outside of the realms of normalcy.
Then there is the slight chance of the "massively disconnected customer". My dad still gets militaria magazines that sell generic $20 diecast aircraft for $79 a pop...basically because their mailing list consists of 60-80 year olds who maybe are out of touch or can't be bothered to do market research. There's a sucker for every seat.