Good for Pay.com.au.
Dean was super shady.
He was happy to accept $38,000 for the domain name. He agreed to a deal for that price until he found out the identity of the buyer.
Then he turned the deal into an extortion racket. He raised the price by 900% and threatened to raise it by a further 5% every week they didn't give in to his extortion scheme.
Very shady behaviour.
Personally, I evaluate my domain names on their own merits. If I believe a domain name is worth $1988, I price it at $1988. If it sells for that price, I am happy and the deal will be honoured. It doesn't matter if it sells to Google, Musk or a Saudi Prince. It sold for the price I wanted so that's enough for me.
