if you want honest answers, identify all the variables. you are a bit too cryptic ...

It's not a scam. Someone made him an offer to end the auction early and he took it. It may be against the rules or unethical in terms of how an ebay auction should go but it happens...

+++1 that's exactly what happened, when I'm running an auction,I've had these offers many times, I haven't accepted one yet!! once I start the auction I let it run it's allocated time!

i've stopped an auction early, but i don't believe i've ever done it with bids in play. could be mistaken, but i honestly cannot recall a time when this would've happened.

i appreciate you guys clearing up what was being asked. i couldn't make heads or tails out of it.

thats the problem with waiting til the last minute to bid on something. u run the risk of the seller assuming no one will want it, and pulls it. also, i see most sellers list their items on craigslist at the same time they are on ebay. i suggest next time, enter your bid fairly early. dont bid your max, just bid enough to let the seller know u are interested. it helps deter them from interest outside of ebay. good luck in the future!

Same thing happened to me a while back. I bid on a set and the seller decided to end the bid early because the seller found a buyer that would pick up up the item so he wouldn't have to ship. Not good.

I've had same experience and from your "seller reply" sounds like same person. Maybe "legit" sellers may end it early for all the reasons stated above. But in this case, the bids were low and I know the seller cancelled it becuase of the low bids. He said same thing about interest, etc. But surpisingly, the item showed up on another forum for sale THE VERY NEXT DAY with a price that was actually lower than what I was going to bid.

Ironically, this same seller 2 days later posted complaint about eBay buyer not paying him in 24 hrs so he cancelled that sale and relisted the item...first sale was low bid....second time he listed it got high price for it (had higher starting price).

Face it, some of these sellers are going to do what they want no matter what....just got to be careful who you deal with.

It amazes me sometimes what you guys complain about. First let me state that most of the buyers through ebay are a pain in the a$$. I no longer sell on ebay because of it. You guys all act like you already own the stuff before you have even bid on it. The seller has the right to end their auction before the last 12 hours of the auction. And they don't need a real reason. Its in the ebay rules. Most sellers have their reasons, but I bet it gets yanked because they've listed it over and over and aren't getting close to what THEY paid for it. The vintage drum market is in the Toilet right now and not coming back too quickly. Prices are down and everybody wants a deal. Well, I know I'm not going to let stuff go for LESS than what I paid for it. I'll hang on to it until the market comes back, which may take years, but I'm not hurting for the need to HAVE to sell my stuff right now either.

:2Cents:

Yeah, EBay is bizarre. I just sold an old Kenwood receiver I had up in the attic. I listed several pictures showing all the cosmetic details. I listed what I knew to be electronic problems -couple of indicator lights out...I starte dthe auction with a 99 cent opening price, nor reserve and a BIN option for $200 -just in case!

I ALWAYS list that I don't accept 0 feedback bidders unless they contact me, first for permission. I indicated the item was being soold "as-is" and there are no returns or warranties.

First bidder I get is a 0 feedback bidder -did not ask permission to bid! next, I get a question if I would guarantee the item to arrive not DOA! I was asked how much shipping would cost even though I listed the auction with a shipping calculator!

And after all that, the thing sold for about a third of what I paid for it! S/H ended up being more than the cost of the item, itself!

Then, the winning bidder turns out to be a foreigner who obviously doesn't read or write in English very well. I contact him when the box shipped out and gave him the tracking numbers. The next day he emails me and says there's something wrong with the tracking numbers. I check. There's nothing wrong with the numbers. He either entered them incorrectly or he was looking at the wrong shipper website...who knows?

Anyway, I'm sure he will have something to complain about later. I just sense it. The damn receiver is nearly 40 years old. It's the type of receiver that an audiophile would like to have...but just watch. It's going to be a hassle.