I asked eBay. A seller is allowed to end an auction early and sell to whomever he pleases so long as he puts it back on eBay with the Buy It Now option. If you strike a deal with someone on eBay and then sell to that person outside of eBay, it's considered to be circumventing their Terms of Service with regard to final value fees (final value fees being eBay's bread and butter, not the insertion fee).
Kevin Moran Bloomington, Indiana USA
"Dear Kevin,
Thank you for writing eBay in regard to members ending a listing early because they feel the bidding has gone high enough.
You are correct in believing that you can not end an auction early because you've reached the price that you want. There are specific options for ending an auction early. If they have received an offer on the item and they wish to sell it for that amount, they can end the auction, but only if they are going to put the auction back up as a Buy It Now.
If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply to this email and let us know.
Sincerely, Elizabeth R. M.
eBay Customer Support"
> I end auctions early for a variety of reasons, but
> they all add up to the same thing: because I got
> what I wanted out of it. When you end early for a
> fair price you don't EVER have to worry about buyers
> remorse, returns, complaints, bad feedback, or even
> Karma. The buyer loves you! I can even take my sweet
> time going to the post office!
<snip/>
Mark
-- mark assaf burlingame ca 94010 http://www.sciencemonster.net ebay:sciencemonster
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