Ahem, yes, a seller can cancel all bids and end his auction early, without having to state a reason or justify his action.

Placing an auction on eBay does not create a contract to sell the item, Pete Sanders' opinion notwithstanding. If the User Agreement actually was meant to be interpreted as disallowing seller cancellations "on a whim", then this text would not appear on the "Ending Your Auction" page.

"If you are ending the auction because you no longer wish to sell your item, you must cancel all bids on your auction before it ends. If you do not do so, you are obligated to sell to the high bidder."

Having said that, I agree that the practice is rather tacky, and the seller runs the risk of losing future bids from people who hold this against him. But, at least this seller was very "up front" about what he did and why.

"We appologize to fellow bidders, but we have decided that due to the lack of interest in this chip at this time, we will be canceling this auction. Sorry for any inconvience this may have caused."

I feel it is important for bidders to understand that being the high bidder on an auction, whether it's for 6 days or 6 seconds, give you no rights in the item whatsoever. Thinking that being the high bidder entitles you to something is just an illusion.

If a seller wants to cancel my bid and bail out, it's fine with me. If someone wants to snipe me after I've been sitting there as the high bidder for 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds, be my guest.