I assumed people here would be more familiar with eBay's policies. A seller has the right to end an auction as long as there is more than 12 hours left. Has anyone actually looked this up- or is everyone just making up rules that best suit their needs?
How can I end my listing early?
Requirements
Your ability to end a listing early depends on the amount of time remaining in the listing and whether the listing has received any bids.
If there are 12 hours or more before the end of the listing, you can end the listing early without restrictions. If there are any bids on your item when you end the listing, you’ll be asked whether you want to cancel the bids or sell the item to the high bidder.
If there are 12 hours or less before the end of the listing, your ability to end the listing early depends on whether there are any bids on the item and whether the item has a reserve price.
Ebay no longer considers itself an auction site. They dumped that notion a long time ago. Ebay has evolved into an online trading community. Many auctions are not limited to timed auctions anymore. There are ways to post a listing for a very long stretch of time with a fixed price and options for users to submit "best offers".
Fluid is talking about me. And quite frankly I don't see approaching a seller with a private offer as anything to be shy about. It happens every day with big ticket items, cars for sale, and things that need to be inspected face to face. The system has evolved. It's not cheating for the seller or buyer to do this. If it gets an item sold eBay doesn't care as long as the commission is generated and the item goes through their proper channels (which offers some limited protection to both parties and feedback exchange, etc).
Like anything in life- it's a gamble for both seller and buyer. The seller risks losing revenue by ending the listing early and accepting an offer. (For all he knows it may have gone $200 higher the next day!) The bidder risks overpaying and getting a little too jumpy on the offer. That's up to him though.
As long as the auction is canceled before 12 hours and a buy-it-now is used ebay has no issues with this type of thing. It's standard practice in some cases. Many watch seller post simultaneously on a forum and eBay. The minute it's sold the auction ends- bids or not.
Now as far as people's perceptions- that's another story. But to call the seller of the $800 watch a scumbag is just pure emotion and doesn't have a shred of rational argument behind it. If anything I think the seller was quite humane. Why not post it for a ridiculously high buy-it-now and have a button for offers? It may take longer to sell, but you'd be darn sure that the maximum number of eyes saw the listing and you connect with the person who wants it more than anyone else. You'd have keywords directing Dexter fans to your auction and who knows maybe someone would post a link to it on Facebook or make a YouTube video about the auction. Eventually some crazy person would swoop in and pay the ridiculous request.
atleast now, even though im pissed i thought my watch would be here today, it will arrive the same day as the band so i can post the watch with the right band on it, and it will all look brand spankin new like it just came out of the box from the year it was made all nice and shiney! 
