I did a little research on eBay to make sure what was right & what was wrong (at least according to eBay):
quote:
Fee avoidance - Circumventing eBay fees. Examples:
* Canceling a listing to sell the item to anyone who contacted the seller through eBay, or became aware of the item through eBay
* Ending a listing early to sell the item at a higher price to the winning bidder
If you've experienced any of these selling misuses, please report offenses to Investigations. Disciplinary action may result in the indefinite suspension of a user's account, temporary suspension, or a formal warning. eBay will consider the circumstances of an alleged offense and the user's trading records before taking action.
Here's the link to where I found that if anyone is interested.
eBay
So it looks like the seller would be the one violating eBay rules, since eBay wouldn't know who technically "won".
I don't know how they'd know that an auction was ended early because of this unless, of course, someone bragged on a message board
I can see both sides of the debate, although it's not something I personally would ask a seller to do, nor would I end an auction early and sell outside of eBay. I like the little shred of security eBay allows you in a transaction completed through them.