It's called "bid shielding": Seller starts an auction for cheap, too cheap. Bidder1 places a high bid (say $1000). Bidder1 gets a buddy (Bidder2) to place a higher bid (say $1001). The auction jumps to $1001 and all other bidders pass it by. At the last moment, Bidder2 retracts their bid, and Bidder1 wins at the opening price.

The combat this, eBay changed the bid retraction rules for the last 12 hours.

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Ending an auction might or might not incur final value fees: If there's a winner, then of course there will be fees.

When ending an auction early, the seller has the option of canceling all bids or leaving them. However, in the last 12 hours, the seller can't cancel and end.