Originally Posted by
D1andonlyDman
That's what's going on - ebay doesn't like it when you frequently end auctions early because the item sold outside of ebay - and they'll ding your seller rating if you do it more than a few times. So, often, if an item is sold out at a low price, rather than ending the auction, the seller may jack up the price to a level that nobody will buy it.
Now that makes a lot of sense! I dinged the guy for fraudulent practices. I hope that "cures him".