I had a similar situation on an Ebay auction a few years ago. There was a fishing shop in Australia that listed some Swedish fly reels for auction. I was winning until five minutes before the end, the shop closed the auction. In checking their other auctions, they did the same thing, closed a few minutes before the end. I asked them why they'd closed it. Their response was that my bid (and those by others), was far below what the sold those reels for in their shop. I pointed out that Ebaers were looking for bargains, and I suggested that they put resrves in if they were concerned with losing money, They replied that they felt reserves were intimidating bidders. I don't think they ever did sell anything, and I noticed a few weeks later that the no longer had an account on Ebay.
In your case, Hoot, the usual "unwritten" rule is that if there's a bid in place, then the item shouldn't be sold locally.

Gunbroker allows the seller to pull an auction, as-long-as-it-has-no-bids! Nobody, including me, has enough inventory to dedicate one pile to auctions, and the other to "walk ins". But a bid seals the deal, and is a legitimate intent to buy, which is why Gunbroker has the rule. You might consider reminding the seller of this policy, or you can just drop his butt in the grease by complaining to Gunbroker.

JLF

He is in clear violation of the auction rules. Do not let him get away with this.