I don't know where Audiogon stands on this. There can be good reasons to cancel an auction. Something may have happened to the auctioned piece that changes it's original description/value. Removing a piece from auction because it was sold elsewhere seems a bit unethical. From time to time I see pieces here on Audiogon that appear to be both for sale and up for auction simultaneously. I also see items that seem to be for sale / auction on multiple sites. I think this is inappropriate. Perhaps Audiogon, like e-bay could provide a provision that would allow auctioned items to be available to the first bidder who offers X $. While this may seem moot, at least it provides the ground rules to prospective bidders up front.
Can you cancel an auction?
I was just wondering whether it is normal or allowed to cancel an auction before it is over. I don't want to do it myself, but I was recently following an item (hadn't actually bid on it, but was curious as to what it would fetch), and then it just up and disappeared several days prior to ending. I looked through the auction rules but didn't find any answers, and I don't have much auction experience on ebay or whatever. Any comments as to the rules or etiquette of doing this? I'm not upset at all, just curious.