His response to me:
"I just heard this this am. As usual everybody emails and bids in the last 12 hours. Ebay doesn't let you pull change or do anything in the last twelve hours. I will let whoever wins at the end know. If somebody had email before in the last week it would have helped as I am not an expert. This is why I am not selling much on ebay anymore. Thanks Dan"
Sounds sincere. Still wonder if someone had emailed him earlier on to tell him....