It's all about marketing - poorly marketed stuff on eBay sells cheaply...R2
Sometimes, but all may not be what it seems.
Just an anecdote of what we found with non-bee related items. Off topic perhaps, but relevant to sales in general.
Two people I worked with put their cars on fleabay. Private sale, nothing dodgy, just normal replacements. They happened to both be selling similar vehicles at the same time so there was a lot of discussion in the coffee queue. Because they have an IT/tech background both were capable of putting together a listing that looked good, included all the details, links to more photos etc. It was worth putting some effort in to sell even one item for a few thousand although each listing was independently written and differently laid out.
All enquirers to both assumed they were trade dealers, asking about trade in, or 'I thought you were a dealer' after an initial contact. Different buyers as far as we could tell, a handful each. They were either unaware that 'trade' must be declared or assumed they were undeclared traders; illegal but we know it happens. Conclusion was that for a public site like fleabay you get a better response when you conform to the expectations of the buyers and avoid looking too professional.
We suspected that more than you might think of the garish fonts, shouty text, even poor spelling and 'informal' description is deliberate. Poor presentation => inexperienced => expect cheap bargains => attracts attention even at average prices. Professional presentation => judged as a pro => not an established name => ignored.
