nudibranch -- No. However, it is not something that eBay pays much attention to, and usually the wrong category is an error on the part of the seller who would do better if he had chosen the category better.
Personally, I suspect that few buyers Search primarily by category, only adding that after they have entered keywords.
tojobuyer-- and that may be the answer.
Search by the item description rather than browsing entire categories. And since the type of seller who will flood categories is usually selling something pretty cheap, change your preferred Search from the default Best Match to Highest Price First or Highest Price +Shipping First.
The reason for that switch is that it is easier to drill down to your price range than it is to work endlessly through the mislabelled carp to the real stuff at reasonable prices.
One note. EBay does encourage Reporting of violations, but they don't like vigilantes. So your 200 Reports probably were counter-productive after the first 50 or so.
At most eBay sends a polite note and no further information. This may have a legal basis, privacy and all that, but again it would serve to discourage mischief makers.
Sadly, your 'numerous sellers' may only be one seller, or all be the dupes of a dropshipping wholesaler who is supplying them with bad information. It's frustrating all around, not only for real buyers like yourself, but also for the sellers whose items are lost in a sea of carp.
