When the flood of listing promos started in March 2012 I was not getting invites to my Store id so I started a new non-store id which did get the invites., in early 2013 the invites stopped coming to my non-store id and I started to get them on my Store id (I know get almost every one on that id).
It seems to me that progressively the "invite only" promos are basically going out to everyone. It sure doesn't seem to me that having a store subscription means anything in that regard although it did seem that way when they first started.
You are doing enough volume that a Store subscription won't cost you anything so I would not let the promo invite situation govern your decision.
On my Store id in the past year I have received an invite to all but 2 of the standard listing promos. The other non-store id that is inactive hasn't had one in a year.
A basic store costs $20 a month. 66¢ a day. You get 200 free listings, plus, I am getting all the other promos.
My store has made me multiple thousands times cost over the years. Higher profits and less work.
"Have you found that having a store in the long run brings in more sales then if you did not have a store?"
Yes, most definitely.
More so if you use the tools available in a store such as Markdown Manager and email marketing.
