I sell on ebay.ca so I cannot offer any insight in navigating dotcom, but I will say that most ebay sellers feel like we have to work a lot harder to sell less today than we did five years ago. Maybe there are more choices out there than there used to be, or maybe fewer shoppers, or maybe both.
I will also say that Auctions are generally fruitless unless you sell in very specific categories with free shipping and give it all away. Maybe try adding Best Offer to your Buy It Nows or offering 'free' shipping but adding about $16.25 CAD (my average to ship small items across Canada and the USA) to your listings and calling it 'free shipping'.
Ebay never stops telling us that buyers love free shipping and it's true, despite being a multi-item order killer. As a shopper, I used to look for the sellers with the most items I wanted to acquire so that I could at least combine postage to maximize value but 'free shipping' combats that.
Good luck. And don't forget about those iPhone shoppers. You've got to keep it simple for them. Lots of clear, bight pics and very little description. And no one cares about seller policies anymore, we all march to the beat of ebay's drum.
