I am sure there are throttles and manipulations, with so many listings and so few buyers they have to do it or sellers would quit on mass, they drip feed us just enough sales so we keep listing, that way they can boast about how big ebay is, how many members they have and how many items they have listed, however the claim about active members is questionable, I have business account and a private account, that makes me 2 active buyers yet I am one person!