I agree with you again about the throttles and manipulation.  I used to sell pretty regularly on ebay ( 1 or 2 items a month) with an annual total of around 20 -- 25  items,  a level that I found acceptable as a private seller, selling in a vintage glass niche and without ever Promoting my listings.  I shouldn't need to promote popular one-of items.

When the pressure started to Sponsor listings, sales dropped to 13 items for both '22 and '23 and then to 5 in '24.

Meanwhile, on another smaller site for those same years, selling the same sort of items my sales were '22 -- 17,  '23  --  24,  '24  --  28, which I think shows that my items were still searched for and bought, when they could be found, which has never been a problem there.

I think they also show what a disaster the change-over to using I.S to search with was for collectables on ebay.  Combined with throttling back sales to try to get me to Sponsor my listings has made me give-up on ebay altogether.   (Along with several other reasons.)

I'm certainly not going to pay ebay Sponsorship for a service that is nothing like as good as it was in the past.  Sales in 2025 on the other site have been dismal, IMO, because of the continuing Cost of Living Crisis and also the continued freeze on Tax Allowances.  I just don't think listing on ebay is worth the effort if  additionally I also have to try to overcome ebay manipulating sales to try to squeeze Promotion Fees out of the few it allows me to make.