Well, I'm certainly in no postion to dispute the figures you've given Michael, as I don't know anyone who has the wherewithall to track every item up for bid on Ebay ... but it has been my experiece in looking through topics that I search on Ebay ... that an awful lot of them go unsold ... and it appears to me that most go unsold.

The reason that (I think) most of them don't attract a bid is because the price that they are being offered at is no bargain. Wouldn't you agree? In addition, many items are way over-priced ... or postage, insurance, and "handling" fees tacked on makes many sales simply too expensive. One would be much better off purchasing many of these items from a reputable dealer.