Like sheep & PJ mentioned, we hear all the horror stories on the boards ( and most people including me occasionally get them ). But 99.5 % of transactions go without a hitch. I had a MBG claim last night which I got very grumpy about. I was sure I was being ripped off. After talking with the buyer and viewing a photo, it turned out to be genuine postal damage. I partially refunded and we parted on good terms with pos feedback exchanged. A mundane story about the system working as it should, that normally wouldnt make it onto the forums. ( Most MBG claims are probably the same ) 

As for sales, mine have been fairly consistent with a small decline over time which can be explained entirely by slow retail sales in general and consumer caution. This is reflected in the lowest intrest rates on record, even lower than when the financial crisis was at its worst. I still make a reasonable living selling from ebay and make slightly more dollars per hour than I used to make as a qualified tradesman.

I use the 100 freebie auctions on my private account and actually find they work very well. Two weeks ago, I had an item I purchased at a garage sale for $20 have over 50 watchers, numerous bids and it sold for $315. I currently have another item I paid $50 for, listed in latest round of 100 freebies. This has five bids, fourteen watchers and is currently at just over $170.00 with two days to go.  These are real life examples of mundane succesfull auctions that happen everyday that you dont hear about.

As sellers we tend to not say too much on the forums about good sales as it just looks like we are bragging, often when others may not be selling a lot. This means the forums appear much more negative and less balanced then what is happening in real ebay life

Why not just try listing a few things. See what sells succesfully and what items no-one is interested in. Focus on the good selling items and dont waste too much time or energy on the slow sellers. Take lots of photos, give accurate descriptions of any faults, be fair and honest with your buyers. If you do have a problem, try to see their point of view. Often buyers claims have a lot of merit. When you do eventually get that difficult, obnoxious, nothing you do can help buyer, try not to take it too much to heart. Sort it out as best you can and just accept the occasional ding in your stars and defect. I,ve got fairly good figures, but they are not perfect. My stars all have a slight ding and I have a nice collection of defects spread over my selling accounts. You cant please 100% of the people 100% of the time.