yes, I had also thought that ebay is currently working behind the scenes which usually results in these dormant periods which could be a contributing factor

I agree having read many of the comments left by sellers on these boards that quite a few are struggling and I also glanced the usa boards to note the same thing

my only concern and I am sure many others concern is whether ebays future will provide for the continuance of operating a business on this site, I list on other sites and am currently looking into estabishing my own website so I do not put all my eggs in one basket so to speak, although having said that prior to September last year I had no need for alternatives as ebay was returning for me a fairly good profit margin

hopefully things will begin to pick up again soon