.. back in the day people from the pesa side of things who qualified used to get ""special" "ebay account managers"" who could elevate their position in best match etc .. from what I have heard that particular program is no longer in existence but has been replaced by a myriad of insider seller programs where these protected species do get special treatment .. I have seen a few over the years not only completely dominating the entire front page (via best match default) of massive categories but in recent times have seen a few other abberations and one of them is exactly what you are describing comcol .. to say that ebay upper management stanks of the amway culture would be an understatement .. so plainly desperate and underhanded to make a buck by extending privaledge to those who pay to play .. anyway suffice to say that ebay is nowhere close to a level playing field .. not much can be done about it aside from letting people know what is going on .. it will obviously be difficult to give specific examples of sellers who get these privaledges without attracting moderator attention ..