This is an interesting post over at ebay. I wonder how long before the pinks take it down.
Beating Ebay Discussion Board Topic LINK

Copy of original post by lonestarguitars:
I read these posts on SC almost every day and it seems like every topic either contains the word "help" or "problem". I realized a long time ago that trying to play the Ebay selling game by the rules they have set is a no-win proposition. But the human species are a very resourceful lot and if careful and clever you can help tilt the playing field in your favor.

1. Keep an up to date email list. Ebay does not like it's members communicating where their prying eyes cannot see. I have a comprehensive list of everyone I have sold to. When communicating through the Ebay message system the senders email will not show even if the box is unchecked. It has to be entered in the text field. The messages also do not allow html so links are out.

2. When sending messages break up words, use bold print, underline, or italics on words you want to emphasize. This will fool the bots and the pinks cannot possibly keep up with everything.

3. When you do sell on Ebay sell only inexpensive items, something that will not be a big loss to a scam or Paypal reversal. When the buyer does complete the transaction be sure to let them know that there are much better deals to be found on your items in other venues whether it be alternate selling sites or your own site. One sale on Ebay. All repeat sales elsewhere.

If all sellers do this traffic on Ebay will eventually dry up leaving Buy, the Chinese, and a few other "chosen ones" to sell here. That too will eventually dry up as these common everyday items can be found cheaper at brick & mortar stores. It will be a slow process but by complaining about something you have no control over to other people who have no control over it might make you feel better but really accomplishes nothing. The people who can do something won't because they don't care about you, your business, or your customers. You can beat Ebay at it's own game if you're willing to put in the effort. U Take the few tools they still give you and use them to your advantage. There are a lot of buyers out there looking. They want your widget, wherever you decide to sell it.

A public service on behalf of the interested of the future, when it's gone...

Beat them at their own game by:

Not selling there. There is frankly no reason to use ebay as a jumping off point for potential customers. Way back in 2000 I set up a online site on a free hosting site with ads at the top (netfirms) and within 1 month I was in the top pages on ebay searches because I linked my page to others within the same hobby via a web ring. I didn't need ebay for this and was eventually able to sell everything off.

Don't use paypal for your other sites - why on earth would you want to have ebay looking into your business records and customer names. Its like paying a spy to spy on you.

Copy of original post by lonestarguitars is some of the things many of us used.
The problem with presenting this now is it's about 3-4 years behind the curve.
When eBay was more liberal and if you didn't have cut throat copy cat,
tattle tale competitors trying anything to get you kicked off...
Many tactics worked well to DRIVE customers to your websites.

I ALWAYS from day one, used eBay to advertise MY SITE,
all the way up to the last item I listed back in November of 2007.
And I can say this with certainty.
If I relied solely on eBay only back then for my income,
or would NOT have done what I did all along,
I would of been out of business sometime in 2004.

luckyalive also just mirrored about what I did back in 1999.
My first website was a FREE Geocities site and
it did very well for about a year (give or take) before I decided
to go with a stand alone domain name and really went full bore on BRANDING my wares and name.

The best advice I see here is also by luckyalive:
Not selling there and NOT using PP on your off sites, is the best way
to beat eBay at their own game.
At least in the current hostile anit free trade environment eBay has set up.

Death by 1000 cuts! Make it millions of cuts since there are millin of pissed off users