Things that sell the most for me are things such as dvd's (job lot's seem to do very well), clothes, shoes, tv's + other electricals, mobiles, cameras....all sorts.I sold a pair of scruffy old ugg boots for £40 once.
If i am selling electricals etc i usually do fixed price. DVD's, CD's etc are betting on an auction format.
The counter only works the first time a buyer looks at it, and it doesn't count when you view your own listings.
I find the most unlikely things sell - I sold a gold plastic elephant for 75p a few years back, that amazed me. I find books don't go so well, clothing, household ornaments etc go really well.
I disagree... first thing I do when I list an item is to open it and see if it's what I wanted to say. If I look at the counter at that time it will show "1". I had the same question you've asked, so I would close out and go back in immediately and it would show "2". It's unlikely that anyone had accessed the offering in the mean time...
By the way... the more areas you can list your item in the more likely it's going to sell. Meaning, I sell a lot of vintage Ray Ban sunglasses (the really quality older ones) and if I list them in 'Health and Beauty' as well as 'Clothing Accessories'... I get more response than just listing them in one area.
One has to balance that issue with the extra charge by eBay for the additional listings.
If at all possible, use 'Worldwide' services as well. I just sold my 14th pair of Ray Bans to a buyer in Australia... they do very well there and don't mind the extra shipping charges...