Shermae,
No offense is intended, but I think you may be taking your personal experience with respect to the stamp categories on eBay and extrapolating it across all of eBay, which is what that language applies to.
How "popular" an item is could mean any one of a myriad of things, and without specificity we have ZERO idea what it means in eBaySpeak. Assuming it has ANYTHING to do with number of bids is simply that: an assumption.
How does popularity then apply to fixed price listings? Given that certain categories are widgets/catalog items, "popularity" might be based upon views, clicks, bids, or prior purchases, on items that are similar, in the same category, of similar description, listed by the same seller, in the same geographic location, views on mobile vs. desktop, or anything other parameters either known or unknown (i.e., behind-the-scenes data).
Quote:
If I am being brutally open and honest, I'd get 2-3 of my friends to place very low bids which vastly increases the visibility of the item.
This is the very definition of shill bidding, and I am disappointed that you would recommend that another seller intentionally violate the eBay user agreement by engaging in this practice.
To the OP: Whatever else you may do, do NOT do this.