jcchou-
It really depends. I've seen the worst looking designs bring more money sometimes, and the best looking designs bring average or lower than the rest. It's a variety of things that sell an item..keyword selection in the title, shipping, etc. One of the most important is feedback. If you have (0) feedback and are trying to sell an item over $100, it's going to be really tough to get as high bids as someone with a few hundred feedback.
I think design is important, but most people are smart enough to know what's good and what's not good (shipping prices, etc etc). I personally really dislike some uses of "design" in listings..mostly the ones created with programs such as 'Auction Assistant.' Some people outsmart themselves and bring more attention to blinking text or an animated picture than giving a good description and a clear detailed picture of the item. As a seller, I like to keep auctions looking nice, but not go overboard with any html (to save on loading times and to not detract from the listing itself). As a buyer, I could personally care less what an auction looks like as long as the seller isn't overcharging for shipping or has given such a careless description. And don't even start me on midi music..it DOES NOT help auctions..I usually back right out of auctions that have it.
Anyway, saying that, the design is nothing to rave about..and the guy just copied the description from Creative's site, including the picture. I think that's what makes some e-Bay auctions less personal..sometimes you'd like to hear someone's opinion on something rather than read over the same crap that's on every other auction listing of that product (cause everyone else decided to do the same thing and copy it from the manufacturers site). What sells a product? Who knows.. I've been on e-Bay since Oct. 1997 and still can't figure out why some things that are meant to go to the trash can be bid up to $50.