listing fee promotions

am I right that if ebay offers a “list an item by this date and save 50% on its listing fee”, or some type of similar promotion they are just doing it to promote their numbers?

I’ve always believed its a bad idea to follow those promotions because the amount you will save on listing fees will be lost in the lower sales price you will get because of the increase in competition. Lower listing fee = more competition = lower final value.