Since my post # 9, the results of this poll continue to surprise me more and more. The response of "No, but would if someone listed right item" has gone up to 46%. And the responses to "Yes, have bought 1 or more times from a plug thread" is at 49% (# of participants increased). Together, that's 95% of the respondents seem open to the idea of buying through a plug thread.
If this is so, it seems strange that more people are not reporting sales from this marketing strategy. Even seeing these poll results does not help me to like the plug threads. I enjoy interaction, that's probably why I prefer auctions over bin sales, and I love bidding wars.