Because of the recent slow nature of markdown manager starting and ending sales, I checked my listings to make sure the most recent sale had started. Pulled up active listings, and none of the items were showing the sale price.
Then I noticed one of the items was awaiting shipment. I checked the price the buyer paid, and it was the sale price. So I am guessing that due to some glitch, the seller is not seeing that the sale is active, but buyers are. So as a double check I went into markdown manager, created a new sale, and checked the box excluding current sale items. All of the items that were supposed to be on sale right now showed up as not on sale. Sellers should beware of starting sales and relying on the manager knowing which items are currently on sale, lest you give substantially more discount than you intended. I really don't know what the heck to make of all this, but man ebay is messing up at the wrong time of year.