Julie
A high value item I viewed ten times elsewhere ended up with over seven hundred views. Thing is, the item was a spare off a 1960s piece of equipment and only a few were ever made. It seems if the buyers are quiet the sellers panic and start to look at how everyone else is doing, adding to the views.
Improvements for the buyer rather than improvements for the seller
As you suggest remove the worry over why so many views and relatively few purchases. I suggest giving the site front page the feel good factor that this is the place to be. Altering it in the same way stores alter their windows to attract (a store window that doesn't change implies the stock inside doesn't change). Combining the purchase and the registration for first time buys (not easy). Giving the buyer a more professional invoice with an address on that can be folded into a postal docket.