I was researching more tools for HTML validation and found this site for validating eBay auctions.
http://auctionrepair.com/exam.html
IT confirms that the eBay-generated code is "incorrect" and does not meet W3 standards. It specifically flags the center and middle options as being reversed on eBay.
The listing I tested has 106 errors and 6 warnings. A lot of the flagged errors are the valign and align problem discussed as well as missing " quotes around some color values and capitalization of HTML tags. There are a few others I will look up just to learn.
I just posted this in case someone else read this and was wondering the outcome. I just wanted to complete the threads discussion to a definite conclusion on the align and valign issue.