Well, we did actually sell fast, and for a very good price. But there's no way of knowing if all that staging was necessary or not. I think the idea of giving the house a clean and uncluttered look probably does help some people a lot with visualising how they can live there, it's sort of like dressing up for a nice occasion to look your best. But the extreme staging some people do, bringing in completely different furniture, paintings, etc... Well, maybe it's worth it if you're trying to sell a nice place that has been treated like a dump, otherwise I can't imagine it's worth the effort.
All this does make the few places that are not presented this way really stick out. I remember seeing photos of an artist's flat for sale, complete with dirty dishes, messy clothes and a ton of pictures on the wall :-)