Item sold on eBay- they are keeping my money for two weeks and a customer service representative has just suggested I go into debt to ship the item!

[WTFeBay]

Damn near flat broke so put a few bits on eBay in the hope of getting some Christmas cash. Have sold stuff on eBay before but not for a couple of years, but never had any issues with them.

The first item sold this evening but I got a notification that eBay is holding on to my money for two weeks, because this is the first time I’ve sold an item since they moved away from PayPal.

I can’t afford to ship the item without receiving the money for the item.

I went onto eBay’s customer service chat where an advisor actually suggested I get into debt to ship the item, as “without shipping the item in time can affect more holds on your account.”

So eBay keeps my money for two weeks for no apparent reason, and my options are- go into debt to ship the item in time (per the advice of the customer service rep), or be sanctioned by eBay for not shipping the item in time, because I can’t afford to, because they’re keeping my money.

Apparently there is not one person in the ENTIRE company with the authority to release my money before 14 days.

Ebay is absolutely awful now. Hope you get it sorted.

Sell the item somewhere else more reasonable.

I sold a few bits recently and was confused by this but as soon as I posted something with a tracking no when it was delivered I received my money. So it was probably held for 2 days I think. Still really stupid and their fees are shit. But it’s better than not getting anything for my old stuff.

How much is the postage for it?

It’s a hefty item so to send recorded will be over a tenner

It's an anti fraud measure. The funds will release when it's marked received by the buyer.
It's good as it does stop a lot of eBay scammers, though you have found one of the drawbacks to the system.