In the past it has always been PayPal that has released funds after a threat of FSO.
However eBay change their business and site so often that it's quite possible they have recently become more involved in the release of held funds.
I still think contacting PayPal gains faster action.
ok . that's enough. you all have difficulty reading clearly.
And since everyone is so thorough in examing my sales history perhaps you should look more closely. My first item was sold YEARS ago. That started the 90 day clock As I said EBAY themselves confirmed today my sales history spans over 2200 days not 90, that I'ver sold over a certain value, and I have a good rep as a seller, and my tracking info is there immediately... ding ding ding ... you win the 3 day on hold prize...
I repeat , the 90 days is over dim witts... look at the last piece of feedback in my "feedback as a seller" tab.
I have no issue with waiting becuase I'm a new seller to ebay, but I DO qualify for the 3 day hold period. That is a fact my friends, so stop telling me that i have to wait longer . My issue is that aren't honouring this because they do it manually, and are taking to long to do them...again this is from ebay directly.
so pull your heads in and get your facts straight before you start posting.
You know what they say..."never argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience"
i'm outta here morons, happy compulsive posting 
@th3wardoctor wrote:ok . that's enough. you all have difficulty reading clearly.
I tried to answer your question.
You asked how widespread the issue is, and the only answer anyone here can provide is the truth in so far as we know it, which is *drumroll*
It happens to everyone (who have experienced holds), exactly the same way you're experiencing. I literally know of no exceptions. Just do a forum search and you'll see several other threads from people complaining their funds weren't released even though they ticked all the boxes they were supposed to.
I just want to add that, while it does seem to be the obvious thing to do to trust any and everything eBay customer service reps say, half the time they genuinely have no idea what they are talking about. It seems counter-intuitive, because they should be the ones who know, right? But a little more experience with them over time and you can see just how horribly wrong they can actually be, owing to various factors (including, but not limited to the fact that they A) have scripts they're not supposed to deviate from, B) often call up or reference non-applicable policies from other country's sites, and C) appear well trained to "resolve" the problem in the most vague and non-commital way possible).
The reason members keep saying that your first sale 2000-whatever days ago doesn't count is because that was the policy when payment holds were first introduced. It didn't matter if the seller joined the same day they wanted to list an item, or their account was 10 years old with a good sales history from a year or so ago, the policy page literally and explicitly stated that it applied to anyone who was a new seller, or hadn't sold in a while (with "while" never being clarified).
Since then, the policy page has been re-written and I can see it no longer says that bit about "haven't sold in a while", but it sounds to me like the practice is the same as it ever was, regardless.
