On their very own help page, and after seeing these messages, I read this

• Before being eligible for your first limit increase, you need to establish 45 days of selling history. This demonstrates that you’re creating positive experiences for your buyers.

So I called back, the same department as before, and they say they need to pass me onto a different department in order to do that which has already closed for the day. I have a feeling the previous person I spoke to was an idiot who was just quoting the paypal holds to me. So I guess I'll try again tomorrow

Of course, I've already ended all my old auctions in preperation for adding the new ones, so if I do get it increased now I am still out 60 free listings. This is just... very frustrating right now.