Most of the ebay staff is out with the eBay Live Convention in Las Vegas, so I guess the junior folk on the totem pole are left to mind the store. Sounds to me like they are probably feeling a tad more important than what they really are. I have had listings for radar detectors taken down by the "night shift police" because it violated the prohibited items listing rules. Go type in "radar detectors" on eBay. I finally just gave up the fight.
I would suggest you get rid of cash payments. They will get you busted every time. And, if you don't make a practice of staying current with policy changes, you will run into this sort of thing. Cash payments were eliminated about 3-4 months ago, along with Western Union and BidPay.
I don't know anything about Auctiva not being allowed. Switching over to Auctive was the best move I ever made.
Don't misunderestimate me about eBay. I live for this, being able to sell on the world's largest marketplace. But, sometimes the lower ranking staff gets just a little too big for their britches!
Be Well And Prosper!
The Texas Skipper