The handling time is the number of business days the seller will take to ship the item after receiving your cleared payment. A payment is considered "cleared" after the money from the buyer has been deposited into the seller’s account. If the buyer pays by PayPal, the payment may clear immediately. However if the buyer pays by cheque, money order, or eCheque, it may take several days.

This does not include the number of business days the shipping service will take to deliver the item to you.

When a seller has specified a handling time and a certain shipping services with transit times, eBay will provide buyers with an estimated delivery time. By knowing the estimated delivery time, you can determine how long it will take to receive the item. “Business days” are normal weekdays. Saturdays, Sundays, and major holidays do not count as business days, so you’ll want to keep them in mind as you determine the earliest delivery date for you.

If you want to receive the item quickly, complete your payment to the seller as soon as possible. eBay recommends that you use a fast, safe payment method such as PayPal.