Why have eBay not allowed users to delete messages in the recycled folder?

[sunburst335]

 6 months is an awful long time to keep old messages I don't need. Could also be a security & privacy issue. Too much data retained without user's permission.

[pixiesen2012]

the messages are stored on ebays servers and they keep them for 6 months in case of problems

you agreed to abide by all ebays rules etc when you signed up, so you did give 'permission'

[sunburst335]

I find that kind of answer most unhelpful. It may be legally true, but it would be more user-friendly to allow intelligent users the option to choose.