If you wait weeks until the money clears, the Seller will not be eligible for Paypal Seller Protection (PSP), assuming he or she has it. To be eligible, a Seller must ship within a week IIRC. Thus I can picture a situation where you waited 3 weeks, got the money cleared, sent the item with USPS Global Express Guaranteed (GXP) with electronic delivery confirmation, and yet the Buyer still later says the item was not delivered, and files an Item Not Received (INR) with Paypal/Ebay. Then Paypal reverses the Paypal payment, taking your money back, or freezing your account if the money's not there. Then you the Seller file for PSP. But you did not ship in a week. In this scenario you loose your claim, and in additional loose your money or effectively loose the use of your account until you submit to the system and hand back the money.