Meant to also say that even when I did have a credit card linked to PayPal, any purchases came out of my everyday account, never paid by credit card.  

So really it should be the equivalent of an EFTPOS transaction - if you've got the money in your account to pay, then the transaction should be approved immediately, there is no need for a 5 day delay by PayPal.  PayPal's got the money, the seller has to wait.