How long do you wait for a check to clear

You will not have any practical remedy if things go bad. It does not matter when it "clears" or what the "hold" period is - your endorsement is a guarantee from you to the bank that you will make good on it if the check bounces, which can happen many weeks later.

cashier's checks are frequently forged by scammers. It is easy to do.

If you are stuck with an out of state check, a pragmatic guesstimate would be to give it at least 15 business days (i.e, three weeks). Do not accept international checks.

Check, paypal, USPS money order, cashiers check, even cash (fake bills) you can get scammed. Even wires can be undone (hard, but doable). Focus on the person first, and then the payment method.

This is why you should deal with people you can identify and trust based on: (i) feedback and on ebay (send seller a message and wait for response to confirm the person is who they say they are); (2) job -- ask for work email address; (3) where they live (google the house you are shipping to -- does the name match and does the check matche and is the house in a nice area where someone would have the money to buy 4k worth of stereo equipment); (4) google search of real name, email address and username -- lots of hits = good.

All that being said, you can check your jurisdiction's UCC and banking laws and find out exactly what your rights are. To get them, you often have to jump through hoops, but they are available.

One last point, think of who YOUR bank or financial institution is. I use a credit union because, in part, their policies are such that once a check clears, they do not permit another bank to issue a stop payment. I know some banks intrabank and interbank, will.

Marakanetz,
look all I stated was there was a law passed a few years ago, whatever your loopty loop logistics of how the system you think works is your business.

I have actually had sellers ship equipment before receiving my check.