furthermore if you're in Australia, like I am, Coinbase has this confusing factoid to consider:
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![NotSure :notsure: :notsure:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
???
i googled and reddit had an answer: you can still transfer the crypto you purchase to your coinbase wallet, and from there (hopefully*) transfer to an external wallet.
* I say hopefully because my trial transfer (I'm testing a small amount, about 10 dollars worth of BTC) from my coinbase account to my coinbase wallet is still pending. i checked the blockchain and it's been confirmed only once. I'm still very much a novice with crypto so i googled again, and apparently there are times when transfers from CB to CB wallet take hours (8hrs in one reddit thread). It was apparently due to outages, but I wonder if it being the weekend (Sunday here) has something to do with it?
When my transfer finally finishes I'll update here with how long it took.
Another thing to keep in mind with Coinbase are
the fees. Make sure you figure out the percentage and add that to the price of the amount of BTC you need.
For Australians there's a 3.99% fee for card purchases. It's different for other parts of the world (just google "coinbase fees").
Also, I haven't figured out the amount because it's written in BTC not dollars, but i was charged a fee simply transferring my Coinbase-purchased BTC to my Coinbase wallet. Another thing to keep in mind
![Meh :meh: :meh:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
.
From the FAQ page for Coinbase wallet:
^ I don't know what this means for me time-wise, being a first-time purchaser + transfer, which is frustrating. I'd like to know how long it takes, even a window of time if they can't say for certain.
One more thing: make sure you are NOT using TOR / VPN / other Proxy during sign up, verification, purchasing, and transfer. Their T&Cs don't allow it.
Coinbase also provides you with the link to check your transaction on the blockchain. Mine went from 1 confirmation.. to 2.. It's now one hour after I made the transaction and I'm still waiting, but I did find this (by googling) on the Coinbase Glossary:
So i guess I'm 1 confirmation away from an approved transfer! Yay!
update: 3 confirmations! and the transaction on both the blockchain and Coinbase has changed from Pending to Confirmed/Completed! 
![Ehh :ehh: :ehh:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
so it took just over an hour to be confirmed/completed, and it also took an extra 10 minutes or so for my coinbase wallet to update and show the received transaction (so don't fret if it doesn't appear right away).