Escrow; meet in person; make them send first...
When you say escrow, you are referring to "LocalBitcoin's Transaction" (which previously they used to refer to as being "escrow")
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https://localbitcoins.com/faq#howto_transactionBut that just lets you accept bitcoins without having to worry about getting the transaction confirmed. In this instance, the worry isn't that the bitcoin might get double-spent but that the bank transaction will.
I will look into the escrow service but, again, the fees implied in those service..added to the fees incurred in the first place to buy the BTC adds up at a rather fast
A "LocalBitcoins transaction" helps protect you in the instance where you are handing over cash to a seller who has no trust history and might try to take advantage of a weakness of Bitcoin that sometimes makes it possible to cheat someone who considers "0/unconfirmed" transactions as "paid".
If it is the first time you are trading with someone who is new or has low rep and you will be handing over a chunk of cash, you might find the 1% fee to be well worth the peace of mind.
It is too bad there is no way to pay a 1% (or similar low fee) to ensure that bank transactions similarly can't be later reversed.