Escrow ok.
Seller:Yes, that's how it's done safely and correctly.
Make sure you emphasize this requirement to buyers. If you are asked to send the coins upfront, decline. If you are offered a more favorable BTC value but you go first, decline.
If you are asked to send some of the coins first and the rest later, decline. Scammers will do this and tell you it's about "testing your credibility". This is called the increments scam. Do not send any coins upfront. Not even a very small amount. If scammers realize they can't convince you to send 10 BTC they will try to steal just about anything. Even 0.01 BTC will buy them food for a few days. Use escrow for any amount.
PayPal is notoriously reversible. If you deal with an untrusted member, you risk losing your coins and PayPal funds. Scammers exploit PayPal's generous 180 days window for disputing and charging back payments. They simply invoke the fraud defense and if bitcoin is involved, PayPal will (on the balance of probabilities) reverse the payment.
Even PayPal payments sent as "Friends & Family" can be reversed if the scammer carefully plots the scam and reasons for the reversal. For example by sending the money while his browser is connected to a VPN and later telling PayPal his account was accessed from another location and it was a fraudulent payment. Another way is to submit a charge back to the credit card linked to the PayPal account.
If the money was paid from a hacked or phished PayPal account, then you will most definitely lose your coins and money.
Escrow can neither help nor protect if you accept PayPal as payment method. That's because PayPal's reversibility risk defeats the purpose of using escrow which is to make sure all parties honor the terms of the trade. The scammer can reverse the money after he gets the coins so there is no point in using escrow.
Bank deposit.. this will work but tread with caution. It is a method used by scammers for MITM fraud. Do your due diligence and make sure you check and double check the depositor's information before sending the coins. Make sure the depositor is the actual buyer. Some banks allow depositors to reverse the cash deposit. Even if this practice conflicts with banking procedure rules there will always be a moment of negligence or ignorance which is when the teller allows the reversal and you risk losing the deposited funds and coins. Use escrow and never send the coins unless you have cleared funds on your account.
Be careful of scammers depositing checks which will later bounce or never clear. Some deposit stolen and counterfeit checks. Banks usually pre-clear them so they appear as "credited" on your bank account. Don't be fooled by the positive balance. When the check is later found to be counterfeit or stolen or issued from an account with insufficient funds, it will bounce and you will pay a hefty penalty.
Buyer:If you are considering buying OP's coins, do your due diligence too. Use a trusted escrow before paying any money. Make sure a trusted escrow confirms the coins are in his control before money changes hands. When contacting and choosing a trusted escrow, use that escrow's official profile page or thread on this site. Make sure (and double check!) that it is not a phished or cloned site.
