1. How do I put the coins in escrow?
2. The seller I am buying from requires people who have made fewer than five purchases to finalize early. I am aware that many scammers ask for that, but I have researched this vendor and found nothing but positive feedback, so I'm confident they're not scammer. How would one finalize early?
3. As you have probably figured out, I haven't really purchased anything on SR yet. I'm afraid to go ahead and buy it because I'm worried I'll make a mistake and lose all my bitcoins. How easy is sr's checkout process, in your experience? How would it differ from a site like Amazon?
1. Escrow is automatic. The coins are automatically placed in escrow when you check out.
2. After you submit your order, a "Finalize" link will appear. Click that if you want/need to finalize early.
3. The checkout process works like any other shopping cart.