I'm not 100% married to using escrow.com but since I intend to purchase an item over $2,000 in value and have it shipped from IL to TX, I'm not totally comfortable sending 100% of the $$ up front unsecured.
This is how I understand the escrow service would work between two parties (RPM and myself).
My payment for the item would be put in the possession of a 3rd party escrow service prior to asking RPM to ship the item. The shipping of the item is tracked by the escrow service all the way to arrival. I would then have 3 or 5 days to accept the shipment. If I accept, my payment is available to be wired to RPM. If I reject the item, I MUST send it back immediately and the $$ I've paid gets returned to me AFTER I've sent the item back and it's been received by the original shipper/seller.