Instead of escrow, why not use multisignature? Its easy to do on blockchain.info:
https://blockchain.info/wallet/escrowNo risk of the escrow party running off with the money, losing his laptop or getting killed in a carcrash. You just need an independent third party to sign, and if all goes well, he doesnt have to do anything.
We can certainly do that. But what happens if the Bitcoin goes down by the time we can cash it out?
I also do not see the reasons to offer a discount for these transactions.
The way that we see it, our customers who have placed non-escrow pre-orders are our investors, hence it is our duty to do our best to maximize their revenues. They will receive discounts and price guarantees.
Escrow transactions where we cannot use the funds to pay the foundry and engineers, are just ... sales that require more of our investment.