I've been contacted by someone in another country (B) who wants a product from the country where I live (A). He would pay me in BTC to buy the product and ship it to him.
I want to make an estimation of the price of the product + price of shipping, add a deposit %, and divide by an estimation of Bitcoin price in A's currency, to know how much Bitcoin he should send to an escrow at first. Then I'd buy the product, ship it, and I'd take Bitcoin's price at the time of both events, to know how much it really costed. Then the escrow could send me the real price in BTC, and the difference back to the buyer in country B.
But the buyer insists there is no need for a deposit, that using an escrow is enough. The problem is I don't know the exact price of the shipping until I'm at the post office with the product already purchased ready to be sent, and we don't know what the price of Bitcoin in A's currency will be at the time of purchase. There could be a day or two between the time he sends Bitcoin to the escrow, and the time the product is bought.
If you are used to do this, what's the usual, safe way?
I think , try to find a local courier, get there table or list of rates whether it is in just a plastic bag or in a box , it depends also in the amount of weight of the product, also it is more expensive since the origin and the recipient is in not the same country, add a little more amount to your calculation because the bitcoin market is not stable, and you may also calculate first USD and convert it in btc. Escrow is good but give him a reference rate also so that he would not be worried.