...My biggest concern is that there are so many exchanges. How the heck do I know which ones will pay me after I make an exchange? I know I have to check their reserve balance, but what else should I look for?
You should not forget that in addition to centralized exchanges, there are also decentralized ones, using which you will receive your coins to your wallet immediately after making a transaction. Since there is nothing more reliable than storing coins on your wallet, therefore, using DAX is preferable for medium-term trading.
What I don't like about decentralized exchanges is that they don't have the tools of centralized exchanges, for example I like the tools that bitfinex has because bitfinex has to place at the same time:
1.-Stop Loss,
2.-Take profit,
This allows me to totally make my commercial decisions and not be aware of the market, that is, if I win fabulous, then I hit the take profit and take profits, but otherwise I lose, I assume my loss and study what I failed, but the exchanges that I have operated are not like that, it is all very manual.
There are pros and cons when it comes to using DEXs or CEXs. But for the OP, as he is just starting here. He may want to check the features of a centralized exchange and start with the reputable one like Binance. If he doesn't want to undergo KYC, I think Kucoin is still not requiring to level 1 traders. However, what he is asking about the reserve balance of the exchange, this is hard to find. But if you are dealing with binance, for sure, they have more than enough liquidity for your coins.