No escrow?

Use a credit card. If you do not receive the item, do a charge back, or use paypal. Money order can be cashed, and you may not receive the item. If seller refuses CC or paypal, look elsewhere, there is always something else at the same price or better.

Lots of pendejos make transactions on this site using paypal. You have some, SOME, protection. Like the other pendejos said above, check feedback, get a phone # and call the seller, get a feeling for the pendejos you are dealing with.
Escrow has been known to be full of scams, a bunch of pendejos around the world posing as escrow, taking your $. So why bother.
It may seem like an ocksee moron, but my advise is: be a smart pendejo.
Con Safos.

I always check how long the other party has been a member of AudioGon, check their feedback, and whether they have been active in any threads. This will give you a good idea of the other parties intent and integrity. If you are a new member, someone will need to take a gamble on you. Even if you are honest and have impeccable integrity, I would trust a longtime member with perfect feedback before dealing with you, not to say I wouldn't. I would always want to talk with a person with little or no feedback to establish a comfort zone or break off a deal.

You might want to try a few small transactions and get a feel for how things work. I have never had a bad transaction on this site.

Excellent advice from those above..I use paypal with my credit card. The credit card company will go to bat for you if need be. And paypal can at least provide tracking information. At least to some degree. Check feedback from buyer or seller on this website and others that they may be a part of. For a major purchase if you are still concerned, then wait for an item you would want, they is being sold/purchased, that is in driving distance. You save on the shipping, and perhaps even meet a fellow audio nut.

Thanks for all the feedback. Seems that most folks here have found ways to give them some reasonable level of assurance, though it appears it's either the buyer or the seller who's without a real safety net. Still puzzled as to why an escrow process isn't more established that has guarantees for both. Works for real estate.