Quoted from BaxterStockman:Thanks for all the info. You're too kind. Had to do some googling on what white glove shipping is. The legs on shipping sounded interesting, but if you swear by it I trust you.
Messaged one seller to see if they'd consider it.
And would you recommend escrow.com for the transaction?
No. In your case with almost no cred built up here yet, you have to trust but verify the seller because it's not an even situation reputationally. How long have they been on pinside? How active are they? What's their pinside feedback from other sales?
I'd do a bank wire transfer once you've done your homework on the seller, which will put them at ease dealing with you. In literally every case where I wanted a "no shipping" pin, they still went for the white glove legs on shipping service I set up anyway because they didn't have to do anything except take some pictures as the pin was being wrapped for them.
And once the sale is complete, ask for feedback from the seller and leave them feedback as a buyer to start building your pinside cred for future sales/purchases.