I've shipped a number of things overseas for Ebay. The escrow business is something paypal does with new sellers. Supposedly it's to protect buyers from fraud. Being cynical, I suspect that paypal making money on the float may be a factor. Irritating, but you'll either get your money or the saw back in the end, and if you want to play on their court, it's their rules. Especially irritating is how Ebay and Paypal are the same company but pretend they don't know each other. On the other hand, it's a vast market.
As for shipping, my rule is no monkey business on the customs declaration, and shipped fully insured. If the guy isn't okay with that, it's no deal. Lots of times buyers will ask you to declare something with a $500 value as a "gift" with a value of $25. So if it gets stolen or run over, or seized by customs because of a fraudulent declaration, guess who is left holding the bag?
Good luck,
Jack