I really understand this feeling. It depends on 
trust really. If it is a first time deal usually 
there will be a lot of stress regarding time and 
shipment vs. payment.

I have had this happen to me recently and the 
seller was from Canada. I live in Japan. I 
decided to have cel that was quite expensive, 
shipped via standard airmail..(bad move). I did 
this since the seller "appeared" to have a very 
decent online business and has an excellent eBay 
feedback reputation with sales.

Canada is notorious for sending packages late as 
I found out. But the seller was also deceptive in 
when they actually stated that they shipped the 
cel, in fact they hadn't. The seller claimed to 
have sent the cel on a certain date, but the 
postmark was dated much later. The seller also 
had a bad attitude about me asking about time and 
policy or refunds regarding lost merchandise, 
since one month was approaching and the seller 
could still cancel the payment on their end of 
PayPal. It is a long story but the conclusion was 
that I finally got my cel but. 

I will never buy from them again.

I think "customer service" is very important. It 
goes hand in hand with your reputation. Receiving 
money is one thing, but taking the attitude that 
once the money is in pocket and casting all risk 
into the buyers hands afterwards, is not a very 
good stance to take. This should be viewed as a 
partnership until everyone is statisfied, IMO

Shipping via EMS or some form of express mail 
service is the ONLY way to go. I tried the slow 
mail approach that time and it only created 
confusion stress and frustration on my end after 
a month waiting after having paid via PayPal with 
a large amount. So, I have decided never to do 
that again, unless the cost of postage is more 
than the cel itself.

E