Well that is 1 nice thing you get for having some good feedback/trust...you do not have to send first! I rarely have to use escrow anymore most people just send first then I pay later.
This is why people want to be able to act as escrow. It will help them quickly build up trust without any cost to them. When someone wants to build up trust, they will need to either buy or sell items which will cost them money. However if they are only acting as a middle man then there is no cost to them.Once they build up trust they can potentially scam for larger amounts as they can potentially engage in multiple deals in a short period with the other person always sending first
Providing escrow services really doesn't enhance one's trust as much as you seem to think it does. If I offered to act as escrow for a sale you were making, you would (hopefully) decline my offer, since I do not have a long history of transactions on this forum. One can only become an escrow after establishing a good reputation through normal trading. The level of trust one needs to be considered an acceptable escrow is greater than the level of trust needed to convince others to send first when trading.
Yes, while a reputation as a good escrow would allow someone to scam easily and in large volume, the reputation one must build up to be considered as escrow in the first place allows for pretty much the same thing. There really isn't too much to be gained for a scammer through escrow services, unless they are chosen for a particularly large deal.
