Costly order mistakes
None of these are exotic. They are ordinary decisions made under mild pressure, and each has a rule that removes the decision entirely.
Confirming receipt early
Releases the money and closes the dispute route in one action. Honest vendors do sometimes ask, which is exactly why this has to be a standing rule rather than a judgement about the person asking.
Letting a timer expire
Produces the same outcome as confirming, without anybody having asked. Waiting politely while a deadline approaches is the passive version of the same mistake.
Moving off the platform
Discards the escrow contract, the message record and the arbitration route together. The reasons offered are speed and discretion, and neither is worth what it costs.
Resubmitting during a stall
A page that hangs mid action is usually a circuit being repaired. Clicking again during a payment or release step is how an action gets sent twice, and two of anything is much harder to unpick than one that was slow.
Sending a second deposit
A deposit that looks missing is almost always confirming, and a shortfall is almost always the wallet fee setting. A second payment does not speed anything up and turns a simple reconciliation into a complicated one.
Ordering large from an untested vendor
A small order buys exactly the same information about how somebody operates. Profile numbers cannot distinguish a seller who honours everything from one who honours small orders only.
Leaving a balance
The remainder that was too small to bother withdrawing is the amount still sitting there when a platform ends. It is the most avoidable loss on this list.
The pattern underneath all seven
Every one is a decision made in a hurry, under mild pressure, slightly outside the normal routine. None require sophistication to exploit and none are prevented by vigilance, because vigilance is what runs out at exactly the wrong moment. Standing rules requiring no decision are what actually work.
The three rules that cover most of it
Never confirm before delivery. Never leave the platform. Never leave a balance. Those three sentences prevent more loss than every technical measure discussed anywhere on this site.