Why did I get bounced to escrow when seller doesn't seem to have an account?

I have never seen escrow before. I tried to purchase an item with "Buy it now" and was asked for a credit card and then sent to escrow.com.  What happened to using PayPal?  My seller doesn't seem to have an escrow.com account, or at least the purchase was initially linked to the item, but then all the details, including price, disappeared.  I didn't know I would have to memorize all the fees, etc., before I moved on to the next screen in escrow.com.  What the heck is going on?  What time length am I supposed to use? Audiogon gave a time, I think, but that has disappeared, too.

Confused and not super thrilled with my latest experience...