Escrow in this case is a company with well established service for mediated online transactions.
You transfer money to them, seller gets info it is available and starts material transaction.
If the good arrives at the customer, he is asked to release the money to the seller. If there is no dispute, Escrow releases the money to him.

It actually is a disadvantage for @sifartech, because he will have to pay everything upfront or do special deals with his partners to supply us with phones in the first place.

One thing you as a custumor will pay in any case is the ~10% escrow fee. But i don't think sifartech is suspected to be working for them