To me it depends on the buyer and how bad I'm wanting to sell something and what price we've negotiated. I usually get a deposit to hold something, but I have held an item for a couple of weeks and made a good friend out of it. My advise would be don't hold anything that you would be upset if the buyer backed out on. My advise for most would be don't hold without deposit. I guess I keep from hoping for integrity to winout. Even at this I always keep product till check clears, so I don't lose out totally. Guess I've just been lucky so far.