It makes me chuckle when people tout PayPal as having protection for both the buyer and seller. They really only protect the buyer, and 99 out of 100 times the seller ends up getting screwed in a dispute. There is a much higher burden of proof on the seller than the buyer.
I've been screwed over as a seller, even though I had screenshots of the discussion with the buyer, pictures of the goods and delivery confirmation. Since I had already transferred the money out to my bank account, my PayPal account was actually "in the hole" for several hundred dollars FOR MONTHS while things got "reviewed". In the end, I lost out on the goods and the money because, well, people suck and they know they can get away with that crap.
As a side note, I've been using PayPal since before they were bought by eBay 22 years ago, and I have THOUSANDS of transactions as both buyer and seller. Didn't matter.
On the flip side, I've also been screwed over as a buyer using a different, non-protected payment option. Again, because people suck and there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there trying to steal your money.
All you can really do is use your best judgement. I've passed on deals because I caught a weird vibe from the seller, and I've successfully used other forms of payment for deals where I had a good level of comfort.