This is how I bought my current ride.
Well, I don’t work in an off shore oil rig.
But I was buying from a dude up the country – I sent money Via PayPal (NOT as a gift) and then instructed Parcel Force to pick the bike up – after talking to the seller of course and him agreeing to box it up etc.
Couldn’t of gone smoother. I paid for a 2nd hand bike from the classifieds here and it turned up 4 days later.
I guess how you would protect yourself here is for YOU to sort the shipping, get it all signed off video yourself boxing it up etc.
When I bought my bike I forwarded all the shipping information from Parcel Force to the seller to show mainly the times but also that I was shipping reputable.
Tough one.