The seller is offering to get it insured, and I will certainly pay for this, but…

How comprehensive is a courier’ insurance? What sorts of eventualities does it cover? I am having the bike delivered to my work, but I won’t be able to unbox it for a week after it arrives.

If something is wrong, will I be able to claim?

Don’t use Hermes whatever you do

Private sale or trade?

Private sale. It’s a guy in Glasgow. He has been very communicative, and sent photos of every stage of the process: that is, the bike before, during, and after packing.

We sold a bike on Ebay and TNT drive a fork truck tine though the box causing damage to the frame. The buyer was furious and blamed us. Not wanting a dispute and bad rating on Ebay I refunded him and got the bike back. Unfortunately his wife had signed for the package “in good condition” so we had no redress against TNT until I started a campaign of complaints and negotiation and in the end I got most of the cost of the repair back from them, by sheer bloody-mindedness. My adice to you would be to examine the box carefully and if you see any signs of crushing or penetration, sign for it as “damaged”.