Definitely report the seller to EBay for investigation. There's something very wrong.

I won a sewing machine on EBay for a pittance, and the seller promised to send an invoice with shipping in 3 days. On day 4 I sent an email and was told by the seller I had backed out and the machine had already been relisted for much more!!!! I requested a copy of the supposed final invoice I never received and the purported notice from EBay that I had backed out- and they didn't exist. I made sure all contact was through EBay- none on my personal email. Finally received the machine and the attachment tin was damaged and the footplate was missing! I sent a neutral email asking for it and mysteriously it was "found". Seller had an excellent rating- apparently just perturbed the machine only had a few bids. This wasn't a valuable machine- just a sentimental one for me. Not worth the hassle but it was the principle. Your seller sounds very deceptive from the outset. Hope you get your table!

Report the seller. Keep all your emails from her to support your claim. The auction should have been reported immediately for shipping fee gouging which, as Candace said, is against the rules.

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321100579961
Just saw the table was relisted. Guess the deal fell through.

To clear up a couple of things about Ebay:

At least a year ago, Ebay started charging their final value commision fees on the combined total of the ending auction price and the shipping. They said that was to draw bids and help the seller (what kind of rationale is that?) Actually I think the reason was to reduce the use of high shipping fees by the seller, as well as to increase revenue for Ebay. In the past there were sellers who didn't care if they sold something for 99 cents, because they charged extremely high shipping and avoided paying Ebay much commission. That strategy doesn't work as well now.

The seller lists in their auction whether or not they will accept "pick up" by the winner by simply checking a box when they post it. If the auction doesn't state that pick-up is an option, I can't see what recourse a buyer has if the seller doesn't want to do it. Sometimes "pick up" is inconvenient for the seller, or they are concerned about safety and privacy. However, I can't imagine anything more inconvenient than packing and shipping a card table! It is possible that they are expecting to use a professional packer/shipper for the task.

Ebay does have the opportunity for buyers to report shipping prices that are out of line like this appears to be. In this case the seller may be able to justify the cost. It could be like shipping a painting -- double boxing and padding with the cost of labor additional. If they can produce a professional shipping estimate to Ebay, they may be off the hook.

I hope you get this resolved and are able to get the table. Maybe a compromise would work. The seller definitely does have the option of reducing or eliminating shipping charges on the invoice to the buyer. And the invoice that the buyer actually pays with is what is used to calculate the seller's commission fees due to Ebay.

Good luck!

Dayle

Well, here's my sad story. The seller agreed to pick up but started complaining immediately about schedule times. I couldn't pin her down to a convenient time or place. I even suggested the parking lot of the post office where she would have to take it to ship.

We also discussed shipping prices. I went on USPS site and calculated the shipping prices for the weight and dimensions (even insurance for the $14.99). It came to around $66.00 if I went to the PO and $35.00 if I ordered the shipping online.

This really set the seller off. She offered to cancel the order which I gracefully accepted . . . because she scared me :-(

It might have been stolen also and she was looking to get some money--maybe for drugs.

I'm sorry it didn't work out. I still suggest reporting her to EBay. Keep looking- another will come along.

It will be interesting to follow the seller's reposting of the table and how high the bidding goes.

I really hope you will report her to ebay!