I've bought three dining tables off eBay in the last four years: two for my place, one for my sister's. The first cost $290, the second $475, and the third $820. I've also sold one on eBay, so I've seen the other side of the listing photos.
The differences between a $300 and an $800 table aren't subtle. But they're not what the listings tell you either. At the $300 level, you're getting wood that's technically hardwood but feels like balsa in the drawer. At $800, you're getting real joinery and a top that doesn't warp if you look at it wrong.
The $300 Table
My $290 table was a 60-inch round rubberwood table, sold as "solid wood". It's true—the legs were solid rubberwood. The top was solid rubberwood too, but only about 18mm thick. That's thin enough that after six months, the center sagged by about a quarter inch. Dust collects in the sag. Guests have bumped it hard enough twice that I'm terrified it'll crack.
The finish was a matte lacquer that showed every water ring within a week. I now use coasters under everything, including the pepper mill.
Assembly took 40 minutes, but the instructions showed a different table than what came in the box. The bolts stripped easily—I had to drill out two of six leg bolts five months later when I tightened them and the thread gave.
The biggest failure, though, wasn't structural. It was the missing product support. The seller sent me an email link to a PDF warranty claim that led to a dead page. I emailed three times. No reply.
The $800 Table
My $820 table is a 72-inch rectangular one, solid oak with a 28mm top. It came from a seller who had actual photos of the underside—visible mortise and tenon joints, and the legs are tenoned into the aprons, not screwed in. The tabletop is finished with a hard-wax oil that's taken two years of heavy use, including having a hot Dutch oven put directly on it once (undeservedly) and it just blushed a little.
The difference in footprint is huge too. It's 36 inches wide, which sounds only slightly bigger than a 34-inch wide table, but it takes up noticeably more visual space. I had to measure the room again after buying it—I didn't, and it doesn't fit well, leaving no space for chair pull-out. I recommend the 84 Inch Dining Table: What Buying One Really Means for Your Room (and post for that geometry.
The In-Between
The $475 table I bought for my sister was a 48-inch square, acacia wood. That price got her a 20mm top and a better finish, but the joinery was still screw-and-glue, and the table wobbled on its own until she put felt pads under one leg.
But she got dimensions that worked, because she actually measured the chair height first. That table had a 29-inch height, and her chairs had 17-inch seats—they fit under, but in two years of use I've never once offered help moving it because it's flimsy.
That's the real money gap. Between $300 and $500, you're paying for looks and a brand label that might not mean much. From $500 to $800, the money goes into the parts that keep the table from sagging, wobbling, or stripping—longer tenons, harder wood, better finish.
What I'd Actually Look For
Don't buy an eBay dining table without checking three specific things in the listing photos:
1. The underside. If you can see joint blocks, glue lines, or wood biscuits, walk away.
2. The drawer runners. On a $300 table, they're likely three-quarter extension and thin metal that'll bend. On an $800 table, you'll see full-extension ball bearing or Blum. The $300 table's drawer bottom came out of its groove six months in.
3. The posted dimensions vs the table's actual dimensions. Measure your room, and measure your chair height. You'll lose a project the way I lost a week to the 84-inch table in that link above.
The Real Math
Add shipping to either price. eBay tables rarely ship free. My $290 table had $85 shipping, and it was crushed in transit—the seller'd used plastic wrapping over heavy cardboard, and two legs dented the top on the way. The $820 table had $120 shipping, and the seller had built a custom wooden frame. It arrived flawless.
At the end, I still use the $290 table as a work table in my garage. It's fine for holding boxes and a power drill. But it's not a dining table anymore.
The $820 one, though, is in my dining room, and after two years it still passes the wobble test, the water ring test, and the "sit four people and lean on your elbows" test.
I've also bought used tables locally, and that's a different beast entirely. For the price difference, though, the gap between $300 and $800 on eBay is the difference between furniture you keep and furniture you replace every couple years.
That's what I found. Yours might be different. But measure twice, or at least once, before you attach a chair.