Not all shipping quotes are created equal. If it's just some private seller who only ships one or two things a year, he likely just picked his closest UPS or FedEx store, put in some rough dimensions and a weight, and added a few bucks for his trouble. People who ship large items for a living, or work for large companies, might be able to get it down to fraction of that quote, but there's tricks to it, and your seller may not have the accounts or resources needed.
When I worked for a commercial uniform company, we had a lady who's entire reason for existing was finding the cheapest way to ship freight across the country. The extent of my involvement was usually just taping a packing slip to a machine, pallet, or large box, and then handing the paper work to the truck driver when he showed up. Sometimes it was a UPS or FedEx driver, sometimes it was some private freight company I've never heard of, and sometimes it was a guy in a some sort of rented truck, or something like a sprinter van. Sometimes we would have machines arrive to our warehouse, to be loaded onto our private freight trucks that made daily trips to satellite depots, as it was cheaper than shipping directly to the final destination via a commercial carrier. Other times, the opposite was true.
In your case, it might be cheaper to fly into the nearest airport (South Bend?), and then drive it back to Texas.
Got any frequent flyer miles saved up?
next time be sure to ask first. i would ask them to cancel the transaction because you do not have that much money for shipping.
