Good place to tell my Craigslist story. It's been a few years now but I found a listing in Chicago for 2 SE's and a core Tremonti for $800 total with pictures and all. I felt just like you are now...this has got to be bogus, but I figured I'd see what I could find out. I sent a response and the guy answered back. I got the whole backstory. He wanted the money for a film he was making blah blah blah. I just flat out asked him "You know they go for a lot more, right?" He assured me he did but he wanted to buy some camera and that was all he needed and didn't want to wait for someone to buy at the going rate. Well, it still seemed crazy, but I tried it. I sent the money by PayPal and he sent me email messages saying they were boxed up and he would send them Fed Ex the next day. When I didn't get a tracking number the next day I sent an email. He would say he was traveling and his wife was supposed to mail them. Always some excuse. After a couple times of this I just had PayPal return the money. When they did he was all angry and telling me how I blew it and I lost out on an amazing deal. What he didn't know when he was flapping his gums about me being wrong, was that while PayPal was investigating the claim, I found his same exact CL ad in Houston Texas. I forwarded that to PayPal help them make the right choice. Then I just asked him why his ad was also in Houston? Silence for a time and then he hung up.
We all would like to find a super deal and that is what these predators are counting on.
There is not a singe person on this earth who wants less than they know can attain from the sale of an item, or the inverse , where they want to pay more than they know something is worth.
I was tying to sell a guitar on CL. Within 12 hours I had received texts from 3 separate parties, all offering to pay more than I had asked, running the same "I'll send you a cashiers check" scam. The first scammer actually had my attention, but I had that feeling and investigated. Sure enough- text book scam. Later I was mad at myself for not laughing off the scammer at first contact. BE SMART, and always operate from perspective of extreme suspicion. If anything at all seems fish, bail on that sale.