Just had extremely similar experience with CraigsList ad for a different kind of trailer, but same sob story (divorce, etc). I detest criminality enough to have registered specifically to post the following 'me too' warning even at the risk of giving useful feedback to people who might use it for ill.
Not only your money but your life can be at stake, esp. if you disclose your address. I hope the lack of followup in this thread for the original poster (OP) is not a bad sign. And even if only money is lost, it may be used to buy weapons or support terror here or elsewhere in the world. It is sad that society has come to the point that we have to consider such evil with every public interaction, but that is reality. Here are some observations that may help detect or at least raise a yellow or red flag:
Signs of a con artist at work in Craigs List post
1) It's a Craig's list ad. That's a yellow flag right there. Why not use Ebay motors?
2) Randomly mixed upper and lower case letters in ad(not sure why this is, but have seen more than one)
3) If price is a bit too good to be true, it probably is.
Signs in initial email response
(nearly identical wording to OP above except for name of trailer, length, price etc)
1) Took several days to reply with an apology for delay in response (in and of itself not a huge flag perhaps)
2) Generic, did not mention name of inquirer, did not initially respond to request for more photos, and fishy story about a buyer 'in my state' without mentioning the state.
3) Slightly fishy story, but not so much that it was not completely unbelievable. Buyer for fairly low priced vehicle was not able to raise loan, and free shipping because had prepaid shipping to 'my state' and was not able to obtain refund.
4) Signed "God Bless You" (always leery of overly public religious salespersons, seen as attempt to gain credibility without merit to back it up)
Signs in f/u email response
1) Ignored all inquiries (again) except for more photos
2) More fishy attempts to entice into sending address (will send COD with all papers in your name) etc
3) Claims of 5 day money-back guarantee but no specifics on how this would be claimed.
Possible outcomes (I will never know because I stopped engaging):
1) 'COD shipment' is only a way to get address to rob you of the $1500 cash price
2) May only be a way to associate your email address with a physical address and steal your identity (potentially via further f/u emails)
3) Possible setup to find out when you are not home and rob you
4) Possible setup to attack you (this is a stretch perhaps, but robberies do go wrong on occasion)
5) Money stolen could be used for anything from drugs to terrorism
Bottom line:
Majority of world's people have at least some good in them, but there are scammers, cons, and outright criminals out there willing to steal your money or your life. Who knows what they will do with either. Do not
fall prey or engage them.
If you absolutely must use CraigsList or similar online service, google for info on how to protect yourself from con artists.