I have been seeing great deals on the *bay for new Gibsons, Epiphones, and Fender guitars. I asked one of the buyers if he did indeed receive a Gibson Les Paul for $3.50 plus $300 shipping from China. Here is his reply:

I didn't get exactly what I bid on. The pictures are just representations. Ten different sellers use the same picture. The quality is ok at best.
Be careful, these guys are getting kicked off ebay and paypal faster than you can blink. I committed to one a few weeks ago. Within hours of committing, the seller became no longer registered with ebay or paypal, and he had 100% feedback from about 50 people. My biggest fear was getting screwed. If you send them payment, and they don't ship, what can you do....pretty much nothing. Like yourself, I asked several buyers of these, and never got a single response.
Hind sight being 20 20, I would have bought a tried and true Epiphone les paul. Same price, much better quality. If you have to have one, all I can say is proceed with caution. Hope this helps. Brett

Apparently the guitars being purchased are NOT the guitars pictured in the auctions. BEWARE!