Well you just never know, but if you're new, it's a bigger risk of being 'had' on CL; sure, some good deals may show up, but so do unscrupulous people try to
un-load animals that aren't healthy in some way, some that were exposed to sick snakes, & some that may even have been stolen. It's risky...it's "buyer beware".
You said it yourself, in the initial post: "...so alarm bells are going off in my head" Trust that inner voice, when something seems too good to be true, it often is.