Great responses all around! I'll echo several previously made comments and spin it into a unified recommendation:

Long after the sweetness of a low price subsides, the bitterness of an inferior product remains... so the goal is to get the best price possible on a higher end instrument.

Craig's list and ebay are full of ads for "pretty good" guitars that somebody else thought they'd learn to play, but never did.

After Christmas I often see ads for new instruments given as Christmas gifts to a kid who would rather have gotten a game console.

The nice thing about Craig's list is that the sales tend to be local, so you don't need to worry about shipping damage. Plus, you can make a lowball offer (seller is free to reject it... but if the offer is made respectfully, you'd be surprised how often the person will accept SOME money today in exchange for an instrument they don't want. Immediate gratification: it works in your favor)