What kind of e-mail scam is this?

This is a typical email of the genre. This particular one reads:
“Hello Good Day,
This is Rev Raymond.With regards to your Company i am sending this email Regards to order some (DELUXE SHOP DESK) i will like to know the type and sizes you have in stock and get me the sales price of one so that i will tell you the quantity i will be ordering, and if you accept credit card as a form of payment.hope to read from you soon about my order request….”

The name of the sender and the item they want to buy varies with each email, but the rest is pretty formulaic. I get about one such mail a day, because I am a web developer and have a site that’s been online for years with my email address posted.

I know it’s a scam, I just don’t know what the scammer’s modus operandi is. Do they hope to actually buy a large order of goods using a stolen credit card, or do they try to switch any sucker who answers into giving them bank details for a “wire transfer”? How do they profit from doing this?