I paid $1799 and bought the SuperDrive for $99. In addition, I paid nearly $180 in tax and another $1XX (I don't remember) for Office. So, I am in for nearly $2150. And, I hope to get $1500 for it. Remember it has been used once in the last three plus months, so it is essentially new with box with manuals and DVDs.
If you like to get a newer mac so often, I don't know why you cannot find a better deal out there. The easiest way is you can just buy it from Amazon. You can get it for $1700 and no tax in most states. I don't think you have any problem to unload it at $1500 at this time.
I will keep mine till next summer so that I can get a new 1 with free ipod again. I think I should be able to sell mine around $1100 to $1200 by next summer.