I paid $1200 for a unopened running engine last month got from throttle body to oil pan & fan/balancer to flywheel with headers, crossover & spare ecm for $900 cash deal! Thats a deal I know!
Guess it depends where you shop & how bad they need Cash!!
usually around here a bare block is $400 BUT a shortblock is under a grand? To me it makes no sense somedays. Package deals are always a better buy it seems but I wouldnt pay over $1500-$2K for that stuff myself.