Longwinters,
If the resale values up there are soo high, and if people are willing (foolish) enough to buy used scopes at such higher resale prices, it sounds like you could have a good used scope business up in the U.P.
I went to law school in Michigan my first year and froze my butt. Needless to say, I transferred out and got my LL.M. in International law down here is Sunny Miami. Anyway, while I was up there I didn't have the chance to gauge the market for scopes. Had I known that, and had ebay been available at that time, I bet you that I could have made a nice little side money to pay for my law school.
Zachary