The first blued ones could be found on sale for $370, as I recall. I bought one right after the stainless version was released.
It was a real sleeper on the market. S&W didn't really have to do more than some token advertising and the CS9/45's sold pretty fast. (The CS40 was discontinued when the factory sold less than 100 units in what became the last year of the CS40's production.)
I remember calling around to some cop shops that sold different holster lines as LE dealers/distributors and being told they sold the CS45's as fast as they could get them. This was even after the CS45 was dropped from the commercial catalog and was still being produced for LE runs.
I've lost track of the rounds I've fired through mine over the years, but it's been used pretty hard. (The last time I ordered recoil springs I ordered them a dozen at a time for my CS9 & CS45, because I was tired of ordering them 1 or 2 at a time. I've gone through followers and mag springs for the CS45, as well.)
I've seen a couple of CS45 shooters unintentionally ... and intentionally ... allow their grips to become less stable and supportive, "breaking" at the wrist (not locked) and with a slightly relaxed grip, and experience feeding stoppages. No surprise, since diminutive .45's have generally had a reported history of being less tolerant to both shooter & ammo related influences than larger models.
The CS45 has its own specific 6-rd magazine. For a reason.
It differs from the "original" 4513TSW 6-rd mag in that it has a second set of pressed indentations at the bottom/rear of the standard pressed lips. The purpose of the second set of indentations is to create extra pressure against the top round, to help prevent it from being displaced forward under the increased recoil of the itty bitty CS45.
I was told by the factory that the secondary set of indentations was decided upon after production of the CS45 had already started (added to the mags as a revision). There are some early production mags that had the indentations added by a machinist, by hand, and then the new mag bodies received the indentations during normal manufacturing.
This image shows the 6-rd CS45 mag on the right, and a 6-rd 4513TSW mag on the left.
Magazines are just as expensive as they are for other S&W 3rd gen guns, and you can still order new ones from the factory.
FWIW, the late production (current) 3rd gen .45 magazines all use the same mag follower, spring & mag butt catch assembly. (The mag butt catch assembly is usually a blued metal plate, but they also used black plastic catches, as well. The metal ones threaded onto the spring, while the plastic ones had a crossed post that snapped into the bottom spring coil, and a solid post that snapped into the butt plate.)
The CS45 and CS40 used the same .45 frame, while the CS9 had a somewhat smaller frame & slide. The CS45 has a 3.25" barrel and the CS9 has a 3" barrel.
This is my pair of CS9/45's.
As far as price? Probably set by the market in your area, I'd imagine ... and what you're willing to pay to own one. I kinda doubt you're going to stumble across a store with half a dozen of them NIB, after all.
The CS45 was probably one of the best bargains to be had when it came to a rugged, reliable, subcompact, lightweight TDA (DA/SA) pistol.
They also made some early DAO guns, the MCS45D (Model Chiefs Special 45 Double Action).
You can read quite a bit about them over on the S&W forums, BTW.