No idea about USA prices but comparing the JD to the Craftsman is comparing beer to swamp water.
While you can pay a lot for junk, you never get top shelf quality for peanuts.
It is the stuff you can not see that makes the difference like replacable bushes where shafts go through supports, the engine that JD use generally are a much better spec then anything craftsman used.
Have a think backwards,
On a $ 1000 mower the retailer gets around 30% so that makes it $ 700.
It costs around $ 50 to $ 200 to ship it to the retailer ( so average $125 )
That makes the mower no more than $ 575 at the factory gate, which is less that the wholesale price of the engine all by itself.
So how good is that mower going to be ?
how much care & quality control is going into a complete mower that is less than the wholesale price of the engine ?
When customers ask me weather a mower is good value or not I always use this type of logic.
If a mower is selling for the same or lower price than the engine + transmission as a stand alone spare parts then walk away cause it can not be made well unless slaves are doing the assembly work.
Service properly you should get 10 to 20 years out of that JD
$ 1300 / 10 = $ 130 year
$ 130 / 30 = $ 4.30 a mow
So buy the JD and then add $ 50 for the JD technical manual.
Service the mower by the book and change the oil on the last mow of the season & it will be the last mower you ever buy