Patience is key. CL and sometimes eBay have been where all my stuff has come from. What I did was do scans of machines and then research. The research is all on the net too so you'll find all kinds of opinions so it's best to average. By the time I'd really assessed my needs, budget and what was available, the deal lathe showed up.
What I've found here is the premium prices are for hobby size machines. For instance my brother finally had to sell his Hitachi mill( a direct knock off of a Cincinnatti 8,000lb beast) for $1000. I've seen the same size K&T's etc for that same price, complete. Not everybody has the room and the wherewithal to move such a beast and it took almost a year for a pump company to find it and show up with a flatbed and a crane. He'd had it for almost 30yrs and like he said, it didn't owe him anything. Where he moved back to in PA he picked up a BP for $600, so there's still deals. Even moving a BP is not something everybody can do, much less have the space for. Just the other day a really cherry looking BP showed up here for $1200 on CL. It lasted almost a week.
A lot of the stuff has gone away to Mexico, and a lot got scrapped. And then there's guys like a local clown that buys old iron and stores it outside uncovered saying it just needs a little TLC, yeah right........But if you don't get in a hurry its out there and just know for sure that whatever you get, soon after something nicer and cheaper will show up. That's what makes me watch and wait.