What do you mean by "decent price"?
Your ambition is very common - pay almost nothing for a fabulous machine. That sometimes happens, but not very often (sort of like winning a lottery). My experience, as a young guy that ended up in mechanical engineering, was buying a slightly used (new new) lathe from a reputable dealer - was the right thing to do. I certainly paid full price ($10,000 for a mid level 15" lathe - 40 years ago). I have long, long since forgotten about the price. I have certainly spent more than that getting it all well dressed out. Looking back I ought to have gone for ~$15,000 option (the size has been about perfect, but it would be cool to have a higher class, few more features etc).
I have since acquired ~10 more machines (some in that lottery win category). If you are serious, spend some real money - in the long run you'll never even notice (but if you purchase a disappointment, then you'll be constantly reminded of the poor decision).