Snapping at constructive criticism doesn't get one too far whether buying or selling.
If you can find a halfway decent piece of equipment, that you like, around the Dakotas for less premium than the shipping costs from the Great Lakes region, you better jump on it. There have been a couple pieces of heavy iron reoccurring on CL in the north eastern part of SD. I didn't catch exact size or pricing, but I don't think that is what you're after anyway.
Last summer there was a rather well equipped smaller lathe around Sioux Falls on CL too, but IIRC that was over $3K. Regardless, quite a trip from ND, and I don't think available anymore anyway.
Believe it or not, I well understand the frustration of seeing screaming deals missed just because each was a little further than you originally planned to travel. However, in a machine tool desert, it seems like either being ready to spend some $$$ on shipping or having extreme patience is key. Trade school shop sell-offs and the like do still exist, as well as small machine shops or home machinists retiring, but to find what you want seems to take patience indeed.
I wound up packaging a mill and a lathe from an east coast dealer and got a good deal on shipping too. Unfortunately, he didn't realize arranging shipping from the east coast to Dakotas wasn't as easy as his usual destinations. So when they finally did ship, it was a completely different arrangement than we agreed, and I wound up dealing with damage - most likely while being loaded. I eventually got some compensation for the damage, but not the headache.
Later, I found a lathe in better condition here on PM, and gave the other one to the FIL, but I had to arrange shipping. 4'X8' and 5000lb over 900mi made a dent in the savings, but the seller was great - and this time when the shipping company messed up, despite my very specific description, their trailer was damaged rather than the lathe!
