I suspect that this will be heresy, but…over the years I have built a considerable collection of high quality manual focus lenses (chiefly Zeiss, Leica and Minolta), all of them except 2 or 3 bought on ebay. The 2 or 3 came from KEH. I agree with everything that has been said about KEH, reliable, honest, and very conservative grading. But expensive. You can get equally good lenses from reputable sellers on ebay for hundreds of dollars less. You will have to spend some time researching sellers, but in my experience it pays off. I have never bought any lens on ebay that I had to argue about after the fact. A few caveats:
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Buy only from sellers that only sell photographic equipment. Avoid estate sale and pawn shop scavengers (they are easy to spot - Santa Claus figurines next to J.C. Penney lenses with the odd Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc. lens in the mix). Sometimes you can get great deals from private sellers (e.g., people upgrading their gear or getting out of photography altogether) but it is a more dicey proposition than buying from somebody who relies on camera trading for part or all of their income. The few times I went this route I exchanged messages with the seller and tried to get a feeling for the type of person I was dealing with. I walked away several times and went ahead with the purchase other times. It always worked for me, but I may have just been lucky. Bottom line, if you decide to go this way do your homework.
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Most Japanese and German sellers are to be recommended. They give very complete, accurate and honest descriptions of their wares, together with high-quality photos showing any imperfections. They tend to be a bit more expensive than U.S. sellers, but still below KEH (at least for the kind of stuff that I am interested in), even accounting for the shipping from overseas, which in some cases is free. In case you are not aware, there are no import duties (in the U.S.) for used camera gear and shipping can be very fast. I have received lenses from Japan in less than three days. You are welcome to send me a private message if you find something you like and wish to know whether I have dealt with the particular seller.
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Both KEH and Adorama have ebay stores. KEH’s is their “outlet” store, chiefly very low grade material that they’d rather not sell out of their real store - stay away. Adorama, on the other hand, often has excellent stuff - I think that if something does not move within a certain period of time they put it on ebay regardless of condition.
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I emphasize that I have ONLY bought vintage manual focus lenses. I realize that AF lenses may have focusing and other electronic issues that are harder to spot. I cannot comment on this. Ditto for used camera bodies. I have avoided buying used bodies because of this - they are the only items that I have bought new from B&H. In fact, I would not buy a used body, period. When it gets to electronics I am always concerned about intermittent erratic failures and want to have the full manufacturer’s warranty (not that Boeing’s is worth much these days, but that is a different story).
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Before buying, whether on auction, buy-it-now or best offer, search ebay for identical recently sold items. This will give you the best information on the (ebay) market value of the item. If you decide to buy on auction, don’t waste your time bidding before the last few seconds. Decide what is the maximum you wish to pay and place your bid as close to the end of the auction as your nerve will allow. Typically I place my one and only bid 2 seconds before the end of an auction, sometimes 1 second (make sure that you have a good internet connection). I have won auctions by a margin of 1 dollar, and well below my maximum price. On those occasions I have also had an extra kick thinking about the guy who lost by 1 dollar
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I have also sold on ebay a number of lenses that I did not want to keep and can tell you this: ebay is great if you are a buyer, it sucks if you are a seller - sort of like being a Uber rider or driver. This is not just because of the cut they get (even with that you get a lot more than by selling your stuff to KEH, though) but because if there is any problem (even with a buyer who is either a complete moron or a sleazeball), the seller always loses. So, if all you want to do is buy the odd item, the odds are strongly in your favor. Again, if you take your time doing some research and reading between the lines, you most likely will not have to use their “customer is always right” policy.
I hope this helps.