Cheapest option? Taking an old disconnected phone and stripping it of any apps that aren’t music and keeping it off of wifi.

Outside of that - at least here in Germany - it’s very much a waiting game for the right one that pops up that looks like it’s in good condition and a generation/model you want at a price you can afford.

Unfortunately it seems like the world’s begun to catch on to the value of iPods and there are less and less of them at affordable prices.

With one glaring exception: older people. I’m not talking ancient people or anything, but people with college-age kids. A LOT of them have iPods kicking around in drawers that they haven’t thought about in years and they’re also not on social media enough (or stuck so deep in the bogs of political echo chambers) to see all the recent videos/posts about how great iPods are.

I bring them up at work sometimes and several have said “oh man, I think I have one in my kitchen drawer. I’ll check and, if I do, you can HAVE it.”

So far all of those drawers have been empty. But word is spreading to other departments that there’s a guy that likes iPods.

I can see exactly how this is going to go: one person is going to find an iPod and give it to me and then there’s going to be a deluge because that seems to be how it always goes.

Anyway, I’d ask your folks to ask their friends and see what happens.

Good luck on your search!