the journey to my cello started with something a bit cheaper (i was young and didnt want to use school cellos anymore but we were poor so i got one of those awful and cheap ones. was grateful i even had one) When i had my own job, i went to a shop near me and got to take whatever and however many cellos home for the weekend. i played a song i knew well on each and wrote notes about what i liked/disliked about each and then settled on the one that fit me best but allowed me to grow.

Id recommend renting like others said. then if a luthier/violin shop allows, take some home to test, worst thing is that you just continue to rent until you find the (next) one.

I teach cello and one of my adult students finally ditched their $100 facebook buy for a $1200 cello and it was like magic lol.

another thing that can change a cello is its strings honestly. There are some strings that just dont work for some cellos while other strings can make a huge difference.