Steve, I've been having a similar discussion with a friend who is considering getting a concertina. After going round and round, they finally understand that there are three advantages to buying a good quality instrument. One is the sound. Two is the mechanism, which seems to be of better quality in the more expensive units. The third is resale. When you buy a good instrument, not only is it pleasing to play but it keeps its value in case you have to resell. It is not a student instrument, meant to exist for a [relatively] brief time and then dissolve into a pile of rust and rot. There is a reason those old instruments are around. They will continue to play until physically destroyed and can be tuned up forever.