Based on my own experience, anything under $100 is a tin can painted to look like a violin. The artificially colored ones are even worse, might as well be made of plastic. One of the following two would be the cheapest I'd recommend going, and thats only because these are supposed to be good brand names for lower quality student violins. If you want a good quality student violin, you are looking to spend upwards of $300, with an average of about $500-600.