I think a cheap piano is probably a false economy. It’ll likely have poor sound quality, loose keys, that sort of thing. (I’m sure there are hidden gems to be f

I think a cheap piano is probably a false economy. It’ll likely have poor sound quality, loose keys, that sort of thing. (I’m sure there are hidden gems to be found at affordable prices but I never have.) For the same price as a bad piano, you can get a really good digital one that’ll sound and feel great, and won’t need any maintenance. You’ll be able to use headphones, which you’ll definitely want to do if somebody is learning, and it’ll be much easier to record if you ever want to do that. Both the sound and feel of mid-range digital pianos these days tends to be excellent, very close to the real thing. Look for “weighted keys”, that’s the key feature. You miss some of the richness of the sound and some of the feel of the vibrations but that’s about it. Having said all that, if I could afford and justify a good-quality real piano, I’d get a real one. But only good quality.