Moving on Up

Time just flew like crazy. I've been very busy with three kids and their music lessons. They all play different instrument now. The oldest one, violin, the middle one, flute and the youngest, cello. I feel like I am living in my car.
Anyway, my oldest's teacher told us that it was about time for him to move up to the full size violin at last lesson. Unfortunately, we just can't afford thousands of dollars to purchase a good quality violin right now. His teacher kindly offered one of his old violin he used to use when he was a teenager which he warned me it was a poor quality violin, but sounds pretty good to me. It hasn't been played for nearly twenty years and missing some strings, so after receiving it, I took it to a local luthier for fixing it up. At instant glance, turning all the way around to examine, he, too, said that it was of poor quality, but he changed the tail piece, adjusted the sound post and it is playable now. However, I just wanted to investigate the option of purchasing less expensive violin. One is to rent. But most of the rental violins are of entry level violin. Second is a loan from one of the foundations. This, I am still thinking about it, but will take some time to even be considered for a loan. I don't even know if my son is good enough violinist to qualify for it. The third...... Ebay. I took a chance and looked into several Ebay merchants. There are several Chinese handmade violins up for auctions. After reading reviews and profiles, I purchased one from a Beijing maker. The violin, bow and case plus shipping costed me around $280.00. I said if this is a crap, I'll just use it for me to start learning how to play violin. It arrived within one week without a scratch. I am going to take it to the luthier and have it check it to see it is a decent quality and make any necessary adjustments if it needs them. I will write the outcome of this violin when I come back from the luthier.