So I've finally decided to bite the bullet and ditch my ancient Canon T3i because honestly the autofocus is just killing me lately and I'm tired of missing shots of my kids. I'm trying to move over to Sony specifically the A7III or maybe even an A7RIII if I can find a killer deal because I have this big hiking trip coming up to the Pacific Northwest in about three weeks and I really want to get some decent landscape shots without lugging around a literal brick. My budget is pretty firm around $850 to $1000 for the body alone because I still gotta buy glass which is another expensive nightmare entirely lol.

I spent the last three nights falling down a rabbit hole of websites and I'm just more confused now than when I started. I looked at MPB and KEH which everyone says are the gold standard for used gear but their prices for an A7III are still sitting way up there like $1100 for anything that isn't totally beat up with a 300k shutter count. Then I checked eBay and found some for like $900 but the sellers have barely any feedback and it feels super sketchy to drop that much cash on a "trust me bro" listing from halfway across the country.

I also saw some people on a different forum talking about a site called Fred Miranda? I went there and the layout is just so old school it looks like it was designed in 2002 or something and I can't even figure out how to search properly for specific Sony bodies without scrolling through fifty pages of random classifieds. Plus do I even have buyer protection there if the sensor is scratched or something? I also heard some rumors that B&H has a used section that sometimes has open box stuff that's way cheaper but every time I check it's either out of stock or basically the same as retail price.

Is there some secret spot I'm missing where the real deals are hiding or is everyone just overpaying for used Sony stuff right now? I'm wondering if there are specific Discord servers or maybe certain Facebook groups that aren't full of scammers because I'm running out of time before my flight...