Buying advice for a college-aged, novice player

Hello,

I am new to this forum and fairly new to the sax. I have been playing music since grade school (from piano to flute to the oboe), but I was asked a few years back to play alittle sax to help out an ensemble I was in. I really like the instrument and have decided to sell my Yamaha oboe to get a nice baritone sax.

My questions (TL;RD): What is a good brand (new or used) that offers some emphisis on durability - but still has tone you would be happy with? Do you know of any reputable Canadian pro-sax shops I could look into? Is $3500 CAD an unrealistically low price for me to aim for?

More details:

I recently made up my mind that I would transition away from oboe (my instrument of 7 years) to saxophone (specifically bari-sax). So now, my big hurdle is to buy one. I read the excellent "buyers guide" from this site, but still feel like I could learn more details here.

My biggest concern is buying a sax that lasts. My current sax (which was gifted to me) sucks. It is a Mendini by Cecilio, which I believe is a Chinese brand only sold on Ebay - it is falling appart after 3 years of light playing.

My second concern is cost. As a student I don't have much cash. I am lucky to have had a number of well-payed internships which allows me to safely spend ~2.5k CAD without getting to worried. Additionally I have a wooden Yamaha oboe which I am willing to sell - I hope to get at least 3k CAD. With those facts combined I was hoping to spend ~3.5k and hoped to spend no more than 4k. Realistic?

My last concern is location. I am an American student (from Las Vegas) in Canada (Toronto). I would like to buy my sax from a pro-shop if possible. But I am finding it hard to find ones in Canada at all (I thought Toronto may be the best place in the country for this stuff). Do you know of any good Canadian pro-shops?

Any concerns I am missing - I would love to hear them!

Also, what do you think of this deal? It is from a music store in Las Vegas, I could get my folks to pick it up for me (~3k CAD):
https://www.kesslerandsons.com/product/solist-low-a-bari-sax/

Thanks!

- Ishmael King

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