BIB - dear @welp have you forgotten this is mAlice??? 2nd hand is good enough for everyone (except her)I bought a few weeks ago guitar for €5 at the peddlers market and it works perfectly. Many people sale the best stuff for almost nothing
(though I doubt you would gift 2nd hand for a birthday present, but just throwing this out here. you can also buy starter guitars on Amazon for $50 which may be reasonable in this case)
I hope the F1 fumes haven't started having an effect on you, you wonderful person!