Thanks for the responses.
Trying to keep on a tight budget. Really kicking myself because I bought my kids a great little Canon P&S when they were in middle school (like ten years ago) and taking class trips to Washington DC. Between them and me, we've somehow lost it. Tore my whole camera closest apart looking for it over the last two days and no dice.
Max price would be the Sony RX100 VII, but would really rather not spend that much. Would like to keep it under $1000 if possible. Leaning away from buying used as I've had some bad experiences with point & shoots just up and dying. Bought a brand new Leica D-Lux 5 back in the day and it crapped out after one week, sent it back to Leica, they fixed it, crapped out again two weeks later, they fixed it again, crapped out again, they finally just gave me my money back. So would be concerned about a used model with no warranty.
Best,
-Tim
As someone else has posted, at least you got your money back. Which puts you in a place better than most.
Viewfinderless cameras are not for me. I dislike using a digital P&S like a mini view camera, if I want such a beast I'll get a Sinar, which are going dirt-cheaply in Australia now. (The cost of 4x5 film has a lot to do with that, I suspect.)
I see nothing amiss or remiss with buying used gear if you apply a little common sense and stay within your budget.
Avoid camera shops. Try pawnbrokers. Tons of bargain cameras are there, lying patiently in wait for a new home, much like pretty kittens living on the streets.
A possibly good second hunting-place is charity shops, but here it helps if you keep in mind that many of the cameras they sell are either way overpriced or useless junk or often both. Volunteers who know nothing about anything see a film camera and think, "it's old, it must be worth heaps!"and price them like diamonds. Last month some pigeon coughed up AUD $200 in hard cash in our local Salvos for a worn-out Nikon D60 without a battery and missing various bits. I kid you not, $200. PT Barnum again.
My now antiquated Lumix GF1 with two lenses and the hateful clip-on viewfinder, an amazingly good camera after I figured out the strange ways how it worked, came from a pawnbroker. I didn't buy it, a friend did. She couldn't make sense of it and opted for a Canon G10, which she also hated. I was given the GF1 as a gift. Somebody else landed the G10. They hated it too. What they saw in the viewfinder and the end result were miles apart. As the second G10 owner told me, "I used it for two years, and I got that many usable pictures from it."
On the other hand a neighbour of ours bought a Canon G9 new. He paid a lot for it, he still has it, he has taken it around the world two times and on severral ocean cruises, and he loves it.
What is the message here? Bummered if I know. Cameras, like life, are mostly a matter of luck, I reckon.
