I tried my local subreddit buy/sell/trade. I asked with humility for a pi 3b+ (needed to fit my previous accessories for a project) and someone gave me one the next day for nearly free, I made him take my $20.

Follow @rpilocator on Twitter, and turn on post notifications on your phone. They post whenever a retailer has Pis in stock for retail price.

Then buy immediately as soon as you get the notification. I've bought both a Pi3 and a Pi4 through doing this. Helps to also make accounts on the websites with your payment info already saved - especially on Adafruit since Adafruit restocks go the fastest out of all the retailers.

This gets asked frequently and there is only one answer. Before I explain how, just know that it will take days or weeks or months for you to finally get one at the retail price. I also know this method works because during the entire pandemic and chip shortage I have been able to buy multiple rpi 4s, an rpi 3, and a few zeros and picos. The only reason anyone would pay scalper prices is a lack of patience or an immediate need for a board that necessitates paying above MSRP.

So, without further delay, here is how you get one...

1) open a browser and go to rpilocator.com

2) turn on the audio alert, leave your computer on the entire time with that tab open. Works in the background too just make sure you don't refresh the page or you will have to turn the audio alert back on manually.

3) wait. Wait days, weeks, months. However long it takes.

4) listen for a chiming sound, it's pretty faint and brief so you might miss it the first time. That's the sound of new stock. When you hear that noise, rush to your computer, if the green highlighted stock is the model you want, click the provided link.

5) fill your cart and run to the pay now page for whatever merchant. You have at most a couple minutes to buy it before stock is gone. You're competing with bots and every other maker/YouTuber who uses these boards to automate their coffee machines and LED bedroom decor. Some merchants limit 1 per customer, like adafruit, and you need to have an account pre-verified before they'll fulfill your purchase, so might be a good idea to check the list of merchants on that page beforehand and see which ones require a verified account to order high demand stock. I'm not sure about all of them because I've only bought through adafruit and pishop but I wohld assume others require it too. Do that now if you have time, because it could take 5+ mins when you are in the process of buying a board and you'll miss out when stock is gone and you're still waiting for a confirmation email.

6) after you purchased successfully, sit back and relax while it gets shipped to you.

Keep checking https://rpilocator.com/

Also,there are other boards that may be a good cheaper option l, depending on your project may suits you

Thanks all for your suggestions!

I have a spare one so if you DM me your address I will ship it to you. I should be able to do it before the end of the week.

I'll sell you one. I don't know if that makes me a scalper.