Places to find good prices on orchids:
Orchid Society: Ours here in Ohio is going to have one of its twice-yearly auctions where people bring divisions or orchids they no longer want and sell them cheaply. We also have $1 drawings and I have brought plenty or orchids in the past, while I was revising my collection, to just give away to anyone who wanted them.
If you know any florists, sometimes they buy the entire orchid to just harvest the flowers and will sell you the rest of the orchid cheaply. Many years ago, before the internet was a marketplace, this and a conservatory (after the seasonal show was over) is where I bought my orchids.
Other nicely priced orchids...Andy's usually has a bare-root sale and a Black Friday Sale somewhere between Thanksgiving and February...just watch for them. The orchids are always in fabulous condition. These are not the more common orchids, though, but if you like miniatures, he has them.
Exotic Orchids of Maui--they require a minimum order of $100 +$30 shipping but you can get quite a few orchids for that price and they are really healthy and nice. Sometimes they might be a few years from blooming but for what you are getting.... I usually do group orders if ordering from them so that we all split the shipping.
Carmelas Orchids has some really great sales which are perfect if you are rebuilding your collection.
Hausermanns Orchids has some great sale orchids. I bought two really nice Phals from the sale section and they came in spike. $15 each plus shipping which, for what they were, was a really good price.
Good luck!
---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------
Just a note...you do not necessarily need to count on killing the orchids. If you buy the orchids from a vendor, they can often give you very good advice on what will grow easily for you in your climate and the necessary care needed. When I am bored with what I am growing, I often will tell a vendor my growing conditions and they will recommend orchids exactly for those conditions and tell me what care is needed. I wish I did that with all my orchids since these recommended orchids never die. :|