I found it very difficult to buy a high quality portable tape player for less than $200 last year.
I researched a similar device some time ago and I only found "We Are Rewind" selling a "modern" tape player but from what I understood the sound quality is not on-par with the best portable tape players from the 90's and such.
Techmoan has been shown that nearly every "new" tape-playing device these days all contain the same lousy mech, some not even capable of stereo playback!
VWestlife covered the "world's first Bluetooth capable portable cassette player" which is a few years old now but also uses a lousy mech (mono!).
Cassette audio today seems to be more about the experience and social aspects of making, trading, and playing tapes ( Ala Guardians of the Galaxy style )rather than getting the best quality audio.
So one has to hunt down used equipment which comes with its own set of issues (besides exorbitant prices) as there is wear and tear to account for and components that need to be replaced.
You misspelled “exuberant”, but you probably meant to write “exorbitant”.