Nobody said they should pay $100 for hardware wallets, but spreading word about Bitcoin in your way is wrong.
Anyone can have cold wallet for free using old laptop or smartphone, that is 100 times better than keeping coins on Crypto.com or Binance that can easily collapse like FTX and other lending platforms.
Instead of using centralized exchanges, and going with all verification procedure, I would suggest everyone to try P2P trading and Bisq decentralized exchange.
You can also find trusted members in forum who can exchange Bitcoin for fiat currencies.
One interesting app I heard about that can be used in Europe is called Relai.app, and it can be used without registration.
Fees there are not lowest, but they have non-custodial wallet and you can use it without kyc for your use case.