I believe that better than lifebuoy is to learn how to swim .
buy loose leaf - you get best price for quality , because no pressing & packaging fee involved , but the most importantly no branding ( that makes the highest margin , like from double price to what ever producer / vendor desires )
Brands like Dayi have tremendous mark up on what the material in cake is . ( they play investment game )
don't buy too old - false age claims on puerh are the very common and on shu puerh are the easiest to "get away" with ( for vendor ) , because it's not as easy as sheng to taste the age. The loose leaf is even more abused on age (story of forgotten batch is the most common one
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Shu pu is for drinking not for storing so get the real loose shu puerh very aged is very rare and on CN market very expensive.
You can buy 2020 very cheap and good quality loose shu pu and store in some jar to let it settle down. New shu doesn't have to always have strong "wo dui" if done well and not some cheap stock from Ba Gong Li ( Menghai ) .
You can get something for 2-5 years Kunming storage for good price as well. Store this one in some zip lock pouch if your environment is dry ( if u use heater in apartment )
If you insist on pressed , then choose something in simple wrap in bamboo leaf of what ever no name brand to avoid paying somebody for creating a nice picture and making them selves a name. Some semi big TF might offer ok price as well , but I would avoid those big ones.
I understand that for beginning puerh tea drinkers the chipping off the cake or brick is cool , very different from conventional and "boring" tea brewing of loose leaf. But at the end of the day , it is very up to you if you drink tea or label.
Try different areas ( Menghai, Lincang, Yongde, Puer, Guogan ) , different fermentation depths ( light, medium, dark ) , different grades ( gong ting, te ji , 2-5 grade , lao cha tou , huang pian ) , different brewings ( light red, dark red , soy /oil pitch black ) to get your very own sweet spot from Shu.
The most important , sample first!