AO's?

What is the best place to find them and what is the average cost?

I would start at: 'Animation Warehouse'

Most great animators are represented there.

The prices differ but my adwise is to start with a simple not too expensive one that u like.

Later:
- get a free emty 'ZHAO' and fill it with animations u buy one by one - and u can really 'create your own style' (make sure they are AO-ANIMATIONS and not stiff poses).
U can find the ZHAO here: SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Winged%20Isle/35/83/47

or

- buy an expensive one with many features added to the AO-function. You still have to fill it with animations of your own so it might be good to try that with a free one first...

I have the 'EZ HUDDLER' by Keiki Lemieux (you can find it at 'Animation Warehouse') and its great!

I'll second the notion of "buying" a free ZHAO. I especially fond of the ZHAO II with Seamless Sit. I've bought Huddles and it sits unused in my inventory.

Test out the various animations out there and buy the individual pieces that you like. Then put it together in your ZHAO.

SEMotion also has some nice anims. But buy only the ones that you really like. Otherwise you'll end up with a lot of stuff gathering dust in your inventory... like me.

Individual anims usually run between $100 – $250 linden.

Also a trick with AOs is to NOT have a sit in it. That way whatever you sit on will simply work and you won't have to turn an ao on/off. I sell my AO (sorry, for ladies) without a sit and have not had to turn my ao on or off for over a year since I thought of this...

(Conversely you may simply play a sit from inventory whenever you want to, even checking locally if it won't conflict with whatever you are sitting on beforehand...)

Lastly be sure your stand poses are priority 2 to play well with others...

sine wave has a nice free one

Love Lost Dog's DNA. I changed two of the standing poses in it and love the hud versatility that comes with it.