i can barely hear sound coming from my airpods

i can only hear sound on my airpods when they are at full volume, and even though i can hear it, it’s still too quiet. if i put my airpods any lower than about 70%, then no sound plays at all. i’ve tried changing settings, cleaning my airpods, disconnecting and resetting them, and updating them, but still nothing will work. i don’t exactly have enough money to buy a whole new pair, but i also really need these for school, exercise, etc. is there anything i can do to fix them or is there no hope?