I bought a bow off ebay and did quite well. From what you write you are not ready to buy yet though. You need to first of all find out your proper draw length and secondly find a relatively popular model that you want so you can find a used one. Archerytalk.com has a great used forum and there is also one here. As for draw weight I would recommend a 50-60 lb bow and just turn it down to 50 to learn and build up strength.