Char1312,
Welcome to this web site. I am new to this site as well. BobCo19-65 and WisHunt are 100% correct!!! Being a archery education instructor, I have helped people get into the sport of bowhunting with little or no hunting experience to teaching people who have bowhunted all their lives. Idaho requires people to take an archery education class before they can bowhunt the state. The class is an international class and is taught throught the United States. In the class one of the things we teach is proper and safe equipment. I cannot say the value of the bow because there are so many variables. A person needs to know what to look for in a used bow. Pictures will not work you have to handle the bow. Things to look for - Does the bow have have all origional parts, Limbs, Cams and Riser if not - why not? What happened to it? Are the holes that are taped and drilled for the sights, arrow rest, and stablelizer still in good condition and not stripped? Are the limbs feathering or delaminating? Are their "ruts" in the Cam's. Ruts create a rough and eractic draw and let off, and it makes your cams out of sync (timing). Do you trust whoever owned it before? That they stored it in a cool dry place? Sunlight and heat are horrible on bows. What pounddage and let off does the bow have? Is it a poundage that fits you? What is the draw length on the bow? Does it fit you? Sometimes that is not easy to change. As far as sights and releases go, the only way to know if they work for you is if you have shot them. Any good pro-shop will let you "try" out the product before you buy it. If you still want to buy a used bow, take it to a pro-shop and have them check out the bow, before you buy it. The problem with buying a used bow is that you are not buying one that fit you from the get go. You are buying one that was made to fit someone else. Sometimes you buy a used bow thinking that you are getting a great deal and then you end up spending more trying to make it a bow that will work with you than if you would have purchased a new bow from the beginning. Remember too that you don't have to buy the most expensive bow to have a good bow. You can buy a good quality bow that fits you and works just fine for you without spending big bucks. Happy hunting and let us know how it all turns out!