I have been playing golf for exactly one year now.I bought my first set of clubs at a garage sale 7 years ago procrastinating forever on starting lessons.  Finally last summer I did it.  Then joined a course.  My first lesson provided me with the realization that though my set of clubs was nice and all (how about wooden woods!)  They turned out to be a professional grade iron set with a sweet spot as big as my little toenail.  My teacher sent me to a resale shop and I bought a capable graphite set designed by a pro golfer and they were PRISTINE and he threw in the bag as a favor to my teacher who coached the owner of the shop in high school.  I got a great deal!  Then I played more and one day I was out of town and ended up stuck playing my husband's clubs.  That is when I knew I needed more beef in a driver.  Nike is awesome in my opinion.  I drive everyone crazy with my "swishy" problem (nike swish)...anyway I targeted my driver....sasquatch.   I got it for 127.00   new was 400 and best I found was 199,   this thing couldn't have been more beautiful new!  But being the cheapskate I am...I knew my bigfoot was out there.  since then I have acquired a cpr hybrid (omg!  awesome) nice nike shoes (all under 10 bucks thank you) and now sandals that I HOPE will get rid of my, what I call monkey-foot golf tan.  Buying things on ebay doesn't have to be that hard or scary.  People ask me how I such nice stuff so cheap and cower when I tell them where.  They have heard so much about identity theft and they don't understand the safety here on this site.  So here are my buying tips for golf equipment and also anything:
 
1.  Do your home work!!!  Know what you want, as much about it as you can muster, and mostly what it is worth...new and used.  Then figure out what you want to pay
2. Search for your treasure on ebay and make sure you have a PayPal account!! (safer, easier and most sellers demand it).
3. Decide if you really want something before you bid!
4.  Check the sellers feedback and make sure they have plenty of sales and for the most part I like to deal with those in the US  unless I am buying jewelry esp. silver or pearls.
5.  check their past sales.  Once  I checked and the seller was really a rampant buyer and only had a couple of sales, not that this is a bad thing, just heads up.
6.  When you bid you Want to use the highest  bid feature that allows you to bid automatically.
7.  Watch the end of the auction on a high speed computer if you can, or you may want to over bid if you really really want the thing you are bidding on.  Many, I mean MANY people sit there with their hand on the mouse waiting for the very last 1/2 second to out bid you man!  It is heart breaking to lose an auction in the last 1/2 second after days of no activity!!!!!
8.  The other thing I hadn't mentioned is the shipping and handling...pay attention.  Some sellers charge an awesome amount to "handle"  your purchase, and some of the shipping fees might allow a personal delivery from a famous movie star(at least you would think so from the fee they charge)  so look out.  Compare to other similar auctions and their shipping costs. Also pay attention to how they ship ups or usps.  Esp if you live in the boondocks and need to give a physical addy instead of a po box.
9.  Another good test is to send a message before you bid.  Their speed and tone of communication may (if they are really busy it may not) show how reliable they are.
10.  DON"T forget the feedback.  It helps you as well as the seller!  keep it factual and leave emotions out considering the business end of things.  Dont get personal