It’s new gear season, and soon it will be time for testing and getting your clubs set for 2020.

But not everyone in is a position to purchase the latest and greatest, and thanks to modern golf technology and access to used equipment, you can upgrade your set for a lot less than you might imagine. But before dropping hundreds of dollars on clubs there are a few things to pay close attention to, to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck, and save you from spending more money down the line to fix costly purchasing mistakes.

This is the Used Gears Buyers Guide.

Buy Reputable: This one is by far the most important and the most obvious. Plenty of unscrupulous individuals are looking to make a fast buck off of golfers looking for a deal. Although you can’t always inspect clubs in person some of the most obvious signs of counterfeit golf clubs are

• Shafts installed with the shaft bands (logoed stickers) facing up. There isn’t an OEM on the market that builds clubs this way and it’s your first sign that something isn’t right.
• Contact points are a big giveaway. If grip smells like really cheap rubber or solvent, or the headcover (if it comes with one) feels light or flimsy, walk away. Counterfeiters sink most of the cost in trying to replicate the head and if the other components seem off, it’s not worth it.

Check the Lengths (irons): I bring this one up because even as an experienced used club buyer, I have on a couple of occasions been so excited by the deal I was about to get I didn’t ask to check the lengths of the iron sets I was looking at. If you know your spec, whether it be longer or shorter, it’s good to know what you are getting into since either one could result in additional cost. It only takes a few moments to get them checked and it could save you a lot of issues down the line.

Lie and Loft Measuring Machine

Specs and Construction (irons): Club lies and lofts are easy to change depending on the construction of the head. Many modern game-improvement clubs, for example, are cast from harder materials which through other design parameters lead to more ball speed. The byproduct of this is they are more difficult to bend and as a result, heads are manufactured in both upright and flat configurations—great for “from the factory” builds, but harder to customize in the second-hand market. If you are looking at cast or multi-material heads be sure to get them checked.

A forged wedge bent to 0-degree lie and loft ( just for show )

Single piece forged irons, on the other hand, are generally much easier to adjust (up to four degrees in any direction) but it’s still a good idea to have them checked so you know what you are getting into.

Grips: Grips are the only true connection (besides emotionally!) between you and your golf clubs, which is why it’s vital that they are both the right size and offer your preferred texture. In the case of buying used clubs, you can get everything you want spec-wise, but if you don’t like the grips, it’s just not going to feel right.

Luckily for us, grips are one of the easiest and most affordable components to change, and if everything else is ready to go, a new set of grips can make an older set of clubs feel like new again.