I have been looking a hives and types of hives as well as prices etc all week. I am a newbe to beekeeping so I require everything, looking at starter kits the prices between websites are pritty much the same, just the description on some sites is better than others. ...
You don't need to get a suit and smoker in the same package as a hive!
Wait until there's honey happening before you lay down money for a means of extracting it.
Make contact with your local association.
Apart from hearing plural opinions on different hive types, you'll also hear about (and get to see) suits from different suppliers.
Ask people to show you exactly what it is that they like or don't like.
A good (protective) suit will give you more confidence, which is particularly important at the beginning!
If you want to go with a 'standard' National, and don't mind (or perhaps even enjoy) the prospect of assembling everything from accurately pre-cut wooden parts, then the Th0rne Bees on a Budget hive does seem to have a very good reputation.
Its also 'complete'. And in the UK, mainstream.
But you'll always need a few more spare bits, and a second hive before long (2 colonies are more sustainable - resilient to our mistakes, apart from anything else.)
There's a lot more support on here than in most associations for the 'modern' (25 year old) concept of plastic hives. The higher insulation performance should be better for the bees.
Less (or zero) assembly is required and should be cost-competitive.
I'd advise against a first purchase being second-hand, especially at any sort of auction. Everyone else will be able to put a more accurate/realistic valuation on things than a trusting newb. Of course, if a very local keeper were to be changing his hive type (but why?) and s/he were prepared to stand by what s/he sold you, then it might be different. But mainly, the impression I have is that continuing beekeepers seem to only sell off things that they have been forced to grudgingly admit (and then only to themselves) were mistakes of one sort or another.