New pallyFollow

I can tell you about all the gear on npc merchants is junk. It can be hard to find weapons/gear at times below lvl 20 because so few palyers make stuff at that level.

I would check broker and look for armor for yourself on there. Also they have made lower level tradeskills super easy. If you join a tradeskill society (every town has one) you can make yourself some armor in there. Most of the lvl 9 weapons and armor probably won't be much of a upgrade to you though.

Once you hit lvl 20 armor and weapons will become alot more plentiful though. I wouldn't spend alot of money on gear from lvl 10 to 20 because it really don't take long to get to lvl 20 and you will end up upgradeing again.

You can either buy a bulletin board and hang it in your appartment, access that to browse in the broker screen without having to find one, but you have to see where the vendor is located, and actually go to his house in the correct zone to be able to buy from him, or visit an actual broker if the products are situated in the house vault. You can visit a broker in Qeynos Harbour, (also the "illegal broker" is there I believe) or in your crafting society zone at the entrance of it.

That bulletin board is a vital investment btw, you need it to sell items to others. Which is the best way to make money, even if only drops you get from mobs. (you can get lucky once in a while and get a good adept spell to sell, or a rare harvest item or good armour or weapons)

Also, quests give good rewards at times. Make sure that you visit all the surrounding places, I believe that you can get a weapon from a quest in Starcrest Commune (this one), perfectly doable with a group at your level.

The only thing I do buy regularly are weapons actually, armour I find often through quests, but a good weapon is vital I feel. But not at your level.