HI YOYO FRIENDS
We frequently get asked for recommendations on which yoyo to buy, so here is a “quick” buyers guide to help you make the right decision. We rank the different considerations from “most important” to “nice to have” and “gift ideas”.

Most Important 1 2 3:

1. A yoyo of your choice
If you are new to unresponsive yoyos, we recommend starting with a plastic yoyo. In the beginning the yoyo tends to hit the ground more often, and plastic yoyos absorb the impact a little better. Metal yoyos will get dinged or scuffed when they hit the ground and these marks are permanent  (SN: always play on carpet or grass )
Don’t know the difference between responsive and unresponsive yoyos? read more here.

2. Get extra Strings
All the yoyos come with one string.
One string can last anything from a day to a week. It depends on how long and often you play, if you wash your hands before you play, or maybe you just have sweatier hands than the next person. Adding strings to your order will save you money later, because if you have to buy strings a week or 2 later, you will have to pay for shipping again and it makes the strings much more expensive per string. We recommend the 10 pack for the best value for money. (Pro Tip: Neon Yellow and Neon Orange are the most visible while playing, and  in our experience and opinion, being able to better see the string can help with learning tricks)

3. Extra bearings – for unresponsive yoyos
Bearings get dirty. This is Normal and part of unresponsive yoyoing.
It can happen after 1 day or after 6 months (or a year if you are lucky ) It depends on climate, environment and pet hair or even human hair, dust or dirt, but it will happen from time to time and is unavoidable.
It’s great to have a backup bearing so when it happens you can just swap out with the new bearing and continue playing. But don’t throw the dirty bearing away, you can clean it and it will be good as new. Yoyo Bearings are very durable and can last for many years, but they will need some TLC every now and again. Cleaning bearings is a great skill to learn. It will save you a lot of money to not have to buy replacement bearings in the future.
Yoyo bearings have very low friction with minimal lubrication to spin longer. (That’s why it gets dirty faster than high friction bearings with grease. Greased bearings won’t work for unresponsive yoyoing.)
Just like you would regularly service your car, yoyo bearings will need servicing every now and again. It depends on how often you drive/play and the environment.

Nice to Haves – but not essential:

• Bearing Lubricant – for lubricating bearings after cleaning. (for alternative yoyo bearing lubrication read how to clean a bearing)
• Bearing Tool – for removing bearings from the yoyo
• Extra extra Strings – You know it 
• Yoyo Pouch – for protecting yoyos from scratches, damage, dust or dirt while not playing or traveling
• Yoyo Holder – to carry your daily driver yoyo around with you, but out of your pocket to prevent sitting on the yoyo or getting damaged by keys or change inside your pocket.

Gift Ideas:

If you want to get someone a nice yoyo gift we recommend getting them:

• Strings
• Bearings
• Yoyo Case
• or other Accessories

A Yoyo is hard to “gift” because of personal preference in shape, size and play style. So accessories is a very nice gift or a Gift Voucher.

Extra tips:

• Response Pads usually last very long, so in our opinion rather go for bearings and string.
• Yoyo Gloves are for protection against string burns, for beginners it’s probably not necessary. It’s for later when you start to play really REALLY fast that it will be helpful.  Yoyo Gloves are Probably the best for horizontal play… if you don’t know what horizontal means in yoyo you probably don’t need a glove yet.
• Metal Yoyos are more stable and spin longer, but for beginners it is not something that will help you at the very beginning. We recommend metal Yoyos for Intermediate to advanced yoyo players or for your second yoyo.

Okay that wasn’t such a “quick” buyers guide… but you’ve just got YOYOed 101
 Happy throwing 

Want to learn more? check out our “How not to break your Yoyo” page.
It’s a great read on how to prolong your yoyo’s life.