If you have any question, please contact your director before purchasing an instrument you're not sure about. Or reach out to your local Instrument Repair Tech and see what brands they can work on.
Usually the best rule to follow is "if the price seems too good to be true, or if its a "fun" color (blue, green, red, pink, white, etc) stay away from it" because these will not be reliable instruments. Usually what you're 'saving' on these instruments will end up costing you in repairs. A lot of the time, these instruments can't even be repaired, and then you're without a working instrument.
Many times, music stores like Reiman's Music or West Music (click on names for links) have payment plans that you can do with instruments. These also usually come with a repair and maintenance plan that goes along with the rental plan. Your band director will have information about your local music store and how you can contact them for rental plans and purchase prices. Sometimes music store have Gently-used instruments you can rent for less then the new instruments.
You can also find good used instruments at places such as second-hand stores, flea markets, facebook marketplace, even Ebay sometimes has good used instruments. Also, check with seniors who are graduating high school, sometimes they are willing to sell their instruments to students who are ready to start band.
On each of our instrument pages on this site, we have compiled lists of brands that we have had good and not-so-good experiences with. We wanted to share this list in hopes that it will help answer some questions people face when buying an instrument.