New vs Used Clubs

I am needing to buy some clubs and I am not sure if I want to go with used or new. My budget is somewhere between $500-$750. The thing I'm worried about with a used set is that you don't know how much the clubs have been used and dinged up. From what I understand clubs can lose their "pop" after being used for years. Is this something I'd even be able to tell before spending money on a used set?