Riedell 275's are also known as Riedell Bronze Medallions. If your daughter is a low-level beginner, she could start using these around Basic 5/6. They were restyled a few years ago, which was an improvement. The newer models have the Sapphire blade, which was a much better quality and value blade than the Club. If these are over 8 years old, they aren't as good a value as the newer versions. Riedell only discontinued the entire line last year; actually, they just combined the best features into a single skate: the 25J TS / 255 TS.

I liked the Medallion series, especially the Bronze Medallion. It's the lower-level skate in that category, but it was a good value. The newer ones are heat-moldable, but if these are that old, don't heat mold them. They weren't built with the molding materials. Just a tip.

First, make sure they will fit your daughter. Riedells run narrow, moreso in the older models. You can pull out the insole and have her stand on it to see if it will fit now. Her heel should go against the back of the insole. The ball and heel should be within the margins and her toes should be within an inch of the front. (1/2" for a current fit; 1" for growth)

If you daughter has a wide foot, take a pass on these. Her foot might be the right length, but the width could make her cry in pain. There should be a letter "A", "B", or "C" near the size, if it hasn't worn off yet. "B" is regular width, but it runs narrow, so many kids today need a "C" (wide) width because everyone wears flipflops, clogs and sneakers everywhere. It's just the norm now, which is why Riedell resized to add width a few years ago.

To judge used skates:

Check the blades and see if they have deep pockmarks or visible rust. Sharpening the blades will remove it, but if the pockmarks are really deep, the blades will lose much of their steel trying to get smooth edges.

Along the edges of the blades, there should be a stripe of hard steel, which gets thinner with each sharpening as the grinding removes the steel. If there's no stripe, the blades are shot. The amoutn of hard steel should be even on both sides. If it's not, the sharpener screwed up and the edges are uneven, which makes skating difficult. If there's still hard steel left on both sides, a good sharpening technician can restore the edges, but at the cost of the blade's life.

The Medallion series has blades attached to the leather soles with screws, which is a good thing. The screws should NOT have any rust on them.

Look to see if the blades have been moved or adjusted — there will be a water mark or imprint from the old position. This is usually done to compensate for a skater's needs, like correcting pronation or supination, however it also could have been done to correct a manufacturing mistake. Sometimes these boot-and-blade combinations come in with crooked soles or mismounted blades. You might have to get the blades realigned for your daughter if this is the case.

Make sure the boot is upright and perpendicular to the blade. Many beginners tend to lean on their inside edges, which breaks down the inside ankle of the boot and makes it crooked. It's difficult to correct the problem.

See if the boot leather is dried out or if there's powdery residue inside the boots. That's an indication that the leather is shot and won't last very long. If you can easily bend the tops of the boots over to touch the side, the support is shot. If it crackles when you do that, the leather's all dried out.

Pull up the insole and see if there are any nails sticking through the bottom.

If they're in good shape and only $20, I'd take the risk. The worst that would happen is that they don't work out for your DD and you can give them away or resell them.

The Medallion series was discontinued entirely by Riedell just last year, so many pro shops have new versions available on discount for as little as $100. It's difficult to predict what size skate a young child will need in a year or two, but it would be a good investment with little risk other than the sizing.