you should break open the bud to get a true smell sample. Most of the time if the bud looks frosty with crystals, it's high quality. Just scroll through the library of photos on this site; people generally don't post pics of bad herb. Either way you will become more adept at identifying good herb through experience. It's kinda like wine. I really like wine and I drink cheaper stuff but I would like to become better at appreciating and identifying good wine. Fortunately with wine, high price often denotes high quality. Not always with weed, especially because of the nature of the market and dealers like to take advantage of boodah beginners