Even if you buy at a LHS, if you do a little research on-line, you can pretty much find out what you want or need to know about a model. Tower Hobbies, for instance, will give a short writeup, on each model in their inventory, and right there in the first paragraph, they will say if the plane is appropriate for beginners, intermediate, or advanced flyers.

So, even if you don't buy it from them, you can get at least a good idea what the plane will do and who can handle flying it. And, as I said, there are other sources for information on aircraft, especially here on RCU.