Well, there were some posts a while back doing the math on upgrade vs buy new. And generally speaking it's more cost effective to upgrade the old [b]Primary[/b], but that assumes you are okay with only one. I myself figure on, like you said, buy a new one if possible and then upgrade the old in a later DLC, sort of leapfrog them over time. On a side note for armor, the stats are definitely a factor, I've almost upgraded a helmet only to realize I was going to lose 30 Int. Totally not worth it, and if he'd had one for sale with better stats I likely would have bought new. (or in the case of less frequently sold stuff, like HoPF I bought the crappy one he sold hoping to upgrade it later, since upgrades are much more common than actual sales of some items. (this is why you can upgrade already upgraded gear, lets you roll to a better stat roll, [b]on armor only[/b]) Sadly he hasn't had a decently better one.