Hi Vicki,

Almost every violin you buy online would come complete with strings. Almost all of them also come as an outfit--violin, case and bow, sometimes cheap rosin. The exceptions are generally called "white violins", or "violins in the white"--unfinished violins that have no varnish on them; they also have no fittings (strings, tuning pegs,  chin rest). You would normally never buy one of those and would probably not even notice they were available. It might help if you gave us an estimate of how much you  are hoping to spend for a violin (outfit). You generally get what you pay for. Have you browsed the Fiddlershop.com too? All the violins there are chosen for playability; have a good setup. Many other online stores do nothing except import the instrument and sell it to you without checking to see if the violin is setup properly. Having a real shop you can visit locally can be a good thing too--you can try the violin, ask questions, like did they do anything to check it, set it up properly, etc. Just remember you'll need a bow and rosin, and a case to store it/carry it, if you buy just a violin, or forget to read the fine print on an online ad where you thought you were getting an outfit but just the violin was being sold.

Good luck!