Flexcut and Morakniv make great knives, and can be found on Amazon for around $20 a tool. If you have Amazon Prime, even better, because you can cross reference anything you find on a manufacturer's site to see if you can at least save on shipping.

Consider the size of your projects when buying chisels or gouges, because they all come in a huge range of sizes, so pay attention to that since you're ordering online so you don't accidentally get tools that are too small or large for what you want to do.

Basswood is typically considered the starter wood, it seems, but also get to know the Janka hardness scale, as there is a variety of softer woods that would be okay for hand-carving. However, start with basswood/balsa, to practice with your tools, at least.

Here's some helpful vendor sites, but remember, check Amazon as well.

1. Woodcraft: If you have a location by you, even better, but you can find everything you need on their site as well.
2. Woodcarving Illustrated: a magazine, but they have helpful articles on tools and finishes, which is stuff you're going to want t o learn about anyway. I find the projects featured to be good for inspiration, as well.
3. TraditionalWoodWorker.com: I've never ordered from them, but they do have a wide assortment of tools and sets to look at.
4. HighlandWoodWorking.com: another online store I have yet to actually order directly from, but again, good assortment of tools.

Honestly, since I started recently myself, I have been perfectly satisfied with everything I have gotten from Amazon and my local Woodcraft location, so I have not really needed to order anything direct from vendor sites.

You will also want to learn how to sharpen all your tools as soon as possible, and look into the right tools you need for that, which will likely be a strop of some kind. Flexcut makes a Slipstrop that has various edges designed to make sharpening various tools easier. I own one, and it's great for my little gouges and v-tools, and adequate for my knife, though with the knife, I prefer to use a longer strop when I can.

Add this to your wishlist... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ZRT75M/ref=wl_mb_recs_3_title