My friends and I just started playing CH. We're all level 60 or under. We have no money for lixes or luxes and don't even know where to get them if we did. We fight in Catacombs, Shalemont, and Stonevale. And we are not so seasoned as to be hyper-efficient and hyper-organized in the way we hunt. It is so much more fun to fight in a group than solo, but this is truly a penalty and not a bonus for lower level players.
It is only a penalty if you go about it the wrong way. Things like the groups make-up (Classes), Lux, Plat items, and skills which for newcomers are not the easiest to obtain.
In your specific situation with no lux or plat items I think the class difference is why you are not seeing a benefit. It can easily be seen that the classes are not balanced to one another, this is why pvp is so horrible atm. A base lvl and gear rogue will be able to out dps a base lvl and gear druid any day. There is no competition there whatsoever and this is also why as a druid it can be hard to find a grp to lix with. This does not just apply to druids however, take mages for example. They deal high amounts of dps but it is differant kinds of damage (Fire and Ice) compared to a rogue (Poison and Pierce). These have different levels of resists on different mobs so naturally a mob with low pierce resistance will be killed by the rogue rather than the mage. Classes have the ability to use all different kinds of gear that can be used to bridge this gap. You may have seem a recent post of a druid getting a gele kill. All classes have benefits and penalties over other classes, example is rogue vs ranger: Rogue has high damage output but rangers have ranged combat abilities which allow them to take less damage than a rogue and where a rogue may have to put points in vit to stay alive, a ranger can put those points in str to do more damage. You just have to find the right class that works for you.
As far as your specific grp is concerned it would help to know the classes, notable lux, and skills that are used to have a better understanding on how to help you achieve these bonuses and unlock your true leveling potential.