its very rare you find aftermarket parts that are better quality AND cheaper than oem. most aftermarket parts are cheap garbage, and those that are nicer than oem are often times astronomically expensive. i can only think of one part ive ever bought that was truly better than stock and cheaper: kla drop links for a porsche.

edit: thought of one more, Dansk cat back for the same car

and while we are making vehicle references, why do you think only exotic cars are hand made? are you saying a machine built Suzuki has higher build quality than a bentley?

the saying you get what you pay for almost always holds true.

your wheels are probably perfectly acceptable (i think my friend may even have them) but a $500 wheelset is going to be a lot more than just "more expensive"