Well, I have used cheap stuff and I've used good stuff. The good stuff is better, but the cheap stuff does still work.

First racks: I have broken both a cheaper Vetta, and a Blackburn. Both broke at the welds on tours, but with a couple of zip ties and some duct tape they were repairable to finish the tours with minimal trouble but frequent checks. Because the pannier weight is basically dead weight with minimal suspension, every bump puts a pretty good shock on the rack and lesser ones eventually fatigue and break. Still if your weight is not too high even cheap racks will get you by for a tour or two at least if not more. I now use an Old Man Mountain front and a Burley Mooserack rear. The OMM speaks for itself as a top performer in any book. My rear Mooserack cost $30 bucks and is made of welded heavy gauge chrome moly steel. It is designed to pull a piccolo Trail-a-Bike with up to a 90 pound "child" on it. The thing is heavy, but indestructable and cheap. You can get them used on eBay for $25 bucks now days. I tour on a tandem with about 35-40 pounds of gear on the rear Moose Rack AND a 45 pound kid on a TAB hooked to the rack and ride on bumpy trails with still no problems. The rack is rather heavy but probably the strongest available, and cheaper than anything else on the market.

On Panniers: I had a cheap pair of Performance panniers that did not even last until the start of my first tour, but I repaired them with needle and thread (and some duct tape) and lined them with garbage bags and used them on a very rainy 10 day tour with no issues. Not ideal, but certainly serviceable. I had some waterproof covers for them, but they were not worth the trouble. The covers do not cover the back of the pannier (where all of the water sprays from your wheels), and they blow off and you forget them when you stop to get something and they are a pain every step of the way. I now considered them just for show and of little real value; the garbage bags inside were what worked well. I now have a set of Ortleib rear rollers that are great for keeping everything dry, but the top-load-only style is a bit of a pain when you need something at the bottom (which is always where what you need is, isn't it?). For front panniers I have the best thing in the world, a set of large fully waterproof hardshell panniers made out of large plastic kitty litter pails. I made them from a pair of recycled plastic pails (from my cat-loving sister) and about six bucks in hardware. Having used everything from the cheapest to the best, I can tell you that these hardshell kitty litter pail panniers are "the cat's meow" (pun intended) and there is nothing better available at any price. If you search online for something like "making kitty litter pail bike panniers" you can find several options for making them. I made my own style a little different from the online versions and I covered mine with white self-adhesive vinyl shelf liner paper so I did not advertise "Tidy Cats" en route, but they all are pretty similar. They also double as seats when camping, and if you set them up so they are level with the top of the rack when mounted, they make a great big flat place to attach a big bundle of firewood from a convenience store near where you plan to camp! Everything about them is great and I like them far better than my Ortliebs (though I still use both, Ortliebs in back and Tidy Cats in front). Because I have these in front, I tend to pack lighter bulky stuff in them like sleeping bags, fleece jackets, rain gear, etc. and when we stop to grab something it takes no more than a second to pop open the plastic lid and grab what I need (no buckles, straps, zippers, etc.). I also can access them on the front while still straddling the bike, and they are a great place to put soft things like bread or rolls, and also ideal to tuck delicate fruit like apples which you can nestle in between the folds of a sleeping bag for perfect protection. It may be my imagination, but the only issue I have had with my Tidy Cats panniers is I think I have seen some cats eyeing us with evil intent...

Keep the rubber side down!