My Raleigh Sports cost me $137.00 in 1968, so they weren't particularly low cost. Mine is still functioning today, though. Frequently, it is cheaper to buy quality once, than to buy inferior products over and over. Especially when you finally end up buying the quality product anyway! But, sometimes it doesn't work out that way. I bought a small saber saw from Sears about 30 years ago for $8.88. You can imagine, it isn't the greatest "quality", but it's still performing intermittent duty today, and it has been used in a few renovations.