Just an observation messing around with knives over 45 years - I've never seen high end knives sold where stuff like BudK is featured, and vice versa.
The inexpensive import knives characterized in that catalog are primarily retailed in the secondary market - not brick and mortar stores. Flea markets, gun shows, etc. Overall they are value engineering to the extreme - if it could be made cheaper, just look on the next table and you will likely find it. They tend to use a lot of hype, glitz, or whatever to show off their "workmanship," it's done with extremist styling and very little substance.
Every now and then you find something that is regionally known, like an OKAPI ring lock folder. It's not high tech but it is what is locally sold as a daily user. You could say as much about Opinel - another inexpensive knife that pops up in the low end catalogs. Decent steel in a low cost package.
Not everyone who buys them is a sucker - given some discernment you can find little gems like a Mtech Keramit with G10 scales in some 440 steel - for $10. The issue is do you need an expensive high end steel that will cost 10 knives of that "ilk" to try out the elements of the design? Is it a cheap copy, yes, but that's the point, it copies the shape and style of a knife that might be interesting - without smacking the budget for far more money.
We don't all have the same discretionary spending. I polished the blade on that kerambit and still have it, junk that it might be, simply because it does what the design intended - fast opening with the wave feature, an aggressive hooked blade, with handle that offers some retention. It's not meant for cutting up an night shift's work of unboxing antifreeze. I tried it and it's not all that.
On the other hand I just received an Mtech Perrin variant, a neck knife with front finger hole, wharnecliffe blade. If I have a complaint about that it's the Kydex is a bit loose, something the average hair dryer and Sharpy pen cap can fix. It's a defensive neck knife for concealed carry, under the legal limit, has excellent retention, doesn't need extreme steel, and for the most part is worn 99% of the time. It's worth the $10.50 I paid free shipping - vs a Spyderco Swink that typically bids $65 on ebay. I could buy six of the Mtechs.
I suppose that makes me a sucker but like it's said, better to have one than need one and not have it. "Oh, it will fall apart and kill you." No, test it out - even a CCW needs 500 rounds thru it to break it in, right? You can't trust anything out of the box. I test them out, and a lot of guys like me do it too. It's not all about what knife you want to show off, it's about selecting an edge that gets the job done exactly as needed. I use a lot of cheap knives scraping caulk out of exterior wood work - they get run over hidden nails, or you slip and smack masonry. I'm not doing that to a Rift or SnG, those are my "barbecue" knives.
BudK and the like are more often cheap junk, but with some discretion you still get your money's worth. You have to know things, and ignore the hype, but there are some sound buys there.
