What makes a more expensive bait worth it over a cheaper one?

[Tres]

I see a lot of places with lures in the $2-$3 range but other sites are offering baits at less than half that price. What makes these more expensive lures worth it?

I have tried searching for what people are recommending for blank suppliers but I can't find anything recent. What do you guys use? What do you stay away from?

[azsouth]

Basically boils down to quality control, normally the more expensive baits are good to go, less expensive=sanding, prepping, and tuning.

Best blanks I have personally bought have been from Dinger Custom Baits.

My .02

[DingerBaits]

As azsouth says, there are usually 2 different versions of blanks out there. If you put a 1.5 or a 2.5 from one supplier that you get for $1 and you put a 1.5 or 2.5 from another supplier that you paid $2-$3 for you can usually see a difference. Some guys dont care what they paint as long as its cheap in the long run it can hurt you though if you plan on selling painted baits. If it were up to me, I would rather pay more and get less lures that I know wont have issues than pay less and get more lures but the quality control isnt there. 

Im not biased on one supplier or another, there are just some I would not buy certain blanks from. When you have been importing for 8 years, you see a lot of baits. 

[Chonch12]

What is crazy is what some will pay for a real Rapula bait just repainted. That blows my mind. I don't know why more people do not just repaint, knowing the quality is so high and the name brand is there for backing

[azsouth]

In my opinion repaints ( done right ) should cost more! with just the sanding and prepping time alone you really don't make much money, if at all. There is a night and day difference between a repaint and a new blank.