@sleightly, I agree with you up to a certain point. I honestly think that ANY deck you pay for that costs over 5-6$ for is purely for looks and brand. However, there is a big difference for the feel of a card for different types of card users. I know that dealers want a borderless casino grade card, card manipulators want a soft stock, magicians want performance finish/durable stock, and cardists want....idk (I never tried to seriously flourish).
Even with all the above being said, there is a high quality and suitable deck that can fit even the highest requirements (in terms of quality) of any serious card handler for under 6 bucks.
2-3$ is normally enough to buy pretty much any deck that can satify the handler. Tally-hos, Bicycle, Bee, Aviators, Studs, and other very good cards can be bought within the range of 2-3$.
However, going below $1 for a deck is pushing it. A plastic-coated/no coat, brittle, crap stock playing card isn't the way to go. There is such a thing as skimping on card prices.
ON TOPIC:
IMHO, if you want to spend good money on cards, go big or go home. Brown Wynns.