Funny part is, the 'other place' even frowns on Pelicans...
I think I paid $65 for it when I bought it about 4 years ago with a Luxeon LED in it.
We all knew you didn't pay 85$ for a host
I think some things are worth paying more (potentially) but it's a personal preference. A $500 silver plated toilet seat with a lifetime warranty may be worth it to some people but I just don't care what my toilet seat is made of :)
I'll pay more for a flashlight than someone who isn't into them at all but at the end of the day it's still just a flashlight and budget prices are usually all I'll pay.
REI charges full retail for everything but if you are a member you get 10% back at the end of the year and it's convenient and the return policy is as good as it can get. Some things I need to look at and try out other things I might be able to order online (and do) but may decide to buy locally (REI) because I don't want to wait and again because of the return policy.
Until this year I'd never returned anything from them but now I've returned two items. I bought a BD Spot headlamp. It was fine. I just didn't like all of the features but I figured I'd just put up with it. A few months later BD came out the the Storm ($10 more expensive). I hadn't used the Spot other than to play around with it a bit so I took it back. No receipt or packaging. No problem. I bought the Storm while I was there.
Shortly after that I bought some climbing shoes. I didn't try them on in the store because I bought the same brand/model/size as my last pair. They hurt my feet but I used them for a month or so thinking it would get better. I eventually figured out that they had changed the sizing and it was 1/2 size too small. I took and back and got a larger size. No problem.
If they weren't known for that kind of return policy I would have just kept what I'd purchased (and been unhappy). Their policy however is 100% satisfaction or you can exchange, return for credit or for cash...more or less with a smile and no questions asked. They sell the returned stuff (for less money) later in the year at a "garage" sale. They charge full retail and can do so because of the return policy. Most people (me included) don't return most items.
However I don't buy their $40 T-shirts.
The point is if you sell $50 plastic flashlights (or aluminum these days) you can afford to offer lifetime warranties since all you are selling is really just a tube.
The only thing wrong with your argument is that teleportation is not invented yet. It will take lots of time before your crappy light can be replaced.
If anyone thinks the only difference between a dodgy $10 DX light and most $50-100 lights is the warranty then you need to think harder...
Here in western australia, to me the warranty is effectively irrelevant anyway... sending torches back is going to cost me as much as the new light anyway, and there is not a single dealer within 3000km of where I am anyway in western australia.
I just bought the armytek predator, and I bought this over a budget equivalent 18650 form factor because it offers me what budget lights unfortunately cannot yet offer me. These include - Very throwy but functional output (well designed reflector), over/under voltage and thermal warning systems, a UI that is separate from the tail switch, tint options (got a 5B1 tint) and a fully programmable driver (number of modes, outputs, voltage cutoffs, regulation profile (flat or stepped brightness), and the ability for the torch to tell me the battery voltage under load upon request.
I would prefer to see a budget light that can satisfy those features, but unfortunately, not even all of my budget lights together can achieve that.
For this I paid $99 (and with the strong exchange rate, what would have been $140 less than a year ago, now cost me $95)
In part it just depends on what/how many features you need in a flashlight. I don't need many particularly in a seldom used thrower. Even for a general purpose XP-G 3 mode I don't need any others features.
If you do then that's where budget generally isn't satisfactory. If you don't ... it is generally satisfactory.