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I don't really know that much about it (being a more recent hobby of mine), but unsurprisingly, all collectibles cost actual money. Kosen is pretty much the most expensive place that I know of (but it's at least partly justifiable through quality).

Homemade stuff from Etsy & other marketplace sites can be really good for the prices but will probably still exceed your budget. Decent stuff starts at $30 shipped.
There's two basic rules that I've seen to avoid crap. First, only buy stuff with 1 in stock/with "group photos" including everything made (the "what you see is what you get" rule). Second, avoid buying stuff that doesn't show off the entire creation because the people that know what they're doing know that people that know what they're buying want to see the entire thing.

As for knockoffs/counterfeits, eBay is as usual 50% counterfeit, 20% big sellers selling above full price to suckers that get in a bidding war, 20% real but used and 10% scammers. Fakes vary in quality far too much to say anything conclusive about them; there's stuff that'll randomly fall apart and there's things that look perfectly the same and feel arguably better than the originals.

And of course, everyone has seen and knows of the standard $5 unlabeled crap from China. Toy stores and souvenir shops always have some around. Generally far from lifelike, but really the only sane option for destruction.