Back in the 70s the discount store tents were pretty useless. They might hold up for a long weekend in a backyard but the material was weak, the stitching abominable, and the waterproofing a miserable failure. In the early 70s I got an orange pup-tent model that I literally put an elbow through. What water repellent there was was gone in ten minutes so it was drier under the pine trees and when the wind came up the center-line seam parted slightly after one of the poles bent in half. Inexperienced, and naively placing a lot of faith in a distressingly shoddy nylon basket I spent a night and a day cold and wet. Youth thrives on adversity. One of the reasons I shifted to tarps over tents was that for what a broke student could afford I could get a useless tent or a sturdy tarp.

Things changed. Good materials have been commoditized so the discount tents and the brand name tents all use similar materials. Often the exact same materials. The differences are in the care in stitching, the details, seam-sealing, and the subtitles of design and feature sets. These can be significant but the way discount stores work, specifically the no-questions-asked return policy, means that discounters are under pressure to close the quality gaps. You can quite literally use a tent for a weekend, return it a week later and get your money back. Which means the tents a discounter sells has to be both cheap enough for people to not feel upset about minor issues and high enough quality to avoid catastrophic failures which might trigger a return.

It is why it is always best to open the package and look closely at all seams. Minor stitching errors are the second most common fault. If you spot one you couldn't fix with needle and thread in a minute get another. I've done quick checks on the store floor. The most common fault is something you can't easily check, leaks. It is why seam sealing a discount tent is pretty much required. It is also why you can get a reliable tent for $40.

Even this is changing as the same stitch-sealing threads and materials the name-brands use migrate into the discount market. This is a function of these materials becoming more common and the relatively small price the materials represent in the entire package. Feature sets are quick to catch up. Design theft is rampant so new design feature show up in discount tents very rapidly.

The general quality of all equipment has improved. The $160 fleece jacket I bought in the early 80s is not a lot better than the $15 fleece jacket I bought two years ago. Granted If I spent $160 now I would get a lot of design features and niceties but the jacket has always served my needs so I'm not sure the extra $145 would be money well spent.

As long as you avoid the lowest end products a simple two-man dome tent from a discounter is about as good as the mid-priced line from producers like Jansport and Eureka in the 80s. Back then scanning the seams for faults and seam-sealing everything yourself we par for the course. The idea of products coming out of the package perfect and perfectly watertight is quite new. The difference is that the brand name units were, even then, selling in the $250 and up range while the present day discount models are $40 to $60. The difference might come down to how much you are willing to pay to avoid spending time seam-sealing your tent.

One idea might be to buy a discount model, take all the proper precautions (including keeping the receipt in a dark spot so it doesn't fade), and give it a go in the back yard or easy weekend. If it doesn't impress you return it or donate it to the scouts and get a tax deduction. Scouts can use less adequate tents for easy overnight trips, changing rooms, equipment storage, latrine covers (cut out the center of the floor), or shade in hot weather (cut out the walls but keep the rain fly in case of rain).

The call to 'use the best' and avoid cheap equipment is inherently persuasive. It is a quick and easy truism. A bit too quick and easy. It pays to be as aware of what the discount suppliers are doing, and their increasing quality and value, as to fondle and drool over the high end items. IMO half of what you pay for on the high end is a name brand and gimmicks. You can still find useless stuff on the low end but it is getting harder. You have to be careful on both ends. Price does not guarantee quality.