Jed,
That was good!
Chris,
Welcome! After you get a LOT of experience, you will be a good critic of the flies you buy. If the fly doesn't look very good then it will probably fall apart quicker.
If you tie your own flies, then YOU control the quality, not as a beginner but later.
Tying your own flies, you can be as paranoid as you want! Tie in the tail, apply cement or super glue, coat the thread on the hook with glue and wrap the body material over it. and on and on!
Also as many can attest to, fish are not going to ignore your fly just because it get's a little ragged.
Soft Hackle flies are a good example.
Good Luck!
Doug