On my rods I have fly lines by Rio, SA, Wulff, even one Orvis line. Even though I bought most of them either on sale or at close-out prices, they are all expensive lines. Recently I went looking for a bargain line for my new (to me) 2wt. I would have bought one from David at River Traditions but he doesn't offer a 2. I missed out on a close-out Orvis line (out of stock in 2wt). I checked ebay and found a FWF2 line from a Canadian seller in for $11 + $3 shipping. I figured, what's the worst that could happen? If it's junk I haven't wasted much more than the price of a nice lunch.

I have to say, the line casts great, floats well, and seems to perform as well as my expensive lines. Now, I realize I'm not casting very far with this line, so maybe a cheap line wouldn't perform as well on a bigger rod, but I gotta ask: what's the difference, and how do line companies get away with charging $80 to $100 for a fly line?