If I was running a shop I would just pay for quality to start with.
Absolutely, playing russian roulette with your tooling by taking a punt on AliExpress items (where, even if you think you're ordering exactly the same item as you did last time and were happy with, there's a chance that the item is now coming from a different factory where they do their metrology with a plastic school rule) is something a business would be well advised to steer clear of.
But this is the "Hobby Machinist Forum", and for hobbyists, buying say, AliExpress inserts rather than Kennametal, can free up limited budgets to be spent on other things.
I think everyone on here would love to be buying Mitsubishi endmills or Mitutoyo glass scales or Guhring or Dormer drills or Albrecht drill chucks.
But sometimes we have to cut the cloth according to our needs and budgetary constraints.
Jobber drill sets aren't the worst thing to economise on for most hobbyists, since jobber drills aren't generally considered a precision cutting tool, and if one is buying a set, the expectations are best set lower anyway.
I've got an index of jobber 1-6 mm (in 0.1 mm increments) that cost £30 from amazon.co.uk. I've used them a fair bit and honestly, they seem to be holding up well compared with my Dormer drills (which I've bought individually when Chronos, RDG or Zoro have a sale; which seems to be fairly often).
Mind you, I tend to go for my stub drills as a first preference and they're Dormer (again, bought individually when on sale), so jobbers only get brought out when I need the extra length.
I also have some Sherwood stubbies and they seem to be quite good and are a bit cheaper than Dormer.
The only thing I'm missing is a nice index to put my stubbies in. The jobber indexes are designed with too long a 'rack'.
@ChazzC suggested I modify an index, which is a good idea and the suggestion ought to have stopped me whinging and motivated me to follow it...but here I am, whinging again!
