Drew it's pretty simple actually. You get what you pay for. Most of these places with the glitzy birds are nothing more then fronts. They buy container loads of birds from China, that look pretty, have cheap electronics, and often poor workmanship. They do not offer customer service if the bird you get is broken or doesn't work correctly, except in a few rare cases.
And often if they do, you foot the bill to send it back. And if you break something, good luck trying to get spare parts from them, even if you are willing to pay for em.
If you plan on buying from places like BH and such, figure on what you are buying is an airframe only. Know right off the bat you will be replacing all the electronics. And if it's damaged when it shows, you will be repairing it yourself. DO NOT expect any help from where you bought it.
All that said, if you deal with places like Horizon/Tower/Hobby Lobby, you will get a decent airframe, electronics, and for the most part, WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE, if something is not right.
Not telling you not to buy from BH, but just know what to expect when you do.
I deal with places like Nitroplanes, BH, Raidentech, a lot, and I only buy from them knowing I'm buying an airframe and it's iffy that what I order will come as expected.
Ditto HobbyKing, to some extent. They aren't bad, but you have to know what you are buying before you order from them.
OK a place you might like. PW-RC, in Hong Kong. Have many of the same birds BH has, especially the AirField and FMS lines. BUT, Phillip there takes care of his customers, answers his emails, and often provides fixes for faulty manufacturing. And he carries the spare parts to what he sells.
http://www.pw-rc.com/