Why would anyone put toys on a real firearm is beyond me.
You have a good point if you were using said optic and firearm for business or competition. You do get what you pay for. (often less)
I think for
some of us who aren't hunting, competing or those of us who only hit the <100m ranges once or twice a month it is
possible to get more play value out of experimenting with "disposable optics" than one you have to make a deep committment to in order for a decent ROI.
If you're like me and don't know for sure what you like/want/need, you'll fall somewhere in the middle. I have some legitimate lower/mid priced optics.
And some fairly useable knock offs. The knock offs make me feel dirty

but they work good enough out to 50m that I personally don't care (yet)
In my experience a clonepoint is an option for up close casual use. I've used a 1x Eotech clone and a Millet DMS-1 @1x out to 100m but I'm useless at that
distance without some magnification. Yes, I guess I'm just that bad.
It was a cheap way to find out I like Aimpoints better than EoTechs and that I prefer the size of the Micro T1 on my shorty AR better than a Comp M2.
(so far I must have gone thru 5 or 6 fakes for a whopping cash outlay of maybe $300, of which I' have re-couped some on EE and fleebay)
I don't expect my black rifles to be tack drivers and I don't depend on them to save my life or win me any trophies.
I don't expect a $50 chinese red-dot to be as robust or as accurate as a $600+ genuine article.
But my AR's are "Toys" to me so putting a "toy" scope on it doesn't seem too much of a stretch.
At some point I'll know what I want also and then won't hesitate to fork out some real coin.
I haven't had a fakepoint fail on me yet so until then I can't say I'll be swearing off that junk.
And I can't see how any catastrophic failure could cause any serious mishap at a short distance range. (<50m)
It's kinda like buying a fake Rolex. You wouldn't dive with it if your life depended on it,
but it still keeps some sort of time and looks better than a bubble watch.
This is all fine... until of course, you buy a real Rolex.