As a general rule, once you get into anything sword territory, don't go Cold Steel. Cold Steel have bad fit and finish, and are tough, but not very historically accurate.
The general rule of thumb with swords(and I would consider a khukri a short sword), is that $300 is a entry level sword with bad fit and finish, $5oo will get you a decent sword with some QA skimps, $800 will get you a great sword made in a production line, and $1000 and above will get you a museum quality replica made to the original specifications of the swords.
Just being in the shape of the sword doesn't mean they balance or handle like a sword at all.
Low end will be Hanwei(chinese), Darksword(indian), and Windlass(indian). I don't include Cold Steel, becuase, though these have qa issues, Cold Steel has a lot more.
Del Tin and Kingston Arms, Valiant Armoury make good mid level.
Albion and Arms and Armor make the great swords.
Now, kukri's are a bit of an exception, as they were traditionally made with what ever steel they could scrounge, but that's about the levels. You're paying for a professional sword maker to go to museums, measure the swords, their balance points and bevels at different points, maybe do some guestimates based on the corrosion of the blade(as an example, people for decades have thought that falchions were big and thick like machetes, same with dane axes, modern test have shown that they were thin, light, and ultra sharp), and then do modern techniques to cut out the blades, and use old world fitment techniques to make sure the crossguard fits tight, and the pommel is hot peened on. It costs money.
Just as an example of low, mid, high, amazing:
https://www.albion-swords.com/swords/johnsson/sword-museum-brescia.htm
More info:
Now, knives, you're usually paying for the materials and again the designer. Benchmade are are renowned for doing wonders with 154cm that no one else can, and have patented some innovative locking systems. Ken Onion and Bob Kramer are both famous artisans, and you are paying for their artistry. In the case of Bob Kramer, you can buy his reproductions
https://www.surlatable.com/category/cat1250419/Bob+Kramer , but in that case, what you are paying for are premium materials, good QA, but, most importantly, the licensing of his designs. A $10 kitchen knife made in China looks like a knife, but will it take an edge, hold and edge, or stand up to abuse like a $100 Wusthof Classic? No. You're paying for that extra.