I suspect it's a matter of packaging. Once you get above 29.95 pricing, the binocular is more likely to be packaged in a genuine box rather than hung on a hook in a clamshell package.
It's kinda like at the 'fire. If you like it or you paid too much for it, it's glass, or maybe alpha glass. More pedestrian optics are bins, binos or "cheap chinese crap".
