I have been skating a set of Bones Swiss as my primary bearings for nearly three years. In that time, I can't count the number of cheap bearings my friends have gone through. I bought the Swiss on a 20% off Black Friday sale so basically I spent $50 on a set of bearings which have already lasted me longer than would six sets of $25 Reds under normal conditions. I've cleaned the Swiss, so basically once a year. Pop the shields, wash them in acetone, drop some sewing machine oil in them and they're good to go.
I totally understand that some people can't drop $60 for a set of bearings and others just don't care and will happily swap one random bearing for another without even thinking about it, but if you can afford it, and are the kind of person who takes decent care of your stuff and wants it to last a while, there's no comparison between the cheap shit and the good stuff.