In my experience when one has the opportunity to hold a high quality sporran (I won't say "expensive" because that implies paying more money than what it is worth, and I don't think that's really what we are talking about here), side by side with a much lower priced, but similar looking sporran, the most obvious difference is usually in the quality of the materials used -- especially the leather.

Even if you have no experience working with leather at all, even the neophyte can usually tell right away, just by touch, which is the really nice sporran and which is the lower quality imitation. Just has a different feel to it. And, in the long run, this equates to a longevity issue, as well.

M