I'll check out amazon and pawn shops and brands you recommend to stay away from
stay away from anything that costs less than the price of a calibration.
there are only a couple of usa companies making torque wrenches anymore, if its made in the usa its probably decent (one of the survivors).
if you have unlimited funds, you can explore some other options.
CDI, precision, Snap on are probably first tier. Proto, Apex maybe a half a half-step behind but tend to still be quitee decent stuff. Wrigt, SK and what not all outsource.
Honestly a good copy kept in good condition and checked for cal is fine--to some extent it doesn't matter. Quality tends to have to do with repeatability, stability, druability, overal longevity and ultimately cal interval.
The main one you cannot hedge your way around is repeatability. The others you can deal with by keeping in good shape and treating with kid gloves and checking it ALOT. but cheapo's aren't worth the money to calibrate ... so that's a problem for that strategy.