One of the top players from San Diego used a 40-50 dollar Players sneaky pete for a long time. You can get a predator shaft for it later when you get more $$. Jason Miller plays with a predator shaft on a dufferin butt I've heard and he plays great with it. (DCC banks winner 2x, won IPT tour card)
I think its better to buy lower end cues in person though. You can find a decent one but sometimes you have to try a couple out first. There's no way a lot of quality control is going to be done at that price. I had a 40 dollar Player sneaky, too, and thought it played fine...until it got stolen.
A similar case is with guitars; when I worked at a Guitar Center in Atlanta a pro guitarist was telling me that the Stratocasters made in Mexico were of inconsistent quality but if you tried out 4 or 5, you could find one that played almost as well as the much higher priced ones made in the US.