Once you have just a little knowledge of the industry it's absolutely shocking how much marketing and nonsense goes into a lot of this stuff.
It won't go away though because it really works. Expectant couples, awaiting their first child with a certain amount of disposable income are one of the most willing consumer groups to spend. You can basically keep piling zeroes onto the price and they will pay it anyway. Anything for my little prince/princess. I think the companies get greedy with this honestly. And then with the influencers and stuff it's basically just a licence to print money because this is extremely effective advertising.
Because of this what you end up with is a completely baffling hierarchy of products. I'm sure this is the same in most industries, but in general you'd expect a rough correlation between price and quality/features - not so in baby products. The following is a rough ready reckoner though.
The really cheapest cheap stuff can either be perfectly fine but basic with a very simple, perhaps more old-fashioned design, OR it will be flimsy and fall apart within a short period. Because there are safety standards on most baby things, they are generally safe enough to use but they will be the bare minimum that you need, nothing extraneous.
There is an extra note to be particularly suspicious of any extra-extra cheap items which are only available on platforms like amazon, ebay or temu and honestly some of the cheaper discount websites like Emma's Diary are starting to offer these too - because if you are buying some kind of import direct from a country that is not particularly bothered about export quality, there's a chance it might actually NOT meet safety standards, which is a huge problem.
Then the next step up price wise can be hugely variable, with some things that are just a tiny step up from basic and worth paying the extra for, and some things which have a hundred and one keywords and claim to have all the features of the more expensive models - in general do not touch these with a ten foot pole. They make compromises to fit all of those promises in at such a low price point. There is also a lot of mediocre rubbish at this level.
You get around the mid price point and these are generally worth looking at, but again will be a total mix. Look at premium brands which have lower end models at this point. Those are often good. When you have brands which exist entirely in this tier or straddling both this tier and the cheaper tiers, be very wary. Again be wary of misleading promises and lack of longevity. In this price tier you generally do not get fantastic design, however you can pick up a decent product with a few of the more higher end features, if you shop well. Pay attention to actual reviews, not from an influencer who has tried it for 5 minutes, not from someone who has never used this type of item before and they're really reviewing the item type rather than the model (e.g. a review of an Ergo carrier, reviewer has not used any other baby carriers). Ideally from people who have had one for a while and/or from experts who can compare with other similar items. Be suspicious of price inflation if something is heavily promoted by influencers. Be suspicious of price inflation if something is heavily branded and associated with an image.
Starting to get into the top 3/4 quarters of the price ranges. You'll have some actually excellent, well designed products with great features and good design that charge this much because they are premium products that cost more to make and can command the price tag partially because market forces allow but also because they are genuinely unique and/or some of the best options. However, again, there are also inflated fashion brands here. You'll find nonsensical features that nobody needs - and brands are keen to explain to you exactly why they are useful, so this can be very confusing. Then there are always the stand out totally out of the region of anything else prices. These are items like a cot that rocks itself. I'd just say these are generally niche for a reason and there is generally plenty of discussion online about whether or not this is useful.
Second hand is a good place to save money (unless it's safety critical to be new - e.g. car seats, mattresses)
Talk to real people to see what their experiences were.
Try not to be dazzled by sales talk about fancy features.
If you are going to spend a lot of money on a new item, it's worth talking to people who work in that field to suss out which specific models are worth splashing out on vs which of the cheap ones are not a false economy.