When it comes to chargers, you really do get what you pay for. See: http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-ap...
Note that the HP Touchpad charger is rated slightly higher than Apple's charger, but it's not cheap either. Right now Amazon lists the HP charger for $17.99 and the Apple 12w iPad charger for $19.00. Not much difference in price.
The $2.00 chargers are gambling with your device (and maybe even your life).
You are missing the point. I'm not saying $2 chargers are the right price. I'm saying, Apple overprices everything, include headphone cables, phone cases and what not. Their retail price is BOM + Retail_Markup + R&D + Apple_Markup. That last component is what I'm talking about.
You provided none other than your opinion.
Kindly provide a link to a charger of comparable quality to Apple's that costs significantly less than the $19 you can buy one for on Amazon.
Its the first result on Amazon when you search for "USB charger"