To me, it looks cheap because in person it looks like plastic. When I see plastic on a wheel, I think hubcaps. What what I see on forum posts, or dip your car websites (when the dip was just done pretty much, or done by some pro shop) it almost NEVER is the case when I see a car IRL that has dipped wheels. They almost always look bad, probably because it takes more to keep dip looking new than a bare/painted wheel.
Here is a close up of mine. It's a smooth matte finish and doesn't look like plastic. If you take your time and add a lot of layers in the beginning it comes out great. I've had to do no touchup or maintenance to them in the 6 months it's been on the wheels.