The 'lower' end of the market has some real gems.
I can agree with buying into a second hand Euro scope if that's what you want.
There are a couple of outstanding options in the sub £200 bracket though.
Vortex Diamondback
Nikon Fieldmaster (hard to find) or Prostaff
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD
In terms of low light performance and clarity the above all offer bags of performance without breaking the bank.
I have put Prostaff and Diamondback scopes up against top drawer scopes and there isn't a whole lot of difference as the light fails.
10 -12 minutes was the biggest difference I saw, with the usual being 5 - 6 minutes. It's hard to justify the asking price sometimes when it doesn't always translate into
significant tangible benefits.
I bought a Panorama EV 3-9x50 IR with the floating half mil dot ret on an air rifle on the strength of all the positive reviews they were getting and I hated it and very quickly sold it on.
I could easily pick out head shots on pigeons in woodland roosts at dusk with a 3-9x40 Nikon Prostaff, almost 40 minutes after I couldn't even see the pigeon (let alone its head) with the bigger 3-9x50 Panorama.
A chap using a brand new Prostaff EFR tried a couple of my rigs on the weekend and remarked on the clarity and bright sight picture offered by the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD scopes on them. I had the gorgeous little 1.75-5x32 model on two of my rigs and he was very impressed with them. I have a couple of the bigger 4.5-14x44 SF mil dot Legend Ultra HD scopes as well and they are very nice. Sportsmans gun centre has the Multi-X ret (plex to you and me) marked down to £199 which is a bargain:
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 4.5 - 14 x 44mm Rifle Scope - Multi-X Reticle
Uttings have the 3-9x50 Nikon Prostaff for the same money and, in my opinion, it is optically superior in low light but lacks the side (or indeed any) parallax adjustment of the Legend:
Nikon Pro Staff 3-9x50 Rifle Scope | Uttings.co.uk
Riflecraft list the superb Vortex Diamondback 3.5-10X50 BDC for £184 and the plex ret in the same size/mag for £176:
Vortex Riflescope Diamondback 3.5-10x50 with Dead-Hold BDC Reticle
Vortex Riflescope Diamondback 3.5-10x50 with V-Plex Reticle
The Vortex Diamondback is the best low light scope I know of in the sub £200 bracket, very closely followed by the Nikon Prostaff and Bushnell Legend Ultra HD.
Depends on what you want and whether fixed or zoom mag is a desirable feature. Personally I find the Prostaff's circle BDC aim points far more flexible than the Diamondback's BDC or a mil dot scope. Nikon's "Spot On" online ballistic software is pretty bang on at plotting your BDC aim points with loads of different readily available factory ammo, so perhaps that might be a point worth considering.
There are gems available without breaking the bank