That's exactly the point. You have better guns (more power, speed, precision), better armors (lighter, more resistant for different damage types (gun, contact, etc.), lasting longer). For buildings this could make them tougher/weaker based on what you used.
For me it's a critical point that will make this game a RPG and not a Minecraft like game.
As a programming developer myself, I'm aware it's not an easy thing to realize, but it add such depth to the game, when you look for an item, there're tones of them of the same type, say a given type of gun, but each of them having different specs when you start the game you only have the money to buy the crappy ones, but the further you play the more expensive ones you can buy.
I you add to crafting a percentage of "luck" that will make what could have been a very good item to a "legendary" one, it's even more interesting, because only the elite can by this item, the demand is below the offer and then auctions are conduced to sell the item.