Not just a direct hit to the eye, but also incidental (reflection) exposure. Depending upon appearant brightness, maybe yes,maybe no.... and the harmfull part is I.R. (beyond the visable range for humans), so, NO BLINK REFLEX until thermal damage is noticible (and already done)....
The cheap, low power, DPSS are most hazardous when there is a direct hit, true. but the other exposure hazards need to be paid attention to also.
One reason for price difference may be the inclusion of reasonablly good I.R. filtering.