You do not need a 10G switch at all if you are going directly from computer to the 10 port on the QNAP.

Which invalidates the entire argument. I'm using a NAS to be a NAS, not a DAS. So of course it wins out in that scenario.

A 5 port SFP mikrotik switch is $140. SFP 10g NICs for your PC are also pretty much the same price as base t in my experience, even new Like this one.

So sure sfp cables might not be pennies like cat6, but they are still pretty affordable unless you need them to be insanely long which most home users don't need for their setups.

So for my particular use case, even without used hardware(which i always avoid if possible) SFP was vastly cheaper for my needs and my particular setup compared to base t. I'm sure if you need to run a ton of cabling or have lots of wired devices base t edges it out, but for short runs in a fairly small enclosed home environment with fewer devices that actually need the speed i prefer sfp.