Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a mean person.

[1911		G. Mager Sherlocko the Monk (1977) 24: Cheapo is the only dealer who handles them].
1976		P. Conroy Great Santini (1977) 243: That means the ol’ cheapo won’t have to spend any money on your birthday.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 218: The cheapos take too big a cut out of your fees, and she was doing far better on her own.

2. something that is produced cheaply.

1971		[record title] Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian.
1979		Maledicta III 130: ‘Was your picking on the nonsubscribing Cheapos really necessary?’ one longtime subscriber asked testily.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 233: She’d bought a ten-dollar cheapo at the grocery store.
2020		A. Trebek The Answer Is 47: It [i.e. a tape recorder] was a huge machine—not your five-dollar cheapo.

3. (Aus.) a person who works for (less than) the minimum wage.

2018

G. Gilmore Base Nature [ebook] ‘They get cheapos to clean the shitters’.