Hmm.. the oldest price list of ours I can find at the moment is for 2001 and the price for the Domed Brush was £24.50 then, with VAT at only 17.5%.
I don't think they've ever been that low in price to be honest, but it's a good indication of how long they last!
We work very hard to keep the prices of these (and other products) as low as we can; I have an idea in my head of what something is worth (based on how much I'd be happy to pay for it) and try to keep below that where we can. In the case of the brushes, the main UK manufacturer of them has stopped making them due to low volumes and UK brush makers are getting harder and harder to find.
We now have these brushes made especially for us, and having experimented with having them made in India we are now having them produced back in England and paying a little bit more (quite a lot more actually) and getting a better quality and more control over deliveries etc.
You don't want to know how many of these brushes we buy at a time and how much space is taken up by them in our warehouse!
At one point, I saw a similar brush on another company's website, who shall remain nameless (starts with an 'R', ends in 's'); they weren't from us but they were retailing at £49.95 and this was three years ago!