Perceived value of high end brushes

I'd imagine 99% of it is perceived. I would like to think that more expensive brushes represent more sustainably-sourced 'ingredients', better workmanship, greater attention to detail, more research behind them and overall better build quality. As the qualities of a brush are so subjective (some like 'em floppy...easy now!) there's going to be less of the 'research' element.

Like I said, in my opinion I reckon there's 99% perception. Typical example is a Ferrari 599 and a Ford Fiesta will both get you from A to B, but one is several hundred-fold dearer than the other.

I'm happy owning cheap brushes if I like the look of them and they do what they're supposed to! :)

Edit: the major difference I've seen is the adjustability of big brands, with respect to loft, hair-type, colours available, etc..
 
My shavemac is definitely better than my maseto.

The maseto is definitely better value than the shavemac.

Am I happy with my shavemac, yes, very.
The law of diminished returns applies to many things, evidently shave brushes is one of them.

I would be evangelising over maseto if it was better than my shavemac, purely subjective, it isn't (pretty damn close though)
 
Often, they very much are better.

For me, the Maseto Shaving brushes I've used do not hold a candle to the Morris & Forndrans and the synthetic mimics that have passed through my hands have all been inferior to the originals (e.g. ‘Plissoft' brushes vs Plisson Fiber, Yaqi vs APShaveCo).

That's not to say that MS and their ilk do not offer quality. But I'd always choose my M&F 2XL at £one-hundred-and-something over my Maseto at £thirty-something.
 
For me the best high end brush makers allow a huge amount of customisation, not only in aesthetics but knot type and spec.

Some of the artisan makers handles are functional works of art, that can be customised to exactly what you want. You can't get that for a £40 brush from China.

You pay a price with high end brushes - but you can end up with exactly what you want, and you don't need to settle.

For some, it is worth the extra price.
 
The exact same question was raised on TSD a few days ago (maybe by you? or someone else?) ... anyway, there's a ton of good responses in that thread already.

(interestingly, a similar discussion runs on FPN right now about the real value of high end fountain pens)
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Pitralon forever - Real pens have a nib - If it doesn't tick, it's not a watch.
 
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In the case of Shavemac you can get the most beautifully even knot, hand tied to your specification, set into a similarly custom hand-turned handle. You can't get that with Maseto. Maseto brushes are excellent and I love mine, but Shavemac are a class above.

As for Simpson, mine sheds. It loses four or five hairs every shave and Simpson's response when I emailed them was that they can do that. I wouldn't buy another.
 
I'd imagine 99% of it is perceived. I would like to think that more expensive brushes represent more sustainably-sourced 'ingredients', better workmanship, greater attention to detail, more research behind them and overall better build quality. As the qualities of a brush are so subjective (some like 'em floppy...easy now!) there's going to be less of the 'research' element.

Like I said, in my opinion I reckon there's 99% perception. Typical example is a Ferrari 599 and a Ford Fiesta will both get you from A to B, but one is several hundred-fold dearer than the other.

I'm happy owning cheap brushes if I like the look of them and they do what they're supposed to! :)

Edit: the major difference I've seen is the adjustability of big brands, with respect to loft, hair-type, colours available, etc..
if you have ridden in Ferrari youd know they are several hundred fold better than any Fiesta!
 
Price, always affect the perception of value. You can see this very often in Amazon, where the same razor, is sold rebranded with 4 different brands, ranging from 8 to 30 EUR. You read the opinion of the guy who bought the 30 EUR rebranded version and he mentions "excellent quality, excellent value to price ratio!". You go read the review of the same razor at 8 EUR and you see "well, for 8 EUR one can't complain. It's a cheap chinese razor, but works well".

Same thing easily goes for brushes. Badgers, especially when you start, are automatically "soooo much better", since the "boars are cheap". "I started with a 10$ Omega, so now i want to go to a decent badger brush". It's no coincidence that wetshavers that abbandon badgers for boars, are seasoned wetshavers that after trying and paying for every famous badger out there, decided that the cheap boar wasn't that bad after all. If boars were as rare as badgers, boar brushes would also be more expensive. Luckily for some of us, pigs are common.

This said, there is the law of diminishing returns in all products, but, in hobbies or collectors, it usually isn't about wetshaving so much, as is about the thrill of adding "one more to the collection" or "have a more prestigious brush". Emotional satisfaction, adds value to the object and also boosts physical satisfaction too.
 
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