Marketplace
YAQI are a long established Chinese Wet Shaving products manufacturer. Their synthetic shaving brushes in particular are well regarded by folks in the know. Their safety razors a lil less so, so DYOR on those. YAQI manufacture products for a number of other brands, who then mark these up under their own label quite a bit - so even at standard prices they tend to represent very good value.
Stumbled on a number of their synthetic knotted brushes being sold at heavy discounts (50% plus) due to 'slight defects' on their handles - so expect something with minor aesthetic issues.
Shaving brushes traditionally were made in a variety of natural hairs (horse, badger, hog(which they term 'bristle') etc) - Synthetic brushes first appeared with nylon fibres many years ago and were quite terrible. But improvements have meant that synthetic fibres were manufactured that performed far more like high end natural fibres, which tended to lather best but also had synthetic qualities (less breakages, less odour, less prone to rot/damp damage).
The regular price for the linked brush is $US22.94 ($AU33) - so thats nearly 2/3 off for a handle blemish.
There are currently a number of other synthetic knotted brushes at significant discounts due to slight blemishes on their handle - all these are $US7.70 posted
I've no link at all to the seller - I bought one of the 30mm Barbers Pole brushes myself - if those are sold out I'd recommend the largest knotted other brush 26>24>22>20 that you like the look of - some of these appear to be still sold at higher prices, some seem discontinued models.
Also postage on all these as well as being included in the price seems to be the standard Ali Express service - so not one of the very slow discounted services.
Enjoy!
Suffice to say unsure if cashback/shopback etc applies but worth trying if you have it on your browser etc. Also check for any AE codes that might apply if you're buying other items to get your total up. :-)
I will also flag that i have about a dozen shaving brushes, including a very expensive silvertip Badger - but I've used a mid-level Synthetic brush exclusively for nearly 7yrs+. They're just incredibly good and have none of the issues that can come with natural brushes (which were mentioned earlier - and also includes animal welfare concerns, particularly with Badger hair brushes!)
Pro tip: All shaving brushes should be stored upside down (bristles down) after use to allow moisture to drain away from the knot/handle. You can buy cheap stands etc - but I super glued a small button neodymium magnet on the base of the handle of mine - and you'll find a place in your bathroom to easily 'hang' it from.