I'm guessing 888's only came down in price for a while because they were selling off old stock ?

I got some 888's at a sensible price last year, but later in the year availability on the likes of Oponeo was very hit or miss, over a wide range of sizes.
There are very few sizes now ( although do see the old 17" size I was using at a half decent price available at the minute )

The prices the likes of Demon Tweeks ask are just diabolical by comparison