If they're going for quality, it's hard for a small operation to beat the larger players on price. Presumably as they become more well known, they can go for higher volume shipments and benefit more from economy of scale.

I'd agree a good old-fashioned set of AAA batteries like my old TI would've been a better choice though, everyone's been pushing rechargeable batteries, but beyond the need for recharging regularly, they degrade over time and are often a pain to replace.