When I went bass shopping many decades ago I was astonished at the price differentials. They made absolutely no sense to me. It is such an incredibly niche market. There seemed to be no parameters which could be measured. I eventually had a new 5 string neck put on a bass I owned. I know that given the historical mishmash it is, it would not be considered "the real thing". And yet, I want for no other. I have not had a hint of DB GAS since I took delivery of it (apart from new machine heads!). And in the intervening years my front door has been spinning with the plank purchasing and selling. I am a bass guitar tart and will go with any of them. If you like it, then that is it. If it is cheaper than 80% of the rest of the shop, well happy days. This is before we even reach the value of a decent setup and a set of strings which complement the instrument - which are not necessarily what the bass will be wearing. And let us not even START about the price of bows.
This has been a stream of consciousness posting.