Alex, first welcome to the forum. As you can see, this forum is called Straight Razor place, and is dedicated to straight razors only. So you can expect it's members to be more knowledgeable about the straight razors than the BB guys. You'r question was about Fillarmonica brand, which is as good as it gets in the straight razor world. Now, bigger razors are more expencive. Im my opinion, they don't need to be, but that's the way it is. Second, the Filarmonica is out of business, and the CS is having all their stock. Other thing, 7/8 is not smart start for a begginer. 40$ for a Filly on e-bay is not bad deal, given you can recognize a good razor with no damage. The only new razor I see at the moment at that price is the Plane Jane that is on http://shavingshop.com/ website, and that is razor with no markings, in the Timor range. I would suggest to you to stick around, ask questions, and maybe purchase one of Tony's kits, or Bill's salvaged razors... That way you'll get your razor in the $40's range, and it will be ready for use. Besides the razor, you will need a strop and hone.
have fun,
Nenad