[rtb]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Your gold example doesn't really prove the approach sound though. If you ask a gold buyer how much they would pay for gold, I would expect them to be able to give you an accurate answer immediately.

However, if you ask a consumer how much they would pay for a discretionary purchase, I would not expect their answer to match reality.

Let's say you asked me how much I would pay for a BMW. I would probably never buy a BMW at any price (except if I thought I could sell it on immediately for more), but I would happily name a price if I was asked. This would distort your figures.

I just don't believe that what people say about prices matches what they will do (except for traders in commodity exchanges, which I think is a very unrepresentative example v.s. consumers visiting a restaurant).

(Thanks for the offer of a call. Luckily, I don't have the stress of setting any customer facing prices at the moment, so I'm not a potential customer, but thanks anyway.)