Real and ideal prices

The distinction between real prices and ideal prices is a distinction between actual prices paid for products, services, assets and labour (the net amount of money that actually changes hands), and computed prices which are not actually charged or paid in market trade, although they may facilitate trade. The difference is between actual prices paid, and information about possible, potential or likely prices, or "average" price levels.

This distinction should not be confused with the difference between "nominal prices" (current-value) and "real prices" (adjusted for price inflation, and/or tax and/or ancillary charges). It is more similar to, though not identical with, the distinction between "theoretical value" and "market price" in financial economics.

In commercial business, an “ideal price” may be thought of as an “optimal” price, at which buyers are queueing up to buy a good and are satisfied with their purchase, while sellers obtain the best possible profit or income for the longest possible time. In the real world, this happy situation may be difficult to reach completely, but a “target price-level” shows at least what to aim for. Such a price is, however, only one sort of ideal price; all kinds of hypothetical or assumed prices can be used in all kinds of price calculations, to understand the effects of different assumptions in the given business situation.