You are the new Pricing Manager of an industrial valve company. The company has just developed a new corrosion resistant valve incorporating a "virtual internal wall" design. The "virtual internal wall" design reduces the possibility of clogging due to deposition of materials in the valve. The new valve offers a longer life span thus benefiting your B2B customers where plant shutdowns for maintenance are costly.

Your initial studies indicate that your valve will last for 12 months. Industrial chemical plants run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The estimated loss of profits due to each shutdown is $10,000 per hour. A valve change takes at least 2 hours and this job is outsourced to an external contractor for a charge of $1,000.

Competitor VAT Group AG has dominant market share in this space, sells similar valves for $2,000 a piece, but they do not offer similar technology. VAT valves typically last for 6 months before replacement due to clogging or corrosion.

Your boss has asked the appointed distributor what they think of the new product. His feedback is that "this new valve could be sold for 50% more than VAT".

As Pricing Manager, would you take the input of the distributor in setting the launch price? If not, what would be an appropriate price to the end customer?