A price so low that at this or any lower price a firm prefers to shut its plant down rather than continue production. At prices just above the shut-down price the firm will usually be making a loss, but provided that the market is expected to recover, so that the firm is not planning to leave the industry permanently, this is preferred to the loss of contact with both workers and customers involved in a complete shut-down. The shut-down price is thus typically below average variable cost.