This is a very user dependent topic and different individuals have different priorities in terms of desired (and less desired) attributes in a soap. After a bit of experimentation, I found out that, for me, there is an envelope which includes soaps from all price points, that meet my performance criteria and that I would happily use. This includes soaps from Arko, Speick and MWF to Barrister & Mann, Declaration Grooming or MdC. Not that there aren't any differences between those, but IME they all are good enough to excellent. So here is a list of my priorities:
1. Performance: slickness, works well with hard water. I tend to use a relatively thin layer of lather with almost as much water as the soap can take. I don't care about cushion or post-shave properties.
2. Scent: good and light enough to be used daily. For some reason that includes Tabac for me!
3. Local availability: I prefer to support the local brick and mortar or online stores
4. Continuous availability
5. Cost and cost per shave
1. Performance: slickness, works well with hard water. I tend to use a relatively thin layer of lather with almost as much water as the soap can take. I don't care about cushion or post-shave properties.
2. Scent: good and light enough to be used daily. For some reason that includes Tabac for me!
3. Local availability: I prefer to support the local brick and mortar or online stores
4. Continuous availability
5. Cost and cost per shave