With great intrepidation I purchased my base rMBP (256 SSD, 8 GB RAM) because it was on sale at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago with 18 months zero interest financing...and they just happened to have one in stock. I had already decided that I would have greater peace of mind with 16 GB RAM, but after being reassured that I could return my purchase if it didn't perform as expected (as a side note, boy has Best Buy changed their return policy!), I couldn't resist.
Bottom line, at least for me, is that the base machine performs well...until I open Aperture and work in it for a bit...then let the paging out begin. As a side note, I always close out all other programs except sometimes I have iTunes open and I listen to music while working. I also notice a lag in performance when this starts. So, I am giving serious consideration to returning it and going with 16 GB. Bottom line is that if you are a regular Aperture user, you might want to consider the upgrade...love the program, but it is a total RAM hog.