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I guess it depends on when they change the prices, but I've noticed a bunch of times pretty significant differences between 2 stations right down the road from each other. Today I saw one place at $3.19 and another one across the street at $3.33
It comes down to when the stations take delivery and what their contract purchasing is like as to when they raise the prices.
U know what I don't understand. They raise the price everyday. The gas that most stations have in their undrground tanks was delivered and bought at least a week or 2 ago. So before any more gas arrives they run up the sign everyday and up the price. THAT is pure greed. It's one thing if the delivery truck pulls up today and we get charged the new price. But to jack it up on a prior sale is downright thievery. Welcome to capitalism at it's finest.
U know what I don't understand. They raise the price everyday. The gas that most stations have in their undrground tanks was delivered and bought at least a week or 2 ago. So before any more gas arrives they run up the sign everyday and up the price. THAT is pure greed. It's one thing if the delivery truck pulls up today and we get charged the new price. But to jack it up on a prior sale is downright thievery. Welcome to capitalism at it's finest.
8. Why do gas stations raise their prices when they still have the lower-priced gasoline in their tanks?
In every market, the cost of an item is the amount needed to replace that item, the "replacement cost."
Retail stations make very little profit on gasoline sales -- an average of 2 to 3 cents per gallon at convenience stores, which sell 80% of the nation's gas. They make less when prices rise, sometimes even losing money, and play a dicey game of chicken to compete for customers. Gas stations do make money when lower-priced gasoline is left in their tanks. But they lose money when higher-priced gasoline is in the tanks as prices outside drop. With a check to the distributor for 10,000 gallons of product about to clear, they can't wait for the market to improve.
"The thing is, that gas will sit in the ground until we get more competitive," said Ren Gladu, owner of Ren's Mobile Service in Amherst, Mass. "It's dead money. . . . We want to sell that gas as quick as we can."
In the end, it's a wash, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. "When prices are going up, people are hanging out of trees with binoculars," he said. "But you generally don't get unsolicited hugs for dropping prices without a shipment."
That seems to be the answer. They need to chase prices up to stay profitable, but they also need to chase prices down to keep customers. It really comes down to gas being mostly up lately and not so much down.
U know what I don't understand. They raise the price everyday. The gas that most stations have in their undrground tanks was delivered and bought at least a week or 2 ago. So before any more gas arrives they run up the sign everyday and up the price. THAT is pure greed. It's one thing if the delivery truck pulls up today and we get charged the new price. But to jack it up on a prior sale is downright thievery. Welcome to capitalism at it's finest.
its unbelievable the stuff people say when they clearly dont know what they are talking about and want to trash certain people or economic systems.
hey jersey, how greedy am i. i invested in oil and i want some middle eastern country to attack israel just so i can make some money.
I've wondered that too but as far as I know they also lower the prices when the price goes down so I guess it goes both ways.
As far as the whole "game of chicken" thing, it's definitely interesting. The last time gas prices shot up it seemed many places were afraid to go over the $4 barrier and kept it at $3.99 as long as they could. This time around I think they were afraid to go over $3 at first but IMO now that it's well over $3 the chains are off.
Gas is certainly not the only commodity that works that way. A large part of my company deals with steel. When prices of steel goes up, we raise our prices for our goods that contain steel. It doesn't matter what price we bought it at. But, it works the other way around. Steel prices drop and we have to drop our prices. Doesn't matter that the next shipment might have gone through the roof.
And be able to take out a polar bear. With only his legs.
like one of these guys?
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