Naturally
Jump on the bandwagon as quickly as possible, and stay on there as long as possible
It’s called greed
It’s also called business, I suppose
There was a gas station near an old home on a main road. He chRged about 50 cents more per gallon and got some business from people that wanted a quick fill on their way to work. But he made most of his money from his repair business. Gasoline was a side business.
Wash. DC’s most expensive gas station, next to the Watergate Hotel, sold gas typically $1.50-$2.00 more per gallon than the going rate.
Recently it changed ownership and prices dropped, but there are a few stations still selling gas for ~$0.50-$1 more.
There is one station in my area . . . the prices are always AT LEAST 30 cents higher than any other station in the area. At certain times, the difference might have been 50 centsIt does some business, but the other stations do much better
I think the owner is too busy snorting cocaine, if he hasn’t gotten the message yet. Maybe he’s super wealthy, and doesn’t care if this particular station doesn’t do much business
In any case, I go out of my way to avoid it, because it’s a rip off, plain and simple
Cough cough…[FRONT!]…cough…
(Maybe he’s too busy SELLING cocaine to care about the profitability of his station???)
Seems to me, there’s a business opportunity to “buck the trend” and have a GOOD service station (or restaurant, or what have you) co-located with a gas station. Something good enough that people go to it as a destination–in and of itself–and are then willing to pay an extra 15c/gal due to the convenience factor of “I’m here already…”
I’m ignorant on this, but is the Honda transmission fluid synthetic?
Agree with Rod. When the replacement price goes up, you have to increase the price of your existing inventory regardless of what you paid for it in the first place. That’s just what has to be done or you will always be chasing your tail. Price decreases are a little more difficult though since you still have to make money on the cost of your inventory. Most inventory programs will price your inventory at the current replacement prices.
With gas stations, like real estate, it’s location, location, location. You can always find gas cheaper in town than at a convenient truck stop along a main highway, assuming your town has more than one station/stoplight.
There is one full service gas station left in this town and the owner seems to be making a comfortable living. Many people prefer to have someone else pump the gas and check under the hood and clean the windshield while they talk on their cell phone. For 30c/gallon the owner caters to that clientele.
There was one station selling gas in the little town I lived in, and he was always more expensive, but his main business was repairs. One day I asked him about it, and he told me that he only sold gas as a convenience to the local people and that it still cost him because it took him away from his repair work on and off all day. His line was, “If I only made money selling gas I’d buy a full length mirror for the office, so I could sit there and watch myself starve to death.” New England humor.
I wonder if full service gas stations will make a comeback. Elderly drivers may find it difficult to pump gas, because of arthritis, bad knees, etc. The aging of America means that is a growing market.
I’m located in/near Tacoma, WA, a “working class” town south of Seattle. My best friend just divorced and moved into an apartment on Mercer Island, a wealthy suburb of Seattle, this weekend. He texted me earlier, asking what the price of gas was here. It’s $2.73 at the Shell station here, $2.65 at the grocery store down the block. It’s $3.29 at the Chevron across from his apartment.
Is that Chevron station paying .50-.60 more per gallon than the places down here? I doubt it. You charge what the market will bear.
The problem with the full-service customers is there aren’t enough of them to justify having pumps dedicated to them, and those elderly drivers are often on a limited income and don’t drive much anymore.
Regarding gas prices and hurricanes - it’s not just the refineries that get shut down. A big impact is from all the oil production in the Gulf that’s shut down. Katrina (and Rita that followed) had a huge impact on oil production for months that helped keep gas prices up:
Retailer raise their prices if their costs go up or even if they think costs are going up. Nobody wants to drop their prices when their costs go down until their competition does. It is just human nature.
I have seen prices get “stuck” on the way down also, if all the stations in a certain area happen to drop to the same price, nobody wants to be the first to break the logjam.
Tester is right about oil and tranny fluid prices though, they went up with gas but they haven’t come back down.
I did see that our local Walmart just dropped the price of a 15 lb propane exchange from $18.97 to $14.97.
Why did the exchange places Drop the propane from 20 lb ? Because the could and they figure nobody would notice.
It used to be that if you had a disabled plate or hanger the station should fill your car if you requested, typically honking your horn to get the attendants attention. I do not know if that is still in effect.
@asemaster, I think the lease cost for the gas station on Mercer Island is likely more than the equivalent lease where you are. Higher costs will lead to higher prices too.
There is a gas station just off I-95 betwee Baltimore and D.C. that has a Tex-Mex restaurant associated with it. It has received excellent ratings in local newspapers and was even featured on Diners, Driveins, and Dives. Guy Fieri thought it was great.
“There is a gas station just off I-95 betwee Baltimore and D.C. that has a Tex-Mex restaurant associated with it. It has received excellent ratings.”
Years ago, there was a Mexican restaurant on Varick Street in Manhattan that was located next to a Texaco gas station. I thought that the resto’s name–Mexico Next To Texaco–was particularly witty.
Both the gas station and the restaurant are…long gone.
@jtsanders Oh I’m sure the underlying lease is higher. I mean my buddy moved into a 2 bedroom apartment that’s costing him $2400/month. That’s more than my mortgage payment.
But assuming that that gas station pays about the same for a gallon of delivered gasoline, and assuming average volume for a station like that, the difference is $50,000 per month more in gross profit than a similar location in my town. Now I’m not sure if that station falls under the $11/hour minimum wage law, and let’s assume that the rent is double the $5000/month in my town, but even so. That’s a pretty profitable location.