brerrabbitTX
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Houston
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Message Posted: Jan 27, 2012 3:43:13 PM
The most relivant point of this discussion is that in the end .10 to .15 a gallon price differential is not really that much money on an average fill up. Because gas prices are on the sign in front of the station the whole world knows what the prices are and how they differ from site to site. Do you know how much you spend on a gallon of milk? A twelve pack of cokes? a loaf of bread? Those price differences can add up just as fast if not faster in a families budget as .10 to .15 a gallon differential in the price of a gallon of gas. I fail to understand how people who have little if any knowledge of how a retailers business operates can get bent about paying 1 or 2 dollars more for a fillup at one place as opposed to another but would not even think about paying an extra couple of hudred bucks on a flat screen TV or computer. We as consumers waste money on all sorts of pretty stupid things like a 16 oz bottle of water for $1 when you can get it out of a tap for almost nothing. That's $8 a gallon for water and some people go through several bottles a day at that price and then bitch about paying $3.29 a gallon for gas.
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catfish99
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Wilmington
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Message Posted: Jan 26, 2012 4:43:39 AM
And to pile on to Gasbuddy's point:
If gas is running 3.50 at the county stations, and 3.40 ten miles away, you would save $1.20 on a twelve gallon fill-up.
If you get 30 MPG during the trip, you would spend $2.26 to get there and back.
If you travel at 40 MPH during the effort, you would lose 1/2 hour of your time.
Now, Vern, if you call for a boycott, will it work?
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Gas_Buddy
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Maryland
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Message Posted: Jan 25, 2012 5:55:47 AM
Moving back to the original question:
VernTN said gas prices are higher in Monroe County, by 10 to 15 cents per gallon, than in surrounding areas. While the price charts on various gas price sites don't seem to indicate that, and while I don't think a dime difference is that significant when you're talking apparently completely different marketing/business areas, the question asked was: "would a boycott work to get prices back to surrounding areas prices?"
My short answer is: No, because prices already seem to be competitive, and I can't see people driving out of Monroe County, using time and gas, using gas which costs money, to save a couple cents per gallon to hope that prices will drop by a few cents. In addition to not providing any pricing background for the various areas, to provide perspective, one important thing VernTN hasn't mentioned is how much mark-up per gallon there is between the different areas.
For a perspective, as of this morning, prices across just a part of the county I live in (Montgomery County), an area less than 12 miles in length, range from $3.34 to $3.79 a gallon (depending where in that area you are). And, within one city in that area, Rockville, MD, prices range from $3.34 to $3.65 a gallon. Why? Because of of different operating expenses (including rent, with prices being higher for prime area/prime business location, etc., than another less prime area); because of different investment costs that must be recouped; because of different delivery agreements; etc.
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catfish99
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Wilmington
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Message Posted: Jan 25, 2012 4:22:53 AM
At the risk of turning this into a wal-mart thread and getting it locked;
scampster - doesn't EVERY store that enters a market for the first time set and advertise lower than normal prices on "select items" in order to get people to come in for the first time?
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scampster
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Illinois
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Message Posted: Jan 24, 2012 12:40:37 PM
Only a few places does such actually work, usually a state line. Northwest Indiana has tons of gas stations and there are very few in Illinois near that area - due to price differences.
That is the only situation where such works, and get a few miles in and the stations are still in business in Illinois.
Reasons - tax differences that justify the drive of a few miles for most people.
Same with any product - if the price difference is enough - IE Walmarts gains vs. competition - in their case they can set prices of selected products at a loss when opening stores in a new area. Yet, once they gain market share their prices will go up. And worst case they will close the Walmart if sales fail for them, a few communities in remote locations lost most local stores that way - seen on CBS 60-minutes several years back.
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1007
All-Star Author
Michigan
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Message Posted: Jan 24, 2012 6:43:00 AM
no People are not upset enough to get involved
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catfish99
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Wilmington
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Message Posted: Jan 23, 2012 4:38:58 AM
If what Vern says is true (about the distributor price fixing) then the distributor has committed a Federal felony. Have you or the dealer contacted the Attorney General, Vern? If not, why not?
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Jmac2008
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Missouri
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Message Posted: Jan 21, 2012 8:53:17 AM
not, you can never get enough people to participate
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maxstar
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Chicago
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Message Posted: Jan 20, 2012 10:39:43 PM
VernTN: What is with your rant? I think that your critisims of Gas_buddy are not warranted. I can relate to your being frustrated. Many parts of the country are distressed due to the poor economy we are all looking forward to a recovery. A poor economy does not change the factors that influence the price of gasoline and pointed out in Gas_Buddy's comments. It does not take a government employee to understand that there may be many reasons for price fluctualtions in any area on the country.
Boycotts do not work, but smart shopping can save money. That said I am not sure how far I would drive to save $.10 - $.15 a gallon which would only save a dollar or two a tankful.
[Edited by: maxstar at 1/21/2012 12:40:18 AM EST]
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Michael29644
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Greenville
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Message Posted: Jan 20, 2012 10:00:12 PM
I suggest you give it a try and see how it works out.
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Gas_Buddy
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Maryland
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Message Posted: Jan 20, 2012 8:53:19 PM
I'm not exactly sure how I'm muddling the water. You asked if a boycott would work. I don't know; I don't have enough information about the specifics to answer the question, which is what I said. If you're asking for a one word answer, would a boycott work yes or no, then I'd say no. Give me some information and I might say yes it could work for your area or for specific gas stations.
But now you've added information about a local distributor doing something against a single gas station. That's telling us something that we can start with. But you're saying, for clarification, that the distributor is able to, in your area, tell gas stations at what price they can sell their product for? That would seem to go against all economic and retail logic (but I'm not saying you're wrong). The distributor can sell it to the gas stations at any price it deems appropriate (short of gouging); what the gas station sells it for is irrelevant; the more the gas station sells, the more it needs; the more it needs, the more it orders from the distributor, and the more the distributor will resupply at whatever cost the distributor deems appropriate. Unless I'm missing something very obvious to others, distributors (most at least) could not care what a retailer sells gas for because it doesn't affect the distributor's selling price.
As for "suffer by getting their gas last if they had any left", again maybe I'm missing something, but delivery would be based on contractual agreements, and it wouldn't be in the economic interests of the distributor to tell a gas station it won't supply them simply because of pricing. Sorry, and I'm not saying you're wrong, but there has to be more to the story.
Sorry, but I tried to find MonroeCountry GasGouging on Facebook and couldn't find it. Can you send a link to the page?
But, and it's just an aside, I'm not sure how you can say there's gouging or relate the price differences you're saying is taking place when AOL, MSN, and Gas Buddy are showing that the Monroe County prices are competitive (as I said earlier). I'm not saying that individual gas stations aren't higher in Monroe County than individual gas stations are in other counties, but prices seem competitive (or lower) from information that's available.
I'm not saying that people in Monroe County aren't hurting economically any more than I'm not saying people in my area aren't hurting, but just because I'm saying that prices seem competitive surely can't be seen as "muddling the water." Can it?
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jshmllr
Rookie Author
Orange County
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Message Posted: Jan 20, 2012 2:05:11 AM
no no no
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VernTN
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Tennessee
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Message Posted: Jan 19, 2012 5:49:23 AM
Wow Gas Buddy that was a lot said. I don't think I an as articulate as you are nor do I want to be. I do not have all of the answers to the questions that you brought up and again I probably never will. All that I know is a single station located in Madisonville TN (C&R Market) was selling gas at the lower rates around us and was told by the local distributer to raise them back up or suffer by getting their gas last if they had any left.
Our county used to be in line and usually lower than surrounding counties unti within the last couple years. The only thing that has happened in that time is MANY of our counties employees have lost their jobs due to the economy. With that said gas prices are not helping.
We have dedicated a facebook page to this issue. Our goal is to get 5000 members and quit buying from the stations that sell at higher prices.
You sound like a person that would prefer to muddle the water with bureaucratic meandering so the real issue gets covered up. Could you possibly be in government? I would bet yes, seeing how the government is working so perfectly currently. Bottom line we are hurting in Monroe County, TN. We are merely wanting answers. If what you are eluding to is the case then nothing will change, gas prices will remain high. If you are not correct in your opinion we will make a difference. Visit MonroeCounty GasGouging on facebook and see how we do. Keep on muddying the water so no one will find the leak!
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rumbleseat
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Winnipeg
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Message Posted: Jan 18, 2012 2:43:31 AM
Well, I guess if NOBODY purchased gasoline in the region, the consensus would be NOBODY needed gasoline, so all the stations could close and the land could be used for Dollar stores and 7-Elevens.
Would that help?
[Edited by: rumbleseat at 1/18/2012 4:44:49 AM EST]
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RRBC
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Victoria
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Message Posted: Jan 17, 2012 9:59:38 PM
not likely
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13Octane
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Tucson
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Message Posted: Jan 17, 2012 12:42:07 PM
no
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maxstar
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Chicago
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Message Posted: Jan 16, 2012 8:07:49 PM
VernTn: Boycotts do not work. Besides I would not consider .10-.15 per gallon "considerably higher". In many areas you can see that sort of fluctuation within blocks. Gas_Buddy's questions give several clues to the reasons for price differences. If you would look into some and report back on what you find.
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Gas_Buddy
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Maryland
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Message Posted: Jan 16, 2012 5:30:06 PM
Well, Vern
You haven't said anything about how many gas stations you have in Monroe County or in the surrounding counties, or how far it would be for people in Monroe County to have to drive to get to lower priced gas stations.
You haven't said anything abut the tax rate in Monroe County or in the surrounding counties, so we could have a perspective of where the extra cost may come from.
You haven't said anything about how more, if any, operating costs the Monroe County gas stations have to pay for, such as investing in the gas stations, or in salaries, or if they're able to recover operating costs from other income (or, if they're getting their return on primarily from gas sales).
You haven't said anything about rents or franchise fees.
You haven't said anything about contractual delivery agreements or frequency of delivery that they may have signed that affects their cost.
You haven't said anything about possible differences in convenience of delivery (from distributors and/or refineries) to provide any perspective of additional cost to the gas station.
And you haven't said anything about the wholesale rate Monroe County gas stations pay versus the rates in surrounding counties, nor have you said that there's a difference in mark-up above the wholesale price.
So, until you answer at least some of questions, then I would say the majority of us couldn't answer your question of whether or not a boycott could work.
But, just to take this a step further, you asked if a boycott would work "to get prices back to surrounding areas prices". When were Monroe County's prices the same as that of the surrounding counties? Were Monroe County prices ever the same as that of surrounding counties, or were they always higher than surrounding counties? (After all, you can't "go back" if you've never been there.)
And, Vern, would Monroe County residents be willing to drive out of their way to gas stations in surrounding cities / counties (two entirely different things), to support a boyott, spending the extra money on gas that it would take to drive to the surrounding cities / counties? Maybe the ones to ask are the people in your local Tennessee discussion forum.
All that said, let me ask, since I'm not that familiar with Monroe County. Gas prices in Sweetwater (in Monroe County) seem to be below the prices in Loudon and Etowah, both nearby cities in surrounding counties. Are you sure you're not talking about prices of gas at specific gas stations, perhaps comparing the higher priced gas stations in Monroe County against the lower priced gas stations in surrounding cities / counties? And maybe not comparing lower priced gas stations in Monroe County against higher priced gas stations in surrounding cities / counties? Maybe I'm wrong, but a cursory check of gas prices for Monroe County shows me that the gas prices in Monroe County, as a general rule, are either lower than, the same, or very competitive with gas prices in the surrounding counties of Loudon (north), Blount (northeast),
Graham, North Carolina (east), Cherokee County, North Carolina (southeast),
Polk (southwest), and McMinn County (west).
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