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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:21 pm
by greg donovan
sammydafish wrote:Note, this is coming from someone who owns a Mobil Station
over $3.00 a gallon at my station... all the political action is simply an excuse for the price hikes though. At $36 billion net profit last year, ExxonMobil and other refinery companies are the ones controlling the prices of what should be a commodity but isn't treated as such. Prices will only go higher as US gas reserves are going down (decided by refineries, not due to lack of oil supply). What's the solution to the problem, simple, boycott ExxonMobil. You've all seen the chain letters and emails. It could actually work though. Granted the US consumer is a love of fossil fuels with its love of SUVs and other fuel inefficient machinery and equipment. None the less, the power of a commodity market should be driven either directly by the supply or by the consumer. There is more than enough supply despite politically heated claims that may say otherwise. This should leave the determining factor of price in the hands of the consumer. This is not the case though as the brokers, the refiners, the distributors are the ones setting market prices. It is quite clear that there is no immediate way to decrease the demand of gasoline by the US consumer, but the consumer can be brand aware. Decreasing sales of the largest and most profitable brand, ExxonMobil will show the strength of the consumer and force the company to react. In order to increase sales they will be forced to decrease prices. With a large enough following, it could work. It is by far the underlying ideal that is the balancing factor in a free market economy. The consumer must be strong in order to show their effect on the market. Do your part, join the bandwagon and make a difference.
At my shop we’ve prepared ourselves for decreasing gasoline sales. We own the building, pumps and everything, all we buy from Mobil is the franchise and gasoline. his is very unlike most Mobil stations, your average Mobil is actually owned by Mobil directly (all your 'on the runs' and other highly branded shops). Since we are a privately owned retailer, our margins are so slim that selling gas isn’t even worth it anymore, we barely even scrape up a 5% margin. Try to stay in the black with numbers like that in a retail business. Then drop credit card fees on top of your gross margin since 80% of sales are on credit cards and basically we don’t make a dime selling gas.
that was a very interesting read.
have you tried offering a discount for cash purchases? make it smaller than the credit card transaction fee but big enough to make a difference.
what bugs me is that there will be two stations very closes to one another and one will be a couple cents higher and people will keep buying gas there.
i am guessing you make more of a profit off of candy and pop than you do gasoline, if you can get them inside to pay rather than at the pump.
which brings me to the following little theory i have had floating around my head for a while.
has pay at the pump hurt the station owners profit margin?
i would imagine it has since you are loosing out on the "impulse" purchases like candy, pop, and other various snacks because people dont go inside anymore.
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:22 pm
by thefultonhow
I have a 2-mile drive to work. I'd ride a bike, but I need my car for work and I get reimbursed for mileage at the federal rate for work-related driving.
Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:37 pm
by sammydafish
greg donovan wrote:sammydafish wrote:Note, this is coming from someone who owns a Mobil Station
over $3.00 a gallon at my station... all the political action is simply an excuse for the price hikes though. At $36 billion net profit last year, ExxonMobil and other refinery companies are the ones controlling the prices of what should be a commodity but isn't treated as such. Prices will only go higher as US gas reserves are going down (decided by refineries, not due to lack of oil supply). What's the solution to the problem, simple, boycott ExxonMobil. You've all seen the chain letters and emails. It could actually work though. Granted the US consumer is a love of fossil fuels with its love of SUVs and other fuel inefficient machinery and equipment. None the less, the power of a commodity market should be driven either directly by the supply or by the consumer. There is more than enough supply despite politically heated claims that may say otherwise. This should leave the determining factor of price in the hands of the consumer. This is not the case though as the brokers, the refiners, the distributors are the ones setting market prices. It is quite clear that there is no immediate way to decrease the demand of gasoline by the US consumer, but the consumer can be brand aware. Decreasing sales of the largest and most profitable brand, ExxonMobil will show the strength of the consumer and force the company to react. In order to increase sales they will be forced to decrease prices. With a large enough following, it could work. It is by far the underlying ideal that is the balancing factor in a free market economy. The consumer must be strong in order to show their effect on the market. Do your part, join the bandwagon and make a difference.
At my shop we’ve prepared ourselves for decreasing gasoline sales. We own the building, pumps and everything, all we buy from Mobil is the franchise and gasoline. his is very unlike most Mobil stations, your average Mobil is actually owned by Mobil directly (all your 'on the runs' and other highly branded shops). Since we are a privately owned retailer, our margins are so slim that selling gas isn’t even worth it anymore, we barely even scrape up a 5% margin. Try to stay in the black with numbers like that in a retail business. Then drop credit card fees on top of your gross margin since 80% of sales are on credit cards and basically we don’t make a dime selling gas.
that was a very interesting read.
have you tried offering a discount for cash purchases? make it smaller than the credit card transaction fee but big enough to make a difference.
what bugs me is that there will be two stations very closes to one another and one will be a couple cents higher and people will keep buying gas there.
i am guessing you make more of a profit off of candy and pop than you do gasoline, if you can get them inside to pay rather than at the pump.
which brings me to the following little theory i have had floating around my head for a while.
has pay at the pump hurt the station owners profit margin?
i would imagine it has since you are loosing out on the "impulse" purchases like candy, pop, and other various snacks because people dont go inside anymore.
the snack shop is really small, mostly soda and cigs are all we sell out of it. Though candy and stuff is high margin, they're slow sellers. The main business is the repair shop. Pay at the pump has hurt us mostly because it's decreased cash sales and therefore we pay more in CC fees. It's been pretty much proven that offering a cash discount doesn’t help to sway buyers from using a credit card, they like the connivance of the CC and buyers often don't have the $60+ it might take to fill the tank on their SUV on them in cash. Add that there's some sticky laws about the way you need to do it here in NY and it just doesn't work.
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:44 am
by greg donovan
thats too bad.
the BP station across the street from where i work offers a 5 cent per gallon cash discount.
so i can get 92 for the price of 91 from holiday. but i cant go there when i have the kids with me unless i want to haul them inside w/me. so i see your point.
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:41 am
by isotopeman
I realize that when I use my bank card as a credit card, the vendor has to pay a transaction fee, but I rarely carry cash. Isn't it a common option to have debit charges without the credit card fees though?
Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:16 am
by bmxkelowna
i pay $1.28.9/L for 94
im not sure what that = in usd/gallon but i bet its a lot!
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 1:11 am
by Splinter
Theres no bus system, I live far enough away that biking is out of the question, I cant afford another car.
Regardless. Even if I was donald trump, I still have the right to complain. I just can't expect sympathy
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:06 am
by Manarius
crude closed above 75 bucks a barrel today. We're going to see 4 fucking dollars a gallon. Thank you George W. Bush for pissing off the rest of the world.
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:18 am
by Flip_x
gas price update in tahoe its $3.50 for 91
3.11 in carson for 91
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 1:05 pm
by entirelyturbo
Manarius wrote:Thank you George W. Bush for pissing off the rest of the world.
I'm gonna scream if I hear this one more time...
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:23 pm
by greg donovan
subyluvr2212 wrote:Manarius wrote:Thank you George W. Bush for pissing off the rest of the world.
I'm gonna scream if I hear this one more time...
i allready am.
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:58 pm
by scuzzy
everyone keep in mind that crude oil is a stock market item.
Producers sell it at the stock market prices
Sellers have to buy it at the stock market prices.
IT's not countries around the world cutting off the supply of crude oil making the price go up, it's the stock market and buyers on the stock market going "OH NO THE SUPPLY IS RUNNING OUT! BUY ALL THE SHARES YOU CAN THE PRICE IS GOING TO GO THROUGH THE ROOF!"
and they buy all the shares they can
and their buying actions, collectively, make the price skyrocket.
The people and corporations that benefit: Alaska, and oil production companies around the world.
Realize that Exxon Mobil doesn't set the crude prices at which they sell their oil, the stock market does. However, big oil has their hands in the stock market very deeply, and they're good at influencing the stock market prices. All it takes is leaking a little information to the press about how XYZ president in far off land isn't happy with the middle east and is going to reduce his output to america (however pathetic ammount) and boom, prices go to the sky.
look at alaska, for example, they have been producing less and less crude oil over the past years because of supply issues, reduction in output, strikes, equipment failure. If you go back and read Anchorage daily, you'll read article about how there's a concern the government will not have enough money to make budget due to the LOW stock market price. and then the prices going to over $60 a barrel they've got so much money that there is cash left over for NEXT year.
It's one big ass monolopy.
One guy can't go "well fuck them and the stock market I'm going to sell my barrel of crude oil at $20 instead of $75 and be fair to the public" - that one guy's supply will be bought up so fucking quick and resold at market prices that it won't do anyone good.
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 11:34 pm
by evolutionmovement
The Standard Oil break up was BS and the shit in Iraq exists becasue of the British and their ideas about a stable oil supply and nothing about ethnic groups and local racism.
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:02 am
by Manarius
The only good I can see out of this 3+ dollars a gallon is that there will be a large move to try to find alternative fuel sources. I like how the President is all "Ohh man, we're so addicted to foreign oil" but doesn't try to get congress to pass budgets that allow for more government subsidizing of research of alternative fuel sources. If this were to happen, GWB's buds like Dick Cheney and Halliburton would be out of luck.
GWB is just a true Republican president though; big on big business. Exxon-Mobil has record profits, and he's responsible.
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 2:06 am
by Splinter
It's expected to go up to $1.50/L here this summer.
I wanna get that lotus more than ever, 40mpg highway?
yes plz.
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:31 pm
by evolutionmovement
If I get an Elise I'll tell everyone it's an economy car. Everytime I see one my heart skips. I f'n love that car.
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:36 am
by entirelyturbo
evolutionmovement wrote:Everytime I see one [an Elise] my heart skips. I f'n love that car.
Hell yeah man, you and me both. I personally feel that it's the purest sports car for sale in the US right now.
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:44 am
by Manarius
subyluvr2212 wrote:Hell yeah man, you and me both. I personally feel that it's the purest sports car for sale in the US right now.
Can't say I've actually ever seen one around here before. Then again, I don't even think there's a Lotus Dealership around here.
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:23 am
by 92whitelegacy
Theres two of them sexy lil buggers floating around down here in Wyomissing and leesport they are sexy, silver and a yellow one.
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:45 am
by dzx
I could deal with the gas prices except everything else is rising too. Seems like everytime i go to the grocery store, the shit's way more expensive than the last.
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:11 am
by thefultonhow
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:39 pm
by LaureltheQueen
The states where gas is the most expensive are the states where they have the silly emissions additives in them.
I paid $3.14/gallon on friday afternoon before driving nearly to canada