Gas Prices are ********

[SteveR]

I think I heard yesterday that approval went through for a new refinery to be built in the US. Not sure where I heard it though.

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally Posted by JamZ28

i just worked at a gas station ....but okay...

If the owner / manager said he/she was making that much they were either price gouging horribly or were flat out lying to you.

My dad has been managing service stations for almost 30 years, and I've worked with him on and off for the last ten or so years, and trust me - the margin has never been anywhere near that much.

Typical gas stations make ~90-95% of their income from convenience sales and the service bays.

- Justin

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by SteveR

I think I heard yesterday that approval went through for a new refinery to be built in the US. Not sure where I heard it though.

One was approved to be build in South Dakota. We will see what happens.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/15/sd.refinery/

[Jam]

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

If the owner / manager said he/she was making that much they were either price gouging horribly or were flat out lying to you.

My dad has been managing service stations for almost 30 years, and I've worked with him on and off for the last ten or so years, and trust me - the margin has never been anywhere near that much.

Typical gas stations make ~90-95% of their income from convenience sales and the service bays.

- Justin

i've had suspicions that the manager was price gouging.

[SteveR]

Originally Posted by JamZ28

i've had suspicions that the manager was price gouging.

Im sure it happens all over NJ. Most gas stations near my house are somewhere around 3.70- 3.85 now. But theres a Shell station on the corner of Passaic Ave and Bloomfield Ave in West Caldwell that is charging 4.12/gal. for regular still.

[Jam]

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

If the owner / manager said he/she was making that much they were either price gouging horribly or were flat out lying to you.

My dad has been managing service stations for almost 30 years, and I've worked with him on and off for the last ten or so years, and trust me - the margin has never been anywhere near that much.

Typical gas stations make ~90-95% of their income from convenience sales and the service bays.

- Justin

BTW Justin, I'm referring to the independent gas stations not the corporate owners like EXXON or w/e. They definitely are making around 40-50cents a gallon at this moment. typically yea you are right they make around 5-7cents, but in this situation it's true.

[slugger27nj]

Both Exxon and Shell posted record-breaking profits today....go figure

[Jam]

Question: since we are on the gas station topic... Does anyone know which gas station uses what dyes (pigment alteration), additives, or who's the best when it comes to healthy gas for your car. I am referring to only Pump Gas NOT Race Gas. Just wondering...

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by JamZ28

BTW Justin, I'm referring to the independent gas stations not the corporate owners like EXXON or w/e. They definitely are making around 40-50cents a gallon at this moment. typically yea you are right they make around 5-7cents, but in this situation it's true.

No one is making 40 to 50 cents of a gallon, independent or corporate, stop being an idiot.

Originally Posted by slugger27nj

Both Exxon and Shell posted record-breaking profits today....go figure

They are a business, what do you expect them to do. Cap their profit and give the rest away to the regular public so they look "honorable" in the eyes of the public?
In case you forgot: Business - 1.the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit.
2. a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.


What do you want them to do, go out of business?

[Jam]

you're a sack of ****. my dad who worked for an independent gas station for 30 yrs as a mechanic would know and having friends who own independent gas stations. And if you read my comment from b4 it shows that I said corporations make 5-7 cents .

[slugger27nj]

Originally Posted by Tsar

They are a business, what do you expect them to do. Cap their profit and give the rest away to the regular public so they look "honorable" in the eyes of the public?
In case you forgot: Business - 1.the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit.
2. a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.


What do you want them to do, go out of business?

Making a profit is all well and good, especially being an American-owned company, but the way they go about doing it in a virtually unregulated market is questionable. I'm sorry, but continually driving up the prices on unwarranted, cooked-up, false hysteria is not an honorable business practice.

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by JamZ28

you're a sack of ****. my dad who worked for an independent gas station for 30 yrs as a mechanic would know and having friends who own independent gas stations. And if you read my comment from b4 it shows that I said corporations make 5-7 cents .

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...tailers30.html

gross profit on gasoline is roughly 3 cents a gallon after paying for supplies and credit-card fees, but he earns 30 cents on the soft drink.

Retailers last year earned an average of 2 to 3 cents per gallon before taxes

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneursm...lsurvival.html

"At the pump, it's not about breaking even," says Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, which represents 115,000 gas and convenience stores that sell about 80% of the petrol in the U.S. "It's about trying to lose as little as you can."

Gas has long been the loss leader in the gas-station business, where a majority of the profits come from selling snacks, soda and smokes. Lately, though, the economics have gotten decidedly worse.

When gas sold for more like $2 a gallon, they were able to clear about 1.5 cents per gallon.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/byauthor/88656

As gas tops $4 a gallon, that pushes fees toward 10 cents a gallon. Now stations, which typically mark up gasoline by 11 to 12 cents a gallon, are seeing profits shrink or even reverse.

In a good month, Randolph's small operation would yield a $60 profit on gasoline sales.

Check & mate.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by slugger27nj

Making a profit is all well and good, especially being an American-owned company, but the way they go about doing it in a virtually unregulated market is questionable. I'm sorry, but continually driving up the prices on unwarranted, cooked-up, false hysteria is not an honorable business practice.

Their profit margins are 8-10%, that's not much more than the national average. They have one of the most in-demand products in history.

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by slugger27nj

Making a profit is all well and good, especially being an American-owned company, but the way they go about doing it in a virtually unregulated market is questionable. I'm sorry, but continually driving up the prices on unwarranted, cooked-up, false hysteria is not an honorable business practice.

Weak dollar is driving the prices up among a few other things such as speculators, although they are working in reverse right now. How about credit card companies profit?

http://www.bcsalliance.com/creditcard_profits.html

The credit card industry is the most profitable one in the United States with annual earnings in the $30 billion range.

No one ever talks about their outrageous profits, should they be capped too?

Wal-mart earned more than they expected too, are they next to be on the "evil block" of companies? Who is after that? US government for making profit on the arms trade? Businesses make money, people need to get over that. If they were breaking the law that would be another thing, but they are not. Just blame yourself for not buying their stock in time.

With all this record profit talk, you haven't offered a solution. Go ahead.

[79CamaroDiva]

I think its great that some stations are finally charging more for credit, or giving the cash paying customers a break, whichever way you look at it. The credit card companies charge RIDICULOUS fees, and I'd just as soon pay cash. With all the reliance that we have on banks, (the ease of using debit cards, online payments, credit cards, etc) is what I think is part of the weak dollar problem. How often do you SEE your money anymore? A lot of people, probably never. You get a pay check that gets direct deposited, and swipe the debit card wherever you go, make payments with online payments, and all of a sudden, your bank account is just like monopoly money. Some people might argue with me, but all this ease of use, lazy american bs can't be good for the economy.

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally Posted by Tsar

Check & mate.

Thanks for doing the legwork to prove a point.....

- Justin

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by 79CamaroDiva

I think its great that some stations are finally charging more for credit, or giving the cash paying customers a break, whichever way you look at it. The credit card companies charge RIDICULOUS fees, and I'd just as soon pay cash. With all the reliance that we have on banks, (the ease of using debit cards, online payments, credit cards, etc) is what I think is part of the weak dollar problem. How often do you SEE your money anymore? A lot of people, probably never. You get a pay check that gets direct deposited, and swipe the debit card wherever you go, make payments with online payments, and all of a sudden, your bank account is just like monopoly money. Some people might argue with me, but all this ease of use, lazy american bs can't be good for the economy.

I see your point and I partially agree. But in MY OPINION (that's so no one get but hurt later on) CC's are way more secure than cash. If you remember a while back my CC was stolen by a Valet attendant and he treated himself to a nice sum of 2k of expenses for his gf, baby and himself. Well, if I had cash who would return it to me? NO ONE!

I pay for everything with my AMEX, everything. If I need gas I buy gas, If I want a piece of gum I buy it with my CC too, If the drives side cat in my fbody goes bad I pay with AMEX too. However unlike most people I pay the card off at the end of the month, so I do not have to pay the APR. As far as the gas station go, I skip the ones that charge more for the CC, I would rather go to the station that charges me MORE but has one set price. It's the principal not the 10 cents that I care about.

I used to carry cash all the time, and my bank account was at <100; however when you wallet gets stolen the cash rarely comes back... I have reversed the trend, I only carry a few dollars of cash now, and my CC. Cash is for tolls to visit my gf, because parkway doesn't take CC's.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by Tsar

I see your point and I partially agree. But in MY OPINION (that's so no one get but hurt later on) CC's are way more secure than cash. If you remember a while back my CC was stolen by a Valet attendant and he treated himself to a nice sum of 2k of expenses for his gf, baby and himself. Well, if I had cash who would return it to me? NO ONE!

I pay for everything with my AMEX, everything. If I need gas I buy gas, If I want a piece of gum I buy it with my CC too, If the drives side cat in my fbody goes bad I pay with AMEX too. However unlike most people I pay the card off at the end of the month, so I do not have to pay the APR. As far as the gas station go, I skip the ones that charge more for the CC, I would rather go to the station that charges me MORE but has one set price. It's the principal not the 10 cents that I care about.

I used to carry cash all the time, and my bank account was at <100; however when you wallet gets stolen the cash rarely comes back... I have reversed the trend, I only carry a few dollars of cash now, and my CC. Cash is for tolls to visit my gf, because parkway doesn't take CC's.

Would you be carrying $2000 cash with you at a time? If not, then that doesn't really apply. People usually carry a lot less cash then their credit limit.

That said, I am the same way with my AMEX card. I've had one ever since I was of age and I use it for damn near everything I buy. The whole under-$25 no sign thing works great too. One swipe and I'm out the door.

[Tsar]

You are not very familiar with the Russian culture, are you?

We as a society do NOT trust in banks, it is US banks fault, it is the old Russian banks fault - they used to go bankrupt and all your money would disappear. People would keep all their money with them or at their house. I would carry several paycheck worth with me, 1k+ when I first started working construction at the age of 16. Even when 500 bucks disappears out of your waller, because someone STOLE IT its simply disappointing. With CC's though, they give it back to you. That's why I use them.

If someone robs my house, they will not get any cash, which is really uncharacteristic of Russian people. When we bought our house the Realtor thought my mother was going to pay in cash, because his previous Russian customers did so... now think about losing that much money if you are robbed. CC > cash

[79CamaroDiva]

you know, the US is much different than mother russia... our banks are federally insured you're money will always be your money.

I like to keep a certain amount of cash on hand only because I don't want ALL of my money going into a bank. Not all of my money is recorded as income, so all my food shopping, gas, and whatever else I can pay in cash with, I do.

[Tsar]

Originally Posted by 79CamaroDiva

you know, the US is much different than mother russia... our banks are federally insured you're money will always be your money.

I like to keep a certain amount of cash on hand only because I don't want ALL of my money going into a bank. Not all of my money is recorded as income, so all my food shopping, gas, and whatever else I can pay in cash with, I do.

I know all about banks operations, my mom is the senior manager of one of the local Sovereign branches. I also said that If our house was robbed there would be no cash found in here, and if someone would take my CC - well it doesn't take long to call.

And its your money not you're

Oh, and a little FDIC funny http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25719584/

[JL8Jeff]

Here's a great piece about ANWR. It might take a while to load all the pictures, but it's worth the wait.

ANWR real scenario

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[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by Tsar

You are not very familiar with the Russian culture, are you?

We as a society do NOT trust in banks, it is US banks fault, it is the old Russian banks fault - they used to go bankrupt and all your money would disappear. People would keep all their money with them or at their house. I would carry several paycheck worth with me, 1k+ when I first started working construction at the age of 16. Even when 500 bucks disappears out of your waller, because someone STOLE IT its simply disappointing. With CC's though, they give it back to you. That's why I use them.

If someone robs my house, they will not get any cash, which is really uncharacteristic of Russian people. When we bought our house the Realtor thought my mother was going to pay in cash, because his previous Russian customers did so... now think about losing that much money if you are robbed. CC > cash

So, would you say, In Soviet Russia, Bank robs YOU?

I get your point with the cultural differences, though. I was unaware of the situation in Russia. However I think rolling with that much cash at once in the US is pretty rare. CC >> cash for sure.

[Jam]

independent gas stations are making 30-50 cents a gallon END OF STORY. I just heard from my dad's friend who owns one and he is raking in the cash now.

[BigAls87Z28]

Then he is rippin people out of a lot of money.
I assume that big stations that are still near 4 bucks a gallon are raking it in.
I am also questioning the cost of high octane. I have seen as much as a .50 price difference from one station that carried 93 to another.

And I noticed that the Jersey shore right now is the highest in the state. Coming back from Seaside, outside of Wawa, everyone is 3.85+
Coming back from Point tonight, gas was 3.83-3.85.