gas prices.......I don't get it!

[tulsakatz]

2 days ago as I was coming home from work, I drove by a station and they were changing their price from $3.69 to $3.68 Then yesterday I drove by another gas station (but the same brand of station, it's QuikTrip) and their prices are now $3.79 again!!

So why didn't they just save themselves the trouble of lowering 1 penny the day before? No one is going to be impressed with a penny savings nowadays anyway....

[dkf]

1. Its because they don't have enough 4's for their signs yet.

[tulsakatz]

2. haha......

is that why? It just doesn't make much sense any other way...

[dkf]

6. Actually I'm amazed you can still get gas under $4.

I think we're up to $4.59 for Premium and my brother in San Fran is paying $5+

[RebelOne]

10. It still hasn't gone above $4 in my area of North Georgia.

Most of the stations are selling it for $3.95 to $3.99.

[RoyGBiv]

3. You'd be surprised ...

I'd explain why this works the way it does in more detail, but I've done so dozens and dozens of times, and it always brings out of the woodwork people who insist *they* have some revealed wisdom on the matter based on a warped theory they pulled off some obscure website run by some guy sitting in his parents' basement doing nothing all day but dreaming up new ways to be obnoxious.

In short, the price at any station at any given moment is based on a rolling average, taking into account the retail price at nearby competitors, the price from the distributor at the last tank fill and the next tank fill, and state and/or city laws regarding how high above wholesale a price has to be over a given period of time. (In some states, for instance, you can't sell gas at retail for less than the current cost of wholesale even if what is in the ground was purchased for less than the current price.)

And, yes, people are impressed by that .01 difference. People aren't logical. They'll drive 10 miles to save a penny a gallon.

[papapi]

12. This is entirely correct.

[tulsakatz]

13. thanks for the answer....

I'm sure there is a logical answer for it somewhere, otherwise they would just have kept the penny savings from the day before!

And I think some people might like a penny savings but (to me) when gas is almost $4 per gallon, a penny doesn't seem like much. Now, 4 or 5 cents savings is a little more impressive to me.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Marketing, Marketing, Marketing...

I still laugh at the stations that still the .9 in the price...as if 4.25.9 is somehow less than 4.26. It's supposedly "psycolgical" that if people see prices go down they're more likely to buy. I know many people who chart gas prices these days...even charting delivery dates...knowing which stations have older or newer deliveries based on daily prices...hit the right station and you can save 5 cents a gallon.

Also, remember, most gas stations live on a razor thin margin...they get only pennies of that gallon and thus a price hike or decrease makes a big difference on their bottom line and how to buget and manage their operations. Imagine trying to keep an inventory on this stuff these days...gas station owners have had to become like stock brokers.

3.69 a gallon? Where the hell is that? It's sure not anywhere in my world.

[tulsakatz]

11. it's in Tulsa, Ok

yes, I know our gas prices are lower than some but still 10 cents in one day is a pretty big jump!

[huskerlaw]

5. $3.69?!

I haven't seen $3.69 in MONTHS. It's $4.75 here.

As to your actual question, I don't know. I've given up trying to figure out anything about the price of gas. It doesn't seem related to reality in the slightest.

[global1]

7. I Passed By A Gas Station That Was Closed For Repair Yesterday........

it had a fence around it and I suppose they were going to dig up the tanks or something. Somebody was playing a joke and they put the price of regular gas at $9.83/gallon. I did a double take first and then realized that the station was closed for repairs.

[On the Road]

8. A One-Cent Price Difference Can Make a Big Difference in Demand

Drivers compare those prices with nearby stations.

Wholesale prices change daily, so a lot of stations are used to changing prices every day anyway.

[cat1985]

9. Gas peices

You should try living in the UK, it is the equivialnt of $12 a gallon! I recently visited the states and found gas cheap for the first time ever. My poor bank account, it is taking a real pounding at the moment with oil the price it is. Slow down China & India, and speed up OPEC. Then i can afford another holiday!