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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / June 2007Who profits from high gas prices?
One Maine gas station has closed down its gas pumps, and gone to service bay work only. The reason? Banks were making more-per-gallon in credit/debit card fees than the station was. Citing the three percent credit/debit card fees, the owner pointed out that the banks were making nine-cents-per-gallon on $3.00-per-gallon gasoline while he was working on a margin of only five-to-seven-cents-per-gallon.......meaning it was costing him two-to-four-cents-per-gallon to pump gas on a credit/debit card purchase in bank fees alone - not including the electricity and labor involved. The article stated that 65 percent of gasoline purchasers use a credit or debit card. http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/4034743.html Can YOU say, "OUTRAGEOUS" ? >One Maine gas station has closed down its gas pumps, and gone to service >bay work only. >The reason? >Banks were making more-per-gallon in credit/debit card fees than the >station was. >Citing the three percent credit/debit card fees, the owner pointed out that >the banks were making nine-cents-per-gallon on $3.00-per-gallon gasoline >while he was working on a margin of only >five-to-seven-cents-per-gallon.......meaning it was costing him >two-to-four-cents-per-gallon to pump gas on a credit/debit card purchase in >bank fees alone - not including the electricity and labor involved. Idiot. Meanwhile, his suppliers are making 40 cents per gallon. Banks have to charge fees because they're lending money at a risk. Idiots in california tried to vote bank fees out of existance and the obvious result was that they got atm networks temporarily eliminated until the legislation was reversed. AZ Nomad <aznomad.2@PremoveOBthisOX.COM> wrote in article <slrnf84m4h.qom.aznomad.2@ip70-176-155-130.ph.ph.cox.net>... > >One Maine gas station has closed down its gas pumps, and gone to service > >bay work only. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > obvious result was that they got atm networks temporarily eliminated until > the legislation was reversed. Do you ALWAYS shoot the messenger? I was just quoting a newspaper article............... If you examine the taxes imposed on each gallon of gas it will quickly become apparent who is making the most money on that deal.  SignatureRoger Blake (Subtract 10s for email.) Roger Blake <rogblake10@iname10.com> wrote in article <slrnf84oql.7mk.rogblake10@moog.netaxs.com>... > If you examine the taxes imposed on each gallon of gas it will quickly > become apparent who is making the most money on that deal. But, unlike bank fees, taxes remain constant regardless of gas prices......... .....as a matter of fact, taxes become a smaller percentage of gas price as the price of gas goes up. > One Maine gas station has closed down its gas pumps, and gone to service > bay work only. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Can YOU say, "OUTRAGEOUS" ? Typical gas stations used to be, like grocery stores, a low margin, high volume business, hence they are quite sensitive to price and price changes. Now, I have found that folks who seem to scream most about oil company profits are those same folk who at other times are so adament that capitalism and free market economy are the only worthwhile systems. Can't have it both ways. If folks think oil companies are ripping us off, answer is to buy oil company stocks and get the money back. >> One Maine gas station has closed down its gas pumps, and gone to service >> bay work only. [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Can't have it both ways. If folks think oil companies are ripping us > off, answer is to buy oil company stocks and get the money back. That is correct...although the run-up in stock value is probably behind us at this point. IF gas prices come down, the oil and oil services stocks will likely loose value. > Now, I have found that folks who seem to scream most about oil company > profits are those same folk who at other times are so adament that > capitalism and free market economy are the only worthwhile systems. > Can't have it both ways. If folks think oil companies are ripping us > off, answer is to buy oil company stocks and get the money back. Oil company stocks pay pitiful dividends, lower than you get in interest in a bank CD. Some of them dont go up in value either. I held Chevron Texaco for a year or so, and finally sold it as a bad deal. Oil companies make lots of money. They use a lot of it in exploration, research, globetrotting meetings, high executive salaries and bonuses. Gasoline sales at service stations have never been big money makers for the station owner or franchisee. Now, on credit card sales here in Texas, you cannot legally add a fee to offset the fees. You CAN, however, offer a discount for cash. It is part of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. I always pay cash first before I pump my gasoline.There are two old, old gas stations less than a mile from me.Always almost no waiting.I prefer to gas up at those old gas stations and they have everything the newer fancy gas stations have too, sometimes the price of the gas is a penny or two lower in price. cuhulin > I always pay cash first before I pump my gasoline.There are two old, old > gas stations less than a mile from me.Always almost no waiting.I prefer > to gas up at those old gas stations and they have everything the newer > fancy gas stations have too, sometimes the price of the gas is a penny > or two lower in price. > cuhulin There was an east Indian running a service station close to my house in Houston, and when you went in to pay, he wanted to charge several percent to let you use a credit card. This is strictly illegal, but he said "his lawyer" had told him it was okay. I said that he had better get another lawyer because he was wrong on this, and charges could be brought against him. I guess his lawyer changed his mind, because soon he dropped the fee for credit card use, mumbling "I just need to make a little money". They recently had some gas riots in Iran because of gas rationing.Iran doesn't have any oil refineries, according to an article I read at msnbc news.At least two gas stations in Tehran was torched and the price of gas over there went up about 20 or 25 percent.Now the price per gallon of gas in Tehran is about 11 cents per gallon.I remember back in the 1940s when the price per gallon of gas was less than 20 cents per gallon.When I was a kid it was fun to watch those old gas pumps with those little balls going around and around and up and down and making ding ding ding noises. cuhulin > They recently had some gas riots in Iran because of gas rationing.Iran > doesn't have any oil refineries, according to an article I read at msnbc [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ding ding ding noises. > cuhulin I am not sure about Iran (in many ways). I have never been in the Middle East. Every time I was scheduled to go, some radical hijacked a plane, or set off a bomb, etc. They do have a chemical industry of some sort. We tried to buy some monoethanolamine from them a few years ago, but it arrived contaminated and we had to refuse the order. (They had no transport, and had loaded this 20 ton trial order into steel drums in order to get it exported. It was loaded with iron.. looked like gorilla snot..) By the way, this was not an American company and the embargo situation did not apply to us. > Now, I have found that folks who seem to scream most about oil company > profits are those same folk who at other times are so adament that > capitalism and free market economy are the only worthwhile systems. > Can't have it both ways. If folks think oil companies are ripping us > off, answer is to buy oil company stocks and get the money back. Gasoline and oil is not a free market system. It is a highly regulated, manipulated, and subsidized system of a limited number of players and no threat of new competition. There is no conflict between screaming about the gasoline/oil prices and wanting a free market system. In fact the two are completely compatible. If oil and gasoline were free market, we wouldn't have these high prices, nor would we have the expensives of a war in the middle east. > Typical gas stations used to be, like grocery stores, a low margin, > high volume business, hence they are quite sensitive to price and > price changes. This doesn't explain how I can drive no farther than ten miles from my home and see prices varying by thirty cents per gallon. I routinely get gas no less than five miles from the house because the greedy bastards closer in are routinely ten cents per gallon higher. Some weeks ago when the gouge was really at its highest and the Chicago area had the highest prices in the nation, I was driving over forty miles to get gas, and saving money even considering the gasoline usage. SignatureWe can't possibly imprison 300 million Americans for not paying their taxes, so let's grant all of them amnesty NOW! |
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