Tunanut
Ten Pointer
I learned a long time ago that trying to explain how the gas business really works to emotional folks is a lost cause. Gas is a cash business and priced in two ways, if the wholesale price is going up, you are charged not based on the cost of what you are buying but based on what the next load will cost so they have the $$$ to pay for that refill. If it is falling then you are charged based on what that load actually cost. They will always rise faster than they fall.
I have often asked but no one has ever answered - what is the Profit Margin on a gallon of gas? What is the profit margin for the evil oil companies? (Not Profit, but profit margin) and finally the $10,000 question.... what should it be???? what do folks think is an acceptable profit margin.. 1%, 2% 10%
I am glad to see the price coming down, but I am far more ticked at the tax per gallon than I am at the speed with which it falls. We will see a penny a gallon increase in the tax on Jan 1.
I own a gas station and can promise everyone that the credit card processors make more off of a gallon of gas than I do. The government @ 60 cents a gallon is making more than anyone. The margin on a gallon for me depends on market conditions. A rising price market can see margins @ 1% or less, sometimes negative. During a falling market is the only time we are able to make any margin, sometime I make up to a nickel a gallon.