Oil companies out smarted me today.
In my area the gas stations have always jumped up pump prices on Tuesday or Thursday. Usually 40 to 50 cents/gallon. So, this week they did it on Wednesday 25 cents. Every station in every town in my county. Please google "speedway effect". Make it a point to never buy anything in a gas station when they jack up the price. I once worked in a Speedway station, so trust me, that is where they make their money.
Capitalism is not based on competition, it is based on what the market will bear.
I had planned on filling up this morning.
mercuryblues
(15,063 posts)99% of my local gas stations are owned by the same family. They also own the oil company that supplies them. As a result they are usually 20 cents higher than the one 10 miles further away.
I LMAO when my youngest was learning about monopolies. The teacher asked the students for examples. He said the xyz gas stations in town. The teacher did not know they were all owned by the same family, and tried to discount it. Luckily I had just had this convo w him about why our gas stations are more expensive and how they block all competitors from getting permits to build a new station. Then they build a new station in the spot. Yeah my kid got an A+ that day.
cyclonefence
(4,873 posts)whose clientele were mostly gas station owners. One of my jobs was to spread the word among the owners--who sold all different brands--when one of them raised the price of gas, so they all could join in.