Drove past three within half a mile of one another this morning. The small, no name gas station was 27 cents cheaper than the Shell and Quick Chek.
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I know they have guidelines based on the brand they are with, as well as some kind of competitive pricing laws or regulations, and the price they pay for the fuel… How exactly these things interact together and other nuances of the business I can’t say for sure.
Also, places that make more of their money on food, drinks, etc. can afford to sell gas at cost, and use low gas prices to lure people to their location so they can make their real profit. For example, Wawa’s seem to have consistently reasonable gas prices. Wawa, for those who are unfamiliar, has a wholeass sub restaurant inside as well as a large interior for selling snacks and such. They can usually match or undercut neighbors on the gas itself because they plan to make it up when you pay like $5 for 4 hot meatballs between bread and like it.
People have favorite gas stations just like they have favorite stores.
I used to work at a place and about a quarter mile away there was a Holiday and a BP. The Holiday was more expensive, but it was also always more busy, despite it being harder to get to and costing more.
When you walk into the BP the shelves were hardly stocked, the guy at the counter was always crabby, there was a key to get into the bathroom, etc. At holiday I would often go because I also wanted to pick up a snack while I was there, or a drink, or a little breakfast sandwich, etc.
The holiday costed more because – while my car would not be able to tell the difference in the gas – there were more people willing to pay a few bucks more for the experience and better service.
they don’t buy the same gas from the same refinery on same delivery contract. big brands add their secret sauce to the mixture that no name brand doesn’t.
Every station sets its prices every day. There are tons of factors, but competing station across the street is one of them. I higher price may be because they have more reason to have business, like a popular coffee store part of it. Or even just that that side of the street has more cars pass, and people would rather turn right than left.
Usually due to franchising and monopolisation.
The big name stations are usually owned by a franchisee who wants to make a profit on their investment as they can only buy the gas from the franchisor for a certain price.
They then price based on profit margins so a station with a higher customer number will be more likely to charge less as they can still turn a profit.
The smaller noname place is not stuck buying from the one place so can negotiate and look around for better prices so can charge the customers less.
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