I know this is a little off the main topic but I see some people saying that America is experiencing high gas prices, but at 3.89 or so a gallon, a gallon in the UK would work out to be roughly twice as much, so I'm curious how petrol can be so cheap in the USA. Is it just taxes or something?

ketomai

United States2789 Posts

September 05 2011 22:05 GMT

#22

I haven't noticed it where I live, and if it did start happening I would avoid it just like you do. It's so much more convenient to pay in credit :p.

Also I get my gas at Sam's/Costco a lot of the time because I still have membership and I don't think it's even possible to pay with cash for those.

mierin

United States4943 Posts

September 05 2011 22:25 GMT

#23

I work at a gas station, and we don't charge more per gallon for credit. That actually makes little sense to me, because there's a one-time fee charged by the card company for each credit purchase. I could understand charging a small flat rate more for gas, but not per gallon. That's just ripping customers off.

Primadog

United States4411 Posts

September 05 2011 23:45 GMT

#24

Mierin, yours charge a flat 35c each transaction?

Myles

United States5162 Posts

September 06 2011 00:09 GMT

#25

This isn't very common in the area where I live, but an hour and a half away where I work I see it all the time and it pisses me off. So now I actively avoid those gas stations even if I do have cash on me.

HCastorp

United States388 Posts

September 06 2011 00:38 GMT

#26

Don't you think that the gas station that don't do this add like 25 cents to everybody's gas instead? Or do you think they are just being generous? I actually wish more stores worked this way. No matter what happens, you are going to have to pay for the convenience of using a card. Better if it is out in the open and you can make a choice about it.

EDIT: Read the linked articles - I seen now that the problem is precisely that they aren't open about it. That is pretty shady.

LaSt)ChAnCe

United States2179 Posts

September 06 2011 00:41 GMT

#27

paying with cash also forces you (generally) to go inside and possibly be tempted into buying their other items such as:

mother fucking slim jims

(they generally make way less from gas than the other shit they sell

like slim jims)

HCastorp

United States388 Posts

September 06 2011 00:46 GMT

#28

On September 06 2011 09:41 LaSt)ChAnCe wrote:
paying with cash also forces you (generally) to go inside and possibly be tempted into buying their other items such as:

mother fucking slim jims

That's true, gas station are kind of a special case.

Another thing that makes gas stations unique is that there are often limits to how they set their prices. So, for example, if one gas station operator had the bright idea to go cash only and undersell everybody by 5c a gallon, he might not be allowed to do it.

Zona

40426 Posts

September 06 2011 02:25 GMT

#29

Don't credit card companies usually have a (forced) agreement in place with merchants such that the merchants aren't allowed to charge a different price for credit cards? It's not fair but it's what they do with market power.

If some gas stations are able to pull this off without the credit card companies trying to enforce the same pricing, I'd actually be pretty happy - I wonder if other merchants would follow.

j0k3r

United States577 Posts

September 06 2011 02:48 GMT

#30

In NJ this is basically as American as pie and baseball. Only seller that does not charge a different price for cash vs. credit that I've seen is WaWa. Shell, Exxon, BP, Mobile etc. all do different prices. Costco doesn't even accept cash which is funny to me. I was told it was a "security risk"...

itzme_petey

United States1400 Posts

September 06 2011 03:45 GMT

#31

Revenues from inside sales of products keep gas stations in business. Here is the breakdown..

1. Drinks/Snacks
2. Tobacco
3. Food

Lottery sales account for alot of revenue but they are not profitable sales. Just gets gambling degenerates into the store.

QuanticHawk

United States32117 Posts

September 06 2011 15:05 GMT

#32

it's more typical when there isn't a lot of competition in the area. smaller towns in nj, you find this more. in bigger cities with more gas stations, they dont do it so much because they know people will do exactly as you did and just go right down the street to the dude who lets them pay CC and not get raped. I like my CC points too =]