Gas prices...
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 20,238
Likes: 274
Perhaps this shows how much I don't understand gas prices, economics, and so forth, but it amazes me that $106 a barrel translates to almost $4.00 a gal. (and in some places over $4) today, whereas 3 years ago we were seeing $4.00 a gal with a barrel costing $150. How does this work?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,483
Likes: 256
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Of course, with rising gas prices, the resale-value of some used hybrids might go up, and depreciation go down, which will affect the figures, but, at this point, nobody can predict just how much...it would be pure speculation.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 14,100
Likes: 1
From: tech capital
Is that the usual or typical uplift on premium (30-40 cents) that people see in eastern US?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 14,100
Likes: 1
From: tech capital
Then you have south Jersey where the cost of all gas is cheaper than my north Jersey area but I believe still has that .30-.40 difference..
Last edited by Joeb427; Apr 13, 2011 at 11:31 AM.
It's always been more than .20 at 90% of the stations..
It seems with the rising cost of gas most stations are .30 and under now.
Speaking of gas prices...
A barrel was down to $106 yesterday.Yet I don't see station prices being adjusted down as fast as when the barrel cost rises.
No, I don't play soccer!
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,652
Likes: 177
From: NJ
Joeb, I agree. That's why I like going to Shell. They don't jack up their prices when oil goes up. When it goes down, it's still lower than the other guys. Or if you time it right, you can hop on the Parkway since those stations can only change their prices once a week 
I just pay whatever my local Shell station charges and get the Citibank Shell card 5% off.
Pole Position
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 239
Likes: 0
From: San Jose, CA
Perhaps this shows how much I don't understand gas prices, economics, and so forth, but it amazes me that $106 a barrel translates to almost $4.00 a gal. (and in some places over $4) today, whereas 3 years ago we were seeing $4.00 a gal with a barrel costing $150. How does this work?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,806
Likes: 7
From: californication
that's it.
I'm getting a bus pass.
for the cost of 1 tank of gas, I can have someone else drive me around.
really though, i'm not driving as hard now, and i'm coasting more often.
The people who think i'm slow can go **** themselves.
I'm getting a bus pass.
for the cost of 1 tank of gas, I can have someone else drive me around.
really though, i'm not driving as hard now, and i'm coasting more often.
The people who think i'm slow can go **** themselves.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Interesting article
Swipe fee revenue rises with gas prices
Swipe fee revenue rises with gas prices
As Tasha Cain slid her credit card into the pump before fueling up her silver Infiniti on Wednesday, the digital readout showed she was paying nearly $4 per gallon for premium unleaded.
Enlarge photo
Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com Robert Taylor fuels up his motorcycle at the QuikTrip gas station in Doraville on Wednesday. Taylor said a year ago he put only $8 to $9 to fill his tank. Now it's $14.
Related
But it didn’t show her the various groups — among them oil companies, governments and sometimes even banks — that get a piece of that money.
As gas prices rise, banks and financial companies that process credit and debit purchases also are making more money.
Banks and payment processors charge gas stations on average about 2 percent of the total when motorists pay with plastic, or about 7 cents per gallon of regular unleaded at current prices.
“That doesn’t sound like much, but when you think of the millions of gallons [sold] on a daily basis the cost is astronomical,” said Mike Thornbrugh, manager of public and government affairs for QuikTrip, which has 120 stations in metro Atlanta.
Nearly 80 percent of QuikTrip customers pay with plastic. QuikTrip profit margins are about 8 cents to 9 cents per gallon regardless of the gas price, Thornbrugh said.
Banks say plastic payments reduce the amount of cash in a store, make transactions safer and help merchants run more efficiently with fewer personnel. But there’s a cost.
Major processors like MasterCard actually enacted fee caps on fuel purchases a few years ago to help retailers.
“For only pennies per dollar in sales, the credit and debit card service retailers pay for allows gas stations to securely run a dozen or more pumps all day, all night, every day of the year with only one or two people on site,” said Joe Brannen, president and CEO of the Georgia Bankers Association.
Debit card fees are currently under the microscope of the Federal Reserve, which has proposed a hard cap of up to 12 cents per transaction. While retailers applaud it, banks say that cap wouldn’t cover costs and would amount to price fixing.
The cap could go into effect this summer, but two bills pending in Congress seek to delay implementation.
Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com, a credit card comparison site, said interchange fees tend to be higher at gas stations than at other merchants. Banks price it higher, he said, because of the risk of fraud.
Consumer spending could be curtailed elsewhere as fuel prices climb, but card companies will probably still see a net gain in revenue because of healthier fees at the pump, he said.
“They’ll come out a little bit ahead,” Papadimitriou said.
Cain, who fills up twice a week, said “I think generally gas prices are ridiculous. Banks get enough money from everywhere else.”
are about 8 cents to 9 cents per gallon regardless of the gas price, Thornbrugh said.
Enlarge photo
Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com Robert Taylor fuels up his motorcycle at the QuikTrip gas station in Doraville on Wednesday. Taylor said a year ago he put only $8 to $9 to fill his tank. Now it's $14.
Related
But it didn’t show her the various groups — among them oil companies, governments and sometimes even banks — that get a piece of that money.
As gas prices rise, banks and financial companies that process credit and debit purchases also are making more money.
Banks and payment processors charge gas stations on average about 2 percent of the total when motorists pay with plastic, or about 7 cents per gallon of regular unleaded at current prices.
“That doesn’t sound like much, but when you think of the millions of gallons [sold] on a daily basis the cost is astronomical,” said Mike Thornbrugh, manager of public and government affairs for QuikTrip, which has 120 stations in metro Atlanta.
Nearly 80 percent of QuikTrip customers pay with plastic. QuikTrip profit margins are about 8 cents to 9 cents per gallon regardless of the gas price, Thornbrugh said.
Banks say plastic payments reduce the amount of cash in a store, make transactions safer and help merchants run more efficiently with fewer personnel. But there’s a cost.
Major processors like MasterCard actually enacted fee caps on fuel purchases a few years ago to help retailers.
“For only pennies per dollar in sales, the credit and debit card service retailers pay for allows gas stations to securely run a dozen or more pumps all day, all night, every day of the year with only one or two people on site,” said Joe Brannen, president and CEO of the Georgia Bankers Association.
Debit card fees are currently under the microscope of the Federal Reserve, which has proposed a hard cap of up to 12 cents per transaction. While retailers applaud it, banks say that cap wouldn’t cover costs and would amount to price fixing.
The cap could go into effect this summer, but two bills pending in Congress seek to delay implementation.
Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com, a credit card comparison site, said interchange fees tend to be higher at gas stations than at other merchants. Banks price it higher, he said, because of the risk of fraud.
Consumer spending could be curtailed elsewhere as fuel prices climb, but card companies will probably still see a net gain in revenue because of healthier fees at the pump, he said.
“They’ll come out a little bit ahead,” Papadimitriou said.
Cain, who fills up twice a week, said “I think generally gas prices are ridiculous. Banks get enough money from everywhere else.”
are about 8 cents to 9 cents per gallon regardless of the gas price, Thornbrugh said.
