Gas Price-Zone Price

Gas stations & convenience stores (AM/PM, 7-Eleven, etc.)
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storewanderer
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Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by storewanderer »

Something odd is happening with the gas price in my area. It is not unusual in Reno to have a wide range of gas prices depending what part of town you are in, easily a .40 swing from one part of town to another routinely for whatever reason(s). Over the weekend Maverik locations in Reno and Sparks had a variety of price points ranging 4.05-4.25. Typically they were priced "in line" with other nearby competition, slightly lower. Mid week every single location flipped to 4.45 one night. At the time this was the highest price in town. Yesterday every single location flipped to 4.59.

Meanwhile after Maverik did its 4.45 jump I watched competitor gas stations who had been at 3.99 4.09 4.29 etc. also follow them up later that same day. At this point the Costco and Sam's Club stations in Reno are still at 4.13 but everyone else is 4.35+. A 7-11 I regularly drive by was 4.29 this weekend and 4.69 tonight.

Looking at Maverik further I see every single Maverik within a 40 mile radius of Salt Lake City has the same price too of 3.69. I find it interesting this chain has decided to stop doing location based pricing and is pricing all stations in a given metro area the same. I wonder if this is going to be how it is going forward or if this is just a temporary arrangement.
Alpha8472
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by Alpha8472 »

That is a very strange pricing strategy. In my area of the San Francisco Bay Area, the prices are still all over the place. 7-Eleven is the highest around here at $5.34. Costco is not the cheapest gas at $4.57. ARCO is the cheapest at $4.49 for cash customers.

Perhaps in some areas they have all decided to price gouge everyone at the same price.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 4th, 2022, 3:43 pm That is a very strange pricing strategy. In my area of the San Francisco Bay Area, the prices are still all over the place. 7-Eleven is the highest around here at $5.34. Costco is not the cheapest gas at $4.57. ARCO is the cheapest at $4.49 for cash customers.

Perhaps in some areas they have all decided to price gouge everyone at the same price.
In some places I've traveled it isn't unusual to see the gas price only flex about .05 between stations and between parts of town. There are always a few stations that deviate one way or the other but not like the huge gaps I've always observed on the west coast.

Today all of the Reno Maveriks moved down to 4.55. A 7-11 I drive by regularly was 4.29 on Sunday, quit posting its price last night, decided to post it again today and it was at 4.74.

A real overpriced Shell I drive by was 4.59 on Sunday, 5.09 yesterday, but got it down to 4.88 today.

If you can find an Arco gift card it will get you the cash price. Raleys still has them. Safeway does not in Nevada (may have them in CA). I have tested this at the Tesoro Arcos as well as the BP Arcos recently and both fall to cash price with the gift card. This is good, as some brands treat the oil company issued gift card at the credit price (should be against the branding agreement).
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by Super S »

I have found the price of gas to not be consistent throughout both Washington and Oregon. Some local stations took a jump this week to $4.39, while others of the same brands (Chevron/Texaco/Shell) are still as low as $4.19 in other parts of town. I have found huge fluctuations though. The Indian casinos in my area, which run branded stations tend to be about 10-20 cents cheaper than most, while a couple in Ridgefield and Vancouver, which are next to the freeway, are some of the highest priced, often 20-30 cents or more than nearby Chevron stations. Last summer, I took a trip to Idaho and found the price of gas only seemed to vary a few cents between towns, I filled the tank in Boise as well as several small towns and the price was for the most part consistent.

I have noticed that several Chevron stations in the last few months have abandoned separate pricing for cash/Chevron cards and are now at one price only.

The grocery store stations tend to be cheaper, but I have heard of multiple fuel quality issues popping up including water in gas, detonation, and very slow pumps because filters are being neglected. I stick with branded fuels and go to where the prices are lowest.

Then there are some stations who have decided to blatantly price gouge with no explanation. One Shell in Portland is now at $6.29! https://www.kptv.com/2022/03/02/price-g ... -6-gallon/

Many convenience store operators as well as large stores sold gas cheap in an effort to get people to buy more in the stores. Convenience stores have stuff marked up so high that they make most money from inside purchases. When gas gets high enough, people are going to be paying more attention to prices and the convenience stores aren't going to be doing so well.

Something I do find interesting is that the stations that sold E85 in my area have pretty much disappeared. Last time we had a gas price spike like this E85 was significantly cheaper.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by Alpha8472 »

There is a very large difference between cash and credit prices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Excon and Valero are $5.18 for cash and $5.44 for credit. This makes many more customers go inside the convenience store to pay cash. Then while inside you see some items that you want to buy. This generates a ton of sales for the convenience stores. No one wants to pay the outrageous credit prices.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 5th, 2022, 7:01 pm There is a very large difference between cash and credit prices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Excon and Valero are $5.18 for cash and $5.44 for credit. This makes many more customers go inside the convenience store to pay cash. Then while inside you see some items that you want to buy. This generates a ton of sales for the convenience stores. No one wants to pay the outrageous credit prices.
I have noticed a few stations in my area are .20 more for credit than cash but most are .10, quite a few are .06, some are .04, one weird Arco is .14. At this point in my area about 30% of the gas stations have a separate price for cash vs. credit. Safeway even discontinued that practice in Reno area (including South Lake Tahoe).

Maverik has a separate price for cash vs. credit in Oroville and also in Las Vegas, but not anywhere else. They run a .10 spread.

I used to have a real problem with the cash price vs. credit price thing but at this point it is just a whatever. I will go to a cash price station in Carson City and give them cash, never enough cash to fill all the way, but enough to know I will not have to go back inside for change. Then I will put the credit card in the pump for the remainder I need and pay the higher price for the extra gallon or two.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by Alpha8472 »

All of these gas stations are raising prices to extreme levels. Are there no laws against price gouging?

I am thinking that gas stations are trying to take advantage of the situation and raise prices to make more profits. People are hoarding gas right now. You see people putting gas into plastic containers at the gas stations again.

I am seriously considering taking public transportation again. I used to take the train and bus to work. My employer lets employees deduct money from our paychecks tax free to use on transit. They give us a debit card and it saved me quite a bit on transportation. Public transportation takes longer, but I am willing to get up earlier to go to work. I can even use the debit card to pay for Uber rides. I never needed to drive before the pandemic.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by storewanderer »

Today in Reno/Sparks Maverik moved up to 4.79 but kept 2 stations in poorer neighborhoods at 4.69 for some reason.

All Salt Lake City Maveriks are at 3.79 no differences anywhere there in a 40+ mile radius.

Yesterday I bought gas at a Smiths in Gardnerville, NV for 3.79. I am not sure what is going on there, other surrounding stations were 4.29-4.69. The Costco stations in the region are well over $4 at this point also. Smiths must be losing a lot of money selling gas so below market or there is some glitch in their pricing software. I'll take it. Meanwhile the Smiths gas station in Carson City was at 4.29 yesterday. Usually similar prices between Carson City and Gardnerville.

I too am observing people putting gas into gas cans and other such containers this week. That is a bad idea for many reasons.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by Alpha8472 »

Costco gas jumped 16 cents overnight. At this rate, $6 gas at other gas stations will be here tomorrow. I think I will have to get gas every day to save money.
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Re: Gas Price-Zone Price

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 6th, 2022, 1:49 pm Costco gas jumped 16 cents overnight. At this rate, $6 gas at other gas stations will be here tomorrow. I think I will have to get gas every day to save money.
That is what appears to be happening. Today in Reno I was near a Chevron (routinely pretty high priced) on Lakeside Drive in Reno with a price of 5.31 cash/5.41 credit. The store is closed Sunday due to lack of employees so the price today is 5.41. The station had a steady stream of 4-5 cars filling up. As I drove around town passing one 4.99 gas station after another I couldn't help but notice how busy they all looked.

Someone is making A LOT of money off of these gas prices... Everything that is possible that could be happening to make these prices rise, is happening. Nothing that is possible to make these prices stabilize, is happening.

Also- Diesel is also over $5 per gallon at the truck stops out in Sparks. This will fuel even more inflation on consumer goods due to the higher transport costs. Nothing is going the right way here... for the US consumer anyway.
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