It's hard to turn a profit owning a gas station

[JEDI]

CNN

"he bought the gas station in 2003 as an investment but he has not turned a profit in 30 months because gas margins are razor thin and he cannot sell enough volume to compensate."

Never thought that about black gold.

guess it's like most franchises, where the franchiser makes all the $, and the franchisee makes minimum wage

Topic previously posted. Here

 

[Eli]

Yep, by the time it gets down to the gas station owner, there isn't much of the pie left...

 

[Pacemaker]

Why do you think anything in a gas station costs more than anywhere else you could buy said item. 20 oz soda goes from 1 dollar to 1.49 just because it is in a gas station. They have to get money somehow.

 

[Aikouka]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2051679&enterthread=y

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2051679&enterthread=y

 

[jadinolf]

My dad owned 2 gas stations, not at the same time.

Tough way to make a living.

 

[Cattlegod]

I worked at a gas station for 4.5 years (shell) while in HS. They made 2.6c on each gallon sold, it was a fixed rate that shell dictated, no more, no less. They ended up closing shop because they couldn't be profitable. The gas portion barly paid someone minimum wage to operate the counter.

They made their money from the service area and food/snacks.

 

[Darthvoy]

my boss' friend owns a gas station and makes more money from the "convenience store" than selling gas.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
my boss' friend owns a gas station and makes more money from the "convenience store" than selling gas.

The gas brings the people in. The reason it's getting harder to make a living in the business is the "pay at the punp" option. No line to stand in, waiting to pay, where all the items on the shelves tempt you.

 

[OutHouse]

a good friend of mine owns a phillips 66/conoco station and like other people said he makes up for his lack of profit from fuel sales by the convience items, also last year he put in a tasty freeze ice cream shop which helps his bottom line.

oh last year he paid out 700K in taxes just for his fuel sales.

 

[waggy]

trying to steal my thread eh!? THEIF! =)


Im going to shut down my thread in protest (oh wait its already dead)..

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: jadinolf
My dad owned 2 gas stations, not at the same time.

Tough way to make a living.

Is it really? I always thought that most gas stations buy at lower price, and make huge margins when the gas prices go up. Higher gas prices doesn't affect what they initally paid, does it?

I would think they'd be raking in the dough.

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: jadinolf
My dad owned 2 gas stations, not at the same time.

Tough way to make a living.

Is it really? I always thought that most gas stations buy at lower price, and make huge margins when the gas prices go up. Higher gas prices doesn't affect what they initally paid, does it?

I would think they'd be raking in the dough.

If you're gas station is doing enough business to stay afloat then the gas in your tanks doesn't stay around long enough to appreciate by any substantial amount.

It's hard to turn a true profit in most business at the retail level. Margins are always thin.

 

[gsethi]

if that person's gas station is doing 3500 gallons/day (~100k gal/month), then the owner doesn't know how to run his business. Yes, the margins are very thin but the inside sales make up for it. With 100k gal/month sales in gas, the inside mart should be doing a reasonable sales to compensate. There is obviously something that the owner is not doing correctly etc. and he should be spending some time on re-organizing his business rather than complaining. Again, its all about competition and surviving (survival for the fittest).

<< have many gas station owners as customers (not for gas though)

 

[dmcowen674]

It's pretty apparent, all gas stations should just shut down.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
It's pretty apparent, all gas stations should just shut down.

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[ponyo]

The man makes 8 to 12 cents a gallon after supplier and credit card fees. That's great for gas station and higher than gas stations around here. This guy is not hurting from gas sales.

Great publicity stunt.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
It's pretty apparent, all gas stations should just shut down.

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I'll PM you when the website is re-vamped.

Going back to horse and buggy and rail will fix a lot of ails in this country and globally.

Even Warren Buffet beleives this to be true.

There are very few cons, mainly all pros, unles of course you are an Oil Baron.

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
It's pretty apparent, all gas stations should just shut down.

I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

I'll PM you when the website is re-vamped.

Going back to horse and buggy and rail will fix a lot of ails in this country and globally.

Even Warren Buffet beleives this to be true.

There are very few cons, mainly all pros, unles of course you are an Oil Baron.

I'd hate to do my job with a horse and buggy.

Kidding aside. If the country were to go to a animal power transport system, the amount of energy needed to support the animals would increase exponentially. From feed to land resources. Keeping livestock is not cheap or free by any stretch of the imagination, I know this from experience.

 

[Yossarian]

my friend owns a few gas stations. he told me the way he determines his prices is by driving around and seeing what the big chains are selling it for and knocking a few cents off. heh I thought it would be a little more scientific than that.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: redly1

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
my boss' friend owns a gas station and makes more money from the "convenience store" than selling gas.

The gas brings the people in. The reason it's getting harder to make a living in the business is the "pay at the punp" option. No line to stand in, waiting to pay, where all the items on the shelves tempt you.

In NJ, it's been bad for years, wonder if NJ gas station owners are given a slightly larger margin, as there is no way they could afford to pay someone to pay to pump the gas, thereby guaranteeing that the customer will not walk in and buy something from the convenience store.

 

[Scarpozzi]

A good example:

The nicer, more trendy gas stations with good coffee and plenty of nachos and hot dogs, etc that look edible tend to have competitively priced gasoline. This maybe because they're part of a chain of stores, but they have competitively priced gas AND more overhead.

The crappy looking gas stations around here that have nasty bathrooms, coffee with cigarette ashes in it, etc....usually charge 10-15 cents more per gallon. Maybe because they're independent, but I'm sure it's also to make up for lack of the in-store sales.

 

[BlancoNino]

I don't really think it's that hard to make a good living owning a franchise...especially considering how cheap it is to buy one. A friend of mine bought a food franchise for $90,000, barely has to work there at all, and pays himself $50,000 a year.

 

[AlienCraft]

I thought it was comon knowledge that gas stations make their money on the chips and stuff, and sodas, and not the fuel.As in that's why there are price floors that regulate pricing so that the oil co stations are enjoined from undercutting the retail outlets and driving everyone out of business?

The Oil companies need to be re-constructed , a la the Bell break-up.

 

[imported_weadjust]

The internet also killed thier porn mag sales. They just can't catch a break.