Price gouging and gas.

[lokiju]

I recently read an article about in the state of NY and price gouging of Milk, basically it stated that if it's $00.40 over the market cost then it's price gouging.

Are there similar rules against price gouging for gas?

Over this weekend I saw such a huge difference in gas cost from one station to the next that it got me to thinking of this.

I was coming home on Saturday and as soon as I got off the highway a gas station had regular 87 gas for $4.49 per gallon.

Then not even a mile down the road there was another station with regular for $3.98 per gallon.

Earlier in that same day I filled up my car for $3.99 and then later in the day filled up my wife's car at another part of town for $3.85.

How is it OK to have a difference $00.64 per gallon, all within the same county but it's not ok to have a $00.40 difference per gallon of milk?

 

[Al Neri]

I am pretty sure that it is legal to price gouge.

 

[alm99]

Originally posted by: lokiju
I recently read an article about in the state of NY and price gouging of Milk, basically it stated that if it's $00.40 over the market cost then it's price gouging.

Are there similar rules against price gouging for gas?

Over this weekend I saw such a huge difference in gas cost from one station to the next that it got me to thinking of this.

I was coming home on Saturday and as soon as I got off the highway a gas station had regular 87 gas for $4.49 per gallon.

Then not even a mile down the road there was another station with regular for $3.98 per gallon.

Earlier in that same day I filled up my car for $3.99 and then later in the day filled up my wife's car at another part of town for $3.85.

How is it OK to have a difference $00.64 per gallon, all within the same county but it's not ok to have a $00.40 difference per gallon of milk?

Milk =nutrition
Gas = death

???

 

[Scouzer]

why don't you just type $0.40 or $0.64...the 00.64 makes no sense

 

[Gibson486]

There is a law on price gouging? I thought that it was a legal practice to do so.

 

[slsmnaz]

You are assuming that all the stations buy their gas from the exact same source at the exact same time and have the exact same expenses. I've found that stations closer to the highway are always more expensive

 

[dug777]

Providing people aren't colluding, 'price gouging' doesn't work for very long

 

[Bignate603]

With milk you're more stuck. Your cart is all full by the time you get to the milk and who wants to go to another store if milk is too high? You grumble about it but you buy the milk.

With gas the price is on a BIG HUGE sign right in front. The fact that you saw a bunch of prices on the same road shows that it wasn't gouging, you could have just driven down the road to the next one. To price gouge there needs to be something that prevents you from going somewhere else or all the sellers in the area plotting to drive the price up (think opec). There used to be massive price gouging on the NY toll roads for gas at the rest areas because nobody wanted to pay to get off the toll road for gas. The gas stations had you where they wanted you so they would charge a ton more than anywhere else. The state finally stepped in and now gas prices on the rest areas are much more reasonable.

 

[George P Burdell]

Oil lobby $$$ -> Congress

Shaft -> We the people.

 

[crownjules]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
I've found that stations closer to the highway are always more expensive

Which tells you one thing: they are price gouging. Or at least raising prices so they can make more money exploiting the people coming off the highway to refill their tanks quickly before going on. Those people are going to goto the first gas station they see.

 

[waggy]

actually there have been a few lawsuits on price fixing on milk. Actually not just price fixing but a lot of other crap that goes on that keeps the price of milk artificially high.


did you know you can't start a ranch full of cows and bottle your own milk to sale (unless its really really small)? you have to ship it off to a central plant (all milk goes there) then its bottled and sold. the profit is split between ALL who pu tmilk in.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
I've found that stations closer to the highway are always more expensive

Which tells you one thing: they are price gouging. Or at least raising prices so they can make more money exploiting the people coming off the highway to refill their tanks quickly before going on. Those people are going to goto the first gas station they see.

or that property next to the interstate is more expensive due to the additional traffic you just described. Making a judgment based on just the price of gas is not the best method.

Also, what you call gouging could also be called making a profit.

 

[Linflas]

Isn't dairy the industry that government works overtime to artificially inflate prices via support prices and market interventions?

 

[manlymatt83]

Originally posted by: lokiju
I recently read an article about in the state of NY and price gouging of Milk, basically it stated that if it's $00.40 over the market cost then it's price gouging.

Are there similar rules against price gouging for gas?

Over this weekend I saw such a huge difference in gas cost from one station to the next that it got me to thinking of this.

I was coming home on Saturday and as soon as I got off the highway a gas station had regular 87 gas for $4.49 per gallon.

Then not even a mile down the road there was another station with regular for $3.98 per gallon.

Earlier in that same day I filled up my car for $3.99 and then later in the day filled up my wife's car at another part of town for $3.85.

How is it OK to have a difference $00.64 per gallon, all within the same county but it's not ok to have a $00.40 difference per gallon of milk?

Because politicians have interests in oil companies. They don't have interests in dairy farms.

 

[BigJ]

Yes, NYS has anti-price gouging laws in effect for gasoline. They may not be what you actually think, but they are indeed called anti-price gouging laws When Spitzer was AG for the state, he actually went after stations/companies for it.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/pre...005/dec/dec19a_05.html

Current law prohibits the sale of vital consumer goods at an "unconscionably excessive price" during natural disasters. The law specifically says that a price may be considered excessive if there is a gross disparity between the price charged before and after a market disruption and the price increase is not attributable to higher costs imposed upon the seller.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
why don't you just type $0.40 or $0.64...the 00.64 makes no sense

It made perfect sense to me. Apparently it made sense to you because you understood it.


Mathematically it's correct, although there's no reason for the two 0's. Linguistically, if you understood something then it's correct.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: mjuszczak

Originally posted by: lokiju
I recently read an article about in the state of NY and price gouging of Milk, basically it stated that if it's $00.40 over the market cost then it's price gouging.

Are there similar rules against price gouging for gas?

Over this weekend I saw such a huge difference in gas cost from one station to the next that it got me to thinking of this.

I was coming home on Saturday and as soon as I got off the highway a gas station had regular 87 gas for $4.49 per gallon.

Then not even a mile down the road there was another station with regular for $3.98 per gallon.

Earlier in that same day I filled up my car for $3.99 and then later in the day filled up my wife's car at another part of town for $3.85.

How is it OK to have a difference $00.64 per gallon, all within the same county but it's not ok to have a $00.40 difference per gallon of milk?

Because politicians have interests in oil companies. They don't have interests in dairy farms.

Sure they don't have interests in dairy farms. :roll:

Yet Another Dairy Scam

 

[Svnla]

In Tx and La, there are laws against price gouging on necessities such as gasoline, water, milk, bread, etc. in the catatrophic events such as hurricane, tornado, flood.

 

[Baked]

The government needs to step in and stop this madness. Not like we're aren't turning into a police state after 9/11. But then again all the pigs on capitol hill will QQ about losing profit... as if their insider trading and contribution income weren't enough.

 

[ondarkness]

I wonder at what point of the government not doing anything do we as people snap and start an uproar.
Like back in the old days, that I was not around for.

 

[PepePeru]

there are laws in effect in OK that its illegal for a gas station owner to raise the price of gas over x amt ( i cant remember what x is, a few cents i believe) during times of state declared emergency.

i feel its a decent law.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: Scouzer
why don't you just type $0.40 or $0.64...the 00.64 makes no sense

It made perfect sense to me. Apparently it made sense to you because you understood it.


Mathematically it's correct, although there's no reason for the two 0's. Linguistically, if you understood something then it's correct.

False.

 

[CorCentral]

Not sure, but in FL anyway, I believe it's illegal to "undersell" gas.

 

[ColdFusion718]

Have you been living under a rock for the past 7.5 years? The oil companies bought this government. Of course it's legal to price gouge when it comes to gas.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I paid $4.61/gallon for premium gas on Friday.