Antique Gas Stations Can't Raise Prices (Pumps can't go above $3)

[matcom]

<snip>

BOSTON (Reuters) - As gasoline prices vault to well over $3 a gallon in many parts of the United States, some gas retailers are turning customers away because their pumps can't be set above $3.

About 200 gas sellers in rural Vermont own pumps too old to compute the higher prices, state authorities said on Friday, causing some to shut their pumps when prices spiked above $3 after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"I knew my pump was old but I didn't expect prices to rise this fast," said Bill MacDonald, owner of central Vermont's Waits River General Store, whose 25-year-old pumps can't display any price above $2.99 a gallon.

MacDonald kept selling below $3 until his pumps ran dry on Thursday and then briefly closed until authorities could find a solution. Another operator, Elmore Store, shut its antique pumps after facing the same problem.

Officials decided late on Thursday to allow retailers like MacDonald to cover up all price information and only display the number of gallons pumped.

They could advertise the price per gallon on roadside signs and then compute the charge face-to-face with customers, said David Lane, Vermont's Deputy Secretary for Agricultural Development.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/od_nm/gas_dc;_ylt=Ajq6ZBAFKbddYlWMNuTXD5YSH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[kick-ass-bob]

1. NC has pumps like that. They were authorized to

charge by the half a gallon.

[Robb]

2. Same in CO

...We had an official directive on it, including mandatory "clear signage" that would explain to consumers that the price didn't go down, but rather they had to multiply by 2. :eyes:

[bertha katzenengel]

3. In the late 70s, when gas topped $1.00 for the first time, stations

set their pumps to charge, say, $0.50 per gallon. Then you just paid them double.

[kick-ass-bob]

4. When did the 9/10 piece come into effect? Was that always around

or did that pop up due to something?

Does anyone know? I wasn't asking you in particular, but if you know...
:hi:

[bertha katzenengel]

5. AFAIK it was always around. I don't know how it started.

And you can ask me anything, Bob. After all, my whole family prays to you.

Bob bless you.

Oh, my Bob.

Etc.

;)

[kick-ass-bob]

6. I KNEW I WAS A DIETY!!

I should have fought underpants for "Lounge Diety"

x(

[RoyGBiv]

9. Long time ...

People will tell you it's part of a tax calculation, which is not exactly wrong, but isn't correct either. That's sort of how it got started. Originally taxes on gasoline sales were calculated in fractions of a cent. The station would charge 10 cents and would add, for example, 6/10 of a cent in tax, so the total price would be 10 6/10 cents per gallon.

Now it's just a marketing strategy along the same lines as charging 2.99 for something rather than 3.00. Consumers might outwardly claim they want truth in advertising ... why not just charge 3.00 even rather than 2.99 9/10 of a cent? However, as countless studies have shown clearly time and time again, the retailer who marks prices down a penny or a fraction of a penny to hit certain price points sells far more product than the one who just charges a rounded rate. It's the same reason service companies don't advertise taxes in the cost of their products. Consumers say they want you to be up front about the total bill, but they'll immediately go down the road and get service from someone else who who lies to them if you are up-front about it.

It has side-benefits for the retailer who sells extremely large volumes. We work with a money system for which the lowest denomination is one cent. So, if you buy exactly one gallon of gas, everything is rounded up. Over hundreds of thousands of gallons, this adds up. The retailer advertises $2.99(and 9/10 in small print) but is actually charging $3.00 at the register.

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. Gas station up the street had to shut down when gas hit $2.00

They were down for maybe a week or so, but before the new pumps showed up, they were "forced" to sell gas at $1.99 a gallon when the competition was higher. If they weren't an Exxon station, I would have bought gas there for a while.

While all oil companies are evil corporatist greedy pigs of one degree or another, I have absolutely refused to buy Exxon since the Valdez mess, and have no intention of changing that policy.

[eyesroll]

8. Eh, but if they were selling at a loss?

Buying from them would have cost them money.

[supernova]

10. The Citgo closest to me up the road

is one of these. They are an old fashioned bait and tackle looking place with stuffed animal heads on the walls. :crazy:

I haven't been by there since last week, so I don't know how they are dealing with it.