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| Thread ID: 32164 | 2003-04-10 21:25:00 | OT Petrol prices | rmcb (164) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 134910 | 2003-04-10 21:25:00 | We have Supermarkets selling petrol here in Hamilton, you can get up to 6c L off if you spend over $200 on groceries. My question is how can the petrol companies justify the prices they charge when a supermarket can undercut them?? I am sure the supermarket is supplied by one of the big 4 oil companies and they must still be making a profit. |
rmcb (164) | ||
| 134911 | 2003-04-10 21:43:00 | It may well be that the supermarkets are not making a profit on their fuel sales. (Hence the $200 requirement to qualify for the discount.) The supermarkets will be using the cheap fuel as a means to increase their sales of groceries. |
Capt Jimbo (17) | ||
| 134912 | 2003-04-10 21:50:00 | I get between 4c - 10c per litre discount, depending where I purchase it from. My "base" rate is 4c less than the pump price in Wellington City, irrespective of where in NZ I buy it. I do not have to buy groceries either. There is enough room for this level of discount to still allow a profit, its simply a matter of knowing how to tap into it. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 134913 | 2003-04-10 22:09:00 | "its simply a matter of knowing how to tap into it." So how do you "tap into it"????? Is it simply a matter of drilling a hole near a petrol station????????LOL |
Chris Randal (521) | ||
| 134914 | 2003-04-10 22:12:00 | If you want to study some economics you'll find an explanation under "discriminating monopoly". This is where some, usually large, sellers can make higher profits (or lower losses as the case might be) by charging different prices in markets with different demand profiles than they would if they charged a uniform price across all markets in which they sell. Quite interesting, but pretty straightforward really. |
rugila (214) | ||
| 134915 | 2003-04-10 23:50:00 | Here in Upper Hutt, pak n save & countdown both offer discounts up to 15 cents per litre. Pak n Save own the local mobil gas station, so I guess it doesn't matter if it doesn't make a profit. & countdown have a deal with Caltex. 2 christmas's ago when the 2 supermarkets were having a price war with each other ,pak n save were giving 40cent per litre discounts if you spent the requied amount on groceries. Those were the days. :D I remember running my tank right to the bottom & when I got to the gas station they said "Sorry wev'e run out of petrol & a tanker is on its way from Seaview" LOL cheers Steve |
Steve Askew (119) | ||
| 134916 | 2003-04-11 09:17:00 | rugila you might want to brush up on your economics. There is not a discrimating monopoly in this situation, as all consumers are generally the same. ie they need petrol to get from A to B Now if you were talking about air-planes its a different story, you have the business passengers who demand high service and flexibility, then you have your common user who books in advance, then you have the impromptu flyers who book at the last minute. In this situation with no other competing competitors one can up the price and discrimate against the groups. now for the reason why petrol is cheaper at suppermarkets: You may have notices petrol stations have nice flash premises with lots of goddies to buy. This "flashness" costs money aka overheads, hence they get passed on. Take these away and you could knock off lets say 3c a litre (just as Gull does) Now get people to spend a minimum of $200 to receive a 4c discount, well the 3 c is practically covered since the overheads already exist in an operation such as a supermarket therefore the other 1c discount comes from the profit on the extra goods you buy to make up the $200 you spend at PnS as opposed to the $150 you normally would. |
roofus (483) | ||
| 134917 | 2003-04-11 10:14:00 | >I have aka defined as....As known or named at another time or place,also known as,alias.? | Thomas (1820) | ||
| 134918 | 2003-04-11 10:40:00 | Roofus: "Straightway one of those numberless unfortunates who are cursed with the mania for talking about things they do not understand comes forth with the discovery - lo the wonders of genius! - that pure economics is not applied economics, and concludes that pure economics must be replaced by his gabble. Alas, good soul, a sound knowledge of economics helps at least to a rough understanding of the effects of the interdependence of economic phenomena, while your gabble shows absolutely nothing." (Vilfredo Pareto, 1848-1923, The Mind and Society) Discriminating monopoly, or price discrimination, exists where a seller can sustain different prices of a good to (usually) different consumers who are unable to arbitrage equality of prices for that good with each other. You acknowledge this so in the petrol sales case discussed. You acknowledge the existence of discriminating monopoly at the same time as you deny it. I really don’t understand why some people do this sort of thing, but that’s your problem, not mine. Where your definition comes from I have no idea, although it seems like an impromptu invention. My economics is actually in (very) top shape, and if need be I could adduce compelling evidence that I have kept it that way. |
rugila (214) | ||
| 134919 | 2003-04-11 19:50:00 | Wooden the car drip oil on the floor and make customers slip over? and make tiea marks in the floor as well. The supermarket would have to put traffic lights at all the intersections. | E.ric (351) | ||
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