Gas Station Owners: Job Facts, Premium Vs. Regular Gas and More

Here are a few things you may not have known about gas station owners, their thoughts, and their (sometimes deceptive) practices.

Do gas station owners make more money when gas prices go up?

Many people believe that when gas prices rise gas station owners are making out like fat rats, but that's not usually so. In fact, their profits suffer because they are sometimes struggling to stay competitive despite the increasing costs. So where they may make 15 cents on a gallon when the prices are lower, they may have to deal with margins closer to 10-12 cents a gallon when they rise in order to stay competitive.

As you can probably imagine, some gas station owners don't care too much about their customers or being competitive. These unscrupulous business owners will raise their prices by leaps and bounds at times whenever oil prices go up even a little, playing on the fears and ignorance of consumers, as an excuse to make more money.

How much do gas station owners make per gallon of gas?

On average, gas station owners usually make about 10-15 cents on the gallon. Generally, when oil prices drop rapidly over a short period of time they make more, around 20 cents or more on the gallon, for a few weeks until they finally bring their own prices down. It's no wonder that some gas stations take their time bringing their prices down when oil prices drop rapidly!

How much better is premium gas as compared to regular gas?

Many people falsely believe that 93 "premium" gas is superior to 87 grade gas by leaps and bounds, but the truth is that the difference between the two is often just a matter of 1 quart of additional detergent added to 8,000-gallons of gas. So think about the quart bottle of Engine oil that you put into your car. They add that much detergent to 8,000-gallons of gas in order to call it "premium."

When a credit card is stolen, does the gas station ever use video footage to catch the culprit?

The first place a thief usually goes when they steal someone's credit card is to a gas station to fill up, since that is the one place where they won't have to show ID or deal directly with a clerk. When the card is reported stolen the gas station is the one that takes the hit. So you may wonder, do the gas stations ever use their camera footage to catch the culprit? It is entirely possible, since most gas stations have cameras watching every angle of the pumps. Sometimes they will fight, sometimes they just write it off and try to implement ways to prevent it from happening again since it's costly and time consuming to get the police involved.

For example, many gas stations nowadays have gotten wise and now require that anyone using a credit card at the pump enter the billing zip code associated with the card or ask them to go inside and pay with the clerk.

Source:

Jim Rendon, "What Gas Stations Won't Tell You," Smart Money Magazine