gas stations are obviously just screwing with people
There’s a gas station that i go by every day, at least twice a day, biking or driving, and i generally make a mental note of the price of gas when i think of it. For years, this station was independent, family-owned, until about 2 years ago when the old man wanted to retire. The kids didn’t want to run the station, so they ended up selling the whole thing to Holiday, who remodeled, and now it’s a Holiday station store.
One thing i noticed right away after it reopened is that under Holiday ownership, the gas prices were suddenly a LOT more volatile. There’s a huge computerized sign, so they can and apparently do change the price whenever they feel like it. I’ve seen price swings of 25¢ ore more from one day to the next. Under the previous owners, the price changes were maybe weekly, often even less often. It now seems like people are either getting screwed or played. There’s no rational supply and demand explanation for this, because it’s a huge operation, their costs don’t go up significantly because of one tanker truck of more expensive gas.
On Monday this week, the morning gas price was $2.11 per gallon. Around lunch time, it was $2.29. By evening, it was down to $2.13. WTF? This isn’t even near the summer peak of $3/gallon. Is buying gas going to be like playing the stock market? Soon people will be lining up at the pump, just waiting for the price to drop by a penny or two before swiping their card to lock in and fill up.
Those digital price signs gave me a fun idea. What if the signs were updated in real time, like a stock market ticker? Even while filling your tank, the price would be constantly changing. I’m not sure it would be practical, but it sure would be fun. I might start driving again, just to game the system.