Why Wolfeboro gas prices so high?

[Lakesrider]

Why do people stand for the high prices of gas in the Wolfeboro area?
They are the highest around and people still buy gas there?
I paid $2.45 in North Hampton yesterday. A place which is always the highest around because it is on the highway at exit 23. Wolfeboro was at $2.69 a week ago. Prices are falling not going up. Now Wolfeboro (4 stations) are at $2.83?, a $.14 INCREASE? What????
People need to stop buying there and send a message.

And you can't tell me that it costs $.40 more a gallon to deliver there either. I was in gasoline retail for 20 years. If it is the taxes then the townspeople need to get on their selectmans collective a$$e$ and figure something out.

People should also check out www.newhampshiregasprices.com and find the best prices.....

[Audiofn]

More then likely they purchased futures and bet wrong. They are now stuck paying higher costs so they have to charge more. Kind of like all the people that "locked in" oil at 4.70 a gallon. They are bumming now.

[Lakepilot]

I'd like to send a message, but I'm not going to drive 30 mile (60 miles round trip) to send that message.

[Lakesrider]

Must have read the fourm. Citgo back down to $2.69 this afternoon. Gulf still at $2.83

[ghfromaltonbay]

The 2 stations in Alton must also be in cahoots with each other. All summer they were anywhere from 15 to 20 cents higher than Barnstead and Chichester. When we left on 10/7 they were still charging $2.59 in Alton while we paid $2.39 in Barnstead for Mobil. Don't know why they are so high. The Cumberland Farms at the Weirs was comparable to Barnstead prices.

[upthesaukee]

Gas here in Alton is $2.69...same price as Chichester Hess!! The Mobil station near Bosco bell was $2.65. Bosco Bell was $2.59. The Tilton area has been near the bottom of the pump price most of the summer. Rochester is higher than Alton.

Go figure!!!!!

[Lakepilot]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Must have read the fourm. Citgo back down to $2.69 this afternoon. Gulf still at $2.83

I saw this today also, but I assumed it was because they have been shut down for a couple of weeks while underground tanks were replaced. They just want people to get used to stopping there again. When they do, prices will go back up. If they don't go back up, it may be the first time I'll ever consider buying gas there.

[Merrymeeting]

For my whole driving life, I have been in the habit of timing my fill-ups with our trips to the lake. The gas in NH was always 10-20 cents lower than our local stations in MA.

But for the first time in decades, my wife and I both noticed this summer that the opposite was true. We had to reverse and time our fill-ups for the MA stations as they were consistenly 10-20 cents lower all summer.

I haven't checked recently, but we're still wondering. After all this time, why the flip? I know prices have been crazy, but the pattern was so different....

[hazmatmedic]

There are so many reasons why gasoline is higher at one station as compared to the one right next door or even towns/states away. A single investor may own the station who runs it him/herself. They may lease it to another with incentives or commission. A jobber might own the sight and the same scenarios occur. Or an oil company may own the sight with even more scenarios. Each of these types may increase the number of people who get a share of the profits/losses from the sale of gasoline. In addition, when was the site bought, renovated, upgraded? Some dealers have 20 year contracts on the sale of the fuel from their supplier, whether it's from a jobber or oil company. If a station receives a delivery once every 2 weeks or even once a month and the price of gas has changed 25 cents in a single day, hopefully you can see why the price could be higher or even lower. But the difference is, when the price is high, your product moves at a slower rate as compared to a much lower price. Basic economics.

The local competitive market is certainly a key reason for pricing but again not the only one. It really is up to the owner of that business to determine how to price the product. An owner can be held hostage by his/her volume when the price is falling or by a drop off of other revenue generating sources, like a car wash or bakery.

There is so much more, but remember it is not always a rip off. The owner may have expenses you are not aware of and the price of convenience can be higher prices. You have every right to not purchase from any retailer you want. I suggest you excercise that right.

Price fixing does occur at all levels and at all commodities, but a monopoly is not illegal. It generates competition.

[dpg]

Sunday I paid 2.55 in the morning. Late afternoon I drove by the station again and they were 2.51. WHY?? It was Sunday, the stock market wasn't open, there was no oil trading going on. There's no excuse for that. Sellers are setting their own prices.

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by dpg

Sunday I paid 2.55 in the morning. Late afternoon I drove by the station again and they were 2.51. WHY?? It was Sunday, the stock market wasn't open, there was no oil trading going on. There's no excuse for that. Sellers are setting their own prices.

Would you have rather them raised the price during the day?

Seriously, why can't they? Maybe they got a delivery. Maybe their competition lowered their prices and they felt the need to compete. Maybe they just felt like it?
Wal Mart, and any other retailer, is free to raise and/or lower their prices as they see fit. Why can't a gas station?

[Waterbaby]

I believe, if you reread the first post in this thread, ALL 4 gas stations in Wolfeboro were charging the same price for gas, and said price was much higher than others some few miles away. I've always wondered myself why, for example, ALL of the stations in a given area (i.e. all of the stations on Portsmouth Avenue, in Exeter/Stratham) all charge the same price -- and it's always amazed me, one goes up .02 per gallon and the others do, one goes down .05 gallon and the others do. Some people (station owners) have tried to tell me the price is determined by the gas supplier, regardless of when it was delivered -- doesn't fly right by me!

[SIKSUKR]

It's obviously determined more by competition.Stations right next to each other have to be close in price or it's too easy to go next door.Look on the gasbuddy website and you'll see the cheapest places are generally grouped in a region like Tilton.It continues to be one of the lowest priced areas for the last few months.I'm sure many stations around the state have the same suppliers as they do.

[dpg]

Originally Posted by chipj29

Would you have rather them raised the price during the day?

Seriously, why can't they? Maybe they got a delivery. Maybe their competition lowered their prices and they felt the need to compete. Maybe they just felt like it?
Wal Mart, and any other retailer, is free to raise and/or lower their prices as they see fit. Why can't a gas station?

Go back some years before all this oil B.S. Stations NEVER changed prices daily it was ALWAYS more like weekly or monthly. Why is there a need to do it now? It isn't competition. Why was there not a need to do it back then?

[fatlazyless]

Massachusetts has a state law that punishes selling gasoline for less than what one paid, wholesale. Believe it was designed to discourage gasoline loss leader, low price selling which I believe is something that Wal-Mart does with a Murphy Gas situated in a Wal-Mart parking lot. No Murphy Gas in NH, afaik.

Ok...let the bricks be hurled...communist Massachusetts....live free or die New Hampshire....sorry - no gas for you !

[ghfromaltonbay]

Originally Posted by dpg

Go back some years before all this oil B.S. Stations NEVER changed prices daily it was ALWAYS more like weekly or monthly. Why is there a need to do it now? It isn't competition. Why was there not a need to do it back then?

In NJ the law allows stations to change the price only once in a 24 hour period. The rest area stations (LUKOIL) along the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are only allowed to change the price once per week (Fridays). The newspaper has had several articles about competing stations trying to change the prices more than once a day and they have received fines.

[NightWing]

I just returned from Oklahoma City and saw gas as cheap as $1.95 a gallon and it was advertised as NO ALCOHOL!

[VitaBene]

IMO the only time a gas station should change prices is when they get a new load in the ground. Nothing else should effect their price to cause anything but a minor adjustment other than what they paid for what they are pumping. So the stations that do less business off season will be slower to change prices.

Of course, they are a business and can choose to charge what they want. I can vote with my feet and do. When the oil prices were rocketing skyward in the spring and summer, I took note of those that changed their prices daily or even every few hours. Shockingly those same stations are the slowest to lower prices as prices plummeted. Guess what- the only time I stop at one of them is to pick up enough to get me to another station to fill up at another station (I feel like a teenager all over- $5 regular on pump 2 please!).

[Dave M]

The prices in Wolfboro may be due to the owners. In MA, we have two gas stations(Citgo, Getty) that "always" match gas prices. The owners have decided to have a common price rather than a gas war(if there's such a thing). Seems to me it makes good practice sense and the owners get "it".
I just bought Citgo at $2.49.

Dave M

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Dave M

The prices in Wolfboro may be due to the owners. In MA, we have two gas stations(Citgo, Getty) that "always" match gas prices. The owners have decided to have a common price rather than a gas war(if there's such a thing). Seems to me it makes good practice sense and the owners get "it".
I just bought Citgo at $2.49.

Dave M

Dave, In many industries that is known as collusion!!