[PRCo] Re: Inflation on Gasoline

Jerry Matt Matsick mtoytrain at bellsouth.net
Mon Apr 7 09:09:21 EDT 2008


All the WalMart Supercenters give .03 cents off if using their "Cash" Cards, if I drove up and purchased
gasoline with money, I will pay .03 cents a gallon more?    Is this correct or fair?
--
>From the River City by the Sea! 
Jerry "Matt" Matsick 
"Jacksonville" 

-------------- Original message from "Howard Andrews" <hwandrews at wowway.com>: -------------- 


> Don't know. I would assume for large volume retailers (i.e., the 
> supermarkets) they get better rates than little guys like me when I had the 
> business. 
> 
> Howard 
> 
> On Sun, 6 Apr 2008 22:30:19 -0400, Fred Schneider wrote 
> > So, Howard, how the hell does a supermarket make money on people who 
> > use debit or credit cards when most food is sold on margins as 
> > small as a few percent? Do they make it up on cat and dog food? 
> > 
> > On Apr 6, 2008, at 8:02 PM, Howard Andrews wrote: 
> > 
> > > As far as I know it is. But the trick is, you get a discount for 
> > > cash, not 
> > > a surcharge for using Credit. 
> > > 
> > > Many of the Gas Station here in the Detroit are doing the 2 tier 
> > > pricing - 
> > > one for credit, one for 'real cash' (as opposed to debit card). 
> > > 
> > > Don't know what it is today, but in the late 1990 when I was 
> > > running my 
> > > photography business taking credit cards as expensive. I was 
> > > paying $50 per 
> > > month just to have the account, then $0.50 per transaction plus 
> > > 2.5% off the 
> > > top for every transaction. 
> > > 
> > > I don't know what the margin is for the operator - but I do know 
> > > it's slim. 
> > > So if you give the credit card company a transaction fee then a % 
> > > that can 
> > > eat away your margin real quick. 
> > > 
> > > Howard 
> > > 
> > > -----Original Message----- 
> > > From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org 
> > > [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of 
> > > Fred 
> > > Schneider 
> > > Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 7:13 PM 
> > > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
> > > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Inflation 
> > > 
> > > Is it legal to charge more for credit cards? 
> > > 
> > > On Apr 6, 2008, at 6:38 PM, wrote: 
> > > 
> > >> Wawa, our local convenience store is testing the concept of 
> > >> charging % cents 
> > >> less for a gallon of gas if paying in cash. Coming into the store 
> > >> and 
> > >> paying cash that is. Personally the $2 I would save walking across 
> > >> the 
> > >> parking lot in the rain then waiting for 10 minutes to hand my 
> > >> money to some 
> > >> kid that can't make change correctly is just not worth it to me. 
> > >> 
> > >> My dad had a gas station and though I never got involved in the 
> > >> money aspect 
> > >> I know he didn't make much at it. The oil company controlled 
> > >> everything, 
> > >> including his ability to make a profit. 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >> -----Original Message----- 
> > >> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org 
> > >> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of 
> > >> John 
> > >> Swindler 
> > >> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 9:47 AM 
> > >> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org; Lybarger Ed; Bente Bruce; 
> > >> SCHNEIDER 
> > >> ALAN; Craig Phil; Eshleman John 
> > >> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Inflation 
> > >> 
> > >> From various sources, I get the impression that there was a higher 
> > >> mark-up 
> > >> 50 years ago. There was a recent article noting that profit 
> > >> margins are 
> > >> very thin - gas stations are making their profit on the sodas and 
> > >> subs that 
> > >> you buy, so the real trick is to get you into the store. Paying at 
> > >> the pump 
> > >> helps with costs, but hurts potential revenue. 
> > >> 
> > >> I thought I read somewhere recently that some countries are 
> > >> starting to 
> > >> change their pricing of crude to other currencies??????? Having 
> > >> senior 
> > >> moment trying to recall source. 
> > >> 
> > >> There was also a surprising comment recently that oil from Alaska 
> > >> has been 
> > >> cut in half over the last decade, and that they now have to heat 
> > >> the ground 
> > >> to get it to flow. Guess that means that Alaska is pass it's 
> > >> peak. Also 
> > >> going further out into the ocean to drill, and this could cause 
> > >> problems 
> > >> with some 'rule of the sea' being pushed by world government 
> > >> types. Again, 
> > >> a senior moment trying to recall details. 
> > >> 
> > >> John 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >>> To: trams2 at comcast.net; bbente at bellsouth.net; 
> > >> pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org; alschneider2 at juno.com; 
> > >> philgcraig204 at yahoo.com; jdeshlemanmd at aol.com> From: 
> > >> fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Inflation> Date: Sat, 5 
> > >> Apr 2008 
> > >> 15:56:05 -0400> > In the Shuman slides I came across a color slide 
> > >> of a 
> > >> Pittsburgh > Railways route 60 trolley car passing a gasoline 
> > >> station in 
> > >> Homestead > in 1958, almost 50 years ago. The price at the pump for 
> > >> regular 
> > >> was > 29.9. If we work with the idea that inflation normally moves 
> > >> the > 
> > >> decimal one place in fifty years, that would jack it up to $2.99 > 
> > >> 9/10s 
> > >> today. Add a little more for the added costs of unleaded and > 
> > >> perhaps $3.10 
> > >> or $3.20 is reasonable ... we're right in the ball > park, aren't we? 
> > >> (Understand that I'm not even considering using > the consumer 
> > >> price index 
> > >> in my thought process because it is adjusted > to consumption and 
> > >> doesn't 
> > >> reflect raw inflation.)> > But very little of the liquid fossil 
> > >> fuels we 
> > >> burn are pumped out o! 
> > >> f > the ground in the U. S. What stuns me is that we are buying 
> > >> foreign > 
> > >> oil in dollars and the U. S. dollar has gone to hell in a hand 
> > >> basket > 
> > >> thanks to our borrowing to run our government, borrowing to give 
> > >> tax > 
> > >> refunds, the collapse of our mortgage market, etc. It is worth > 
> > >> about 59% 
> > >> of what it was against the Euro just ten years ago. We've > lost 
> > >> about 20% 
> > >> against the Canadian dollar in the last year and they > are the 
> > >> largest 
> > >> source of oil in North America.> > The independent truckers want to 
> > >> strike 
> > >> because the price of fuel is > up but all I can see is something 
> > >> far less 
> > >> than normal inflation. > If we adjust that inflation to the loss in 
> > >> the 
> > >> value of the dollar, > then our gallon of gasoline should be 
> > >> somewhere 
> > >> between $3.84 and > $5.12 a gallon depending on where we buy the 
> > >> crude oil 
> > >> and No. 2 > diesel, which is taxed to a greater degree, should be 
> > >> about 25 
> > >> cents > a gallon more.> > Somebody want to tell me what I'm not 
> > >> seeing? Was 
> > >> there a lot of > markup in the ! 
> > >> price of fuel 50 years ago that isn't there today? > Have the oil 
> > >> comp 
> > >> any's sacrificed investment to keep the price at the > pump low?> > 
> > >> fws> 
> > >> _________________________________________________________________ 
> > >> Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live 
> > >> Messenger. 
> > >> http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html? 
> > >> ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL 
> > >> _Refresh_messenger_video_042008 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > >> 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> 
> 
> Thanks, 
> Howard Andrews 
> 
> 




More information about the Pittsburgh-railways mailing list