The Reason Behind Fuel Prices

orangefleece30

I was just wondering as to why petrol stations have there prices set at XX.9 ?, is it just to make us think we are getting it cheaper ie 94.9p/ltr instead of 95p/ltr.

This does seem, in this day and age, sort of wrong as i cannot think of anything else where the pricing is set at xx.9.

geordie_joe

The reason it can be done with petrol is because you pump out as much as you want. It could be done with electricity and gas too I suppose.

With everything else you buy a set measure, 1 loaf of bread, 6 eggs etc. You can't set them at xx.9p as you would get the 00.1 back in change if you bought just one. With petrol you tend to buy a set amount of moneys worth. i.e. you will put in exactly £20 worth of petrol. The amount of petrol you actually get will go down as the price goes up.

dunstonh

This does seem, in this day and age, sort of wrong as i cannot think of anything else where the pricing is set at xx.9.

Virtually anything that is measured by quantity is. However, it is usually implied in the price rather than being shown explicitly. Although some supermarkets do break it down on the price tag shown on the shelf. e.g. price per 100ml

Biggles

orangefleece30 wrote: »

This does seem, in this day and age, sort of wrong as i cannot think of anything else where the pricing is set at xx.9.

Nearly everything is: haven't you looked at prices in supermarkets and electrical stores? They're all '99p' or '£49.99'. They rely on people not automatically thinking, 'Ah that's £1' (or £50, respectively). Petrol's no different, it's always been priced like that, right back to when it was 1/11d!

nomoneytoday

Originally products were priced at 99p (or 19s 11d) in order that the till operator had to open the till to give change.

It has the side effect that some people think it is pychologically cheaper. Even if only 10% of the population are more likely to buy a 99p item over a £1 item that is 6 million more potential customers..

dn852k4

I was ripped off by shell. I filled a petrol can up with eaxctly 5 litres @ 94.9p per litre. Which should have cost 474.5p, buth they rounded it up to 475p!

DCFC79

dn852k4 wrote: »

I was ripped off by shell. I filled a petrol can up with eaxctly 5 litres @ 94.9p per litre. Which should have cost 474.5p, buth they rounded it up to 475p!

OMG, ask for your money back

nomoneytoday

dn852k4 wrote: »

I was ripped off by shell. I filled a petrol can up with eaxctly 5 litres @ 94.9p per litre. Which should have cost 474.5p, buth they rounded it up to 475p!

You should have put in 5.01 litres as it would still cost £4.75
1cl of free fuel