Supermarket price variations

TAYLORFAMILY

The price for diesel at the local tesco is £142.9 per litre it went up by 2p per litre over night! Fortunately for us my husband has the opportunity to fill up our tank in france, where the cost per litre has gone down by 3p in the past two weeks. It works out at approx £1.18 per litre at the moment.

Flyboy152

Outpost wrote: »

The prices at fuel stations, whether they be supermarket ones or otherwise, all basically comes down to the competition. The seller will pretty much charge whatever they can realistically get away with, basing that on the prices of competitors' fuel. In areas with a lot of competition driving down prices the fuel will be cheaper than a place where there is a monopoly.

People in certain locations benefit, those in other locations lose out.

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it if I were you, it's not worth it.

Where the difference in price could be as much as eight pence per litre (five per cent), I'd say it is worth debating. If you are spending six hundred pounds a month in fuel, that adds up to quite a bit; three hundred and sixty pounds a year.

Flyboy152

kwaks wrote: »

OP, delivery/transportation costs are also affected by the volume being sold at each station. A station selling more fuel and taking larger deliveries will be paying less per litre on transportation than the station 1 mile away buying half as much fuel.

Flyboy, petrol retailers do not make a fortune selling petrol, as can be seen by the marked decline in the number of petrol staions in the UK. As for the oil companies, tell me another industry which has to pay 62% tax whilst being overcharged by every supplier. Just to get a supply boat out to us with food can cost 60k, each chopper flight to ferry the men is 5-8k.

Exploration in the N.Sea will decline due to the recent tax hike, the oil is being taxed at both ends.

Then please explain why the same retailer charges one price, in one location and another price somewhere else, close by? Are you seriously trying to make us believe that the retailer is not making a larger profit, at the station where he is charging the higher price?

Outpost

Flyboy152 wrote: »

If you are spending six hundred pounds a month in fuel, that adds up to quite a bit; three hundred and sixty pounds a year.

If you think spending six hundred pounds a month adds up to three hundred and sixty pounds a year you need a better calculator.

Flyboy152

Outpost wrote: »

If you think spending six hundred pounds a month adds up to three hundred and sixty pounds a year you need a better calculator.

Well, my calculator (mental arithmetic to everyone else), says that three hundred times twelve, times five per cent, works out as three hundred and sixty pounds.

600x12x5 = 360
...100....

What calculator were you using?

Outpost

That's top class mental arithmetic.

Hammyman

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Then please explain why the same retailer charges one price, in one location and another price somewhere else, close by? Are you seriously trying to make us believe that the retailer is not making a larger profit, at the station where he is charging the higher price?

Because, like the prices they charge you, suppliers can charge the retailers different prices.

For example, if I buy a cardboard box, I'll pay 80p per box for quantities up to 100. If the business next door buys over 100 of the same box, they'll pay say 70p for example even if it was from the same place I bought mine.

And just because the sign on the petrol stations both say Shell doesn't mean its the same company. They're all franchises so you'll find the BP petrol station in Hull on Stoneferry is run by X Ltd and the BP petrol station on Hedon Road, just 3 miles away, is run by Y Ltd and BP could charge them differently.

david39

Why does the varying cost of petrol get people so het up? This thread repeats itself several times a year. The fluctuating price of bread only supports a mention about once a year and even wines and spirits only occasionally.

Most retailers sell items at different prices - Tescos will charge more for a can of beans in a Tesco Express than in a large Tesco superstore.

B&Q charge more for paint in their ordinary outlets than in the large ones they call Warehouses.

Different utility companies charge different prices for the same electricity and gas delivered to the same address.

Businesses are run to make a profit - the first duty of any plc is to make as much profit as it can for its shareholders - that's the duty of care that directors are charged with.

If you don't accept that as part of the western way of life then you need to get into politics and do something about it. Moaning about the price of petrol on here won't change anything.

Outpost

david39 wrote: »

Why does the varying cost of petrol get people so het up? This thread repeats itself several times a year.

Presumably because it impacts on means that the cost of nearly everything due to increased transport costs and is just one of those things that is very firmly ensconced in the conciousness of the general public, myself included. The vast majority of people are far more concerned with the price of fuel than the price of a loaf of bread, perhaps leading to similar threads repeating themselves as you've mentioned.

DCFC79

Prices are based on what the others charge within a radius, well i know tesco do this but not sure about other supermarkets