coal sold at petrol stations.

rufuschucklebutty

I'm baffled why they sell 10 kilo bags of coal for near double the normal price. I realise you would have to be desperate and all the other shops closed to pay £7.50 + for the same bag sold for £3.99 elsewhere, but what huge cost are the petrol companies having to add to the price ?

Or is it just a plain old rip off ?

Owain_Moneysaver

for the same reason they sell confectionery and anything else at higher prices ... petrol stations aren't cheap to run, and they don't actually make much if any profit on the petrol.

wiogs

Supply and demand.

What the market will support.

Not a rip off.

Cardew

Still lots of these coal powered cars about!

Ebe_Scrooge

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

for the same reason they sell confectionery and anything else at higher prices ... petrol stations aren't cheap to run, and they don't actually make much if any profit on the petrol.

This. You're paying for the convenience of 24 hour ( or late night ) opening hours. They have to pay their staff, overheads, etc. And as Owain says, most petrol stations actually make very little profit on fuel ( the government takes the lion's share ). So they have to make their profit on the other things they sell. E.G., look at a gallon of oil in a petrol station - even Halfords sell it cheaper, and they're not exactly renowned for being cheap !

Owain_Moneysaver

Look at the price of air!

rufuschucklebutty

I imagined they were raking in the money on the petrol, I'd still rather pull me floorboards up before buying their coal.

esuhl

What?! The petrol stations set their own inflated prices for coal?!

The government must step in with a list of approved goods and prices! Shops should only be allowed to sell government-approved goods at government-approved prices. Otherwise people will start to think that they live in a free-market economy where people can negotiate their own contracts!

Someone should inform the Daily Socialist -- they'd love a news story like this.