Gasoline Pricing: Can anyone explain why is gasoline priced at thousands of dollars? If I buy 1 gallon of gasoline for $3.459, pay for it with $3.60, can I demand change of $0.001...

Steve_m Loc: Southern California

Can anyone explain why is gasoline priced at thousands of dollars? If I buy 1 gallon of gasoline for $3.459, pay for it with $3.60, can I demand change of $0.001 back, for which we don’t have any currency? Why don’t we stop with this nonsense?

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Steve_m wrote:

Can anyone explain why is gasoline priced at thousands of dollars? If I buy 1 gallon of gasoline for $3.459, pay for it with $3.60, can I demand change of $0.001 back, for which we don’t have any currency? Why don’t we stop with this nonsense?

You went 1/99.1 over a 10th of gal.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Were the prices set to the 1 cent level, the arithmetic would be simpler. Anytime you pump other than in units of 10 gallons you are paying extra owing to the round off most of the time.

Steve_m Loc: Southern California

John_F wrote:

Were the prices set to the 1 cent level, the arithmetic would be simpler. Anytime you pump other than in units of 10 gallons you are paying extra owing to the round off most of the time.

There is no other product priced in three decimal digits. What is the reason for gasoline pricing in that way?

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

Steve_m wrote:

Can anyone explain why is gasoline priced at thousands of dollars? If I buy 1 gallon of gasoline for $3.459, pay for it with $3.60, can I demand change of $0.001 back, for which we don’t have any currency? Why don’t we stop with this nonsense?

I can see you are not too sharp at Math .....$3.459 is $3.46 not $3.60 !

These are just Marketing Ploys that go back awhile that were proven to work just like pricing something $4.99 instead of $5.00 !

machia Loc: NJ

It's marketing thats all .
And I know that someone here will sooner or later post a dig against the oil companies , but consider this . Their R&D is even higher than that of pharmeceutical companies . And yet currently here in NJ a gallon of regular is going for $1.75 per gallon on average . Yet if you buy an ink cartridge for a printer , they actually charge over $5,000.00 per gallon ! ( I did the math ). Do ink companies have high R&D costs ? LOL
I would think not !

machia Loc: NJ

And yes I know , oil companies get to skim 4 billion dollars off the top in clear profit before paying taxes . I'm not totaling defending big oil , but sometimes you do have to put things into context . How can ink cost 5,000.00 per gallon ? It's not like their drilling for it under the North Sea ! But perhaps if my math showed me they only charge $4,999.99 per gallon I'd feel better . LOL

splitload Loc: Central Flordia

I read somewhere recently that the .009 was actually .019 federal fuel tax in the late 1800's to pay for the roads needed for those new fangled horseless carriages and the .009 has stuck.

FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

Steve_m wrote:

There is no other product priced in three decimal digits. What is the reason for gasoline pricing in that way?

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/04/gas-pricers-get-set-prices-ending-910ths-cent-nothing-else-priced-way/

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Steve_m wrote:

Can anyone explain why is gasoline priced at thousands of dollars? If I buy 1 gallon of gasoline for $3.459, pay for it with $3.60, can I demand change of $0.001 back, for which we don’t have any currency? Why don’t we stop with this nonsense?

For the same reason that various products are priced at $1.99, $39.99. $199.99. It looks cheaper. "Can't I get one, mom? It's only $19.00?"

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

FlyingTiger wrote:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/04/gas-pricers-get-set-prices-ending-910ths-cent-nothing-else-priced-way/

Good article. I remember seeing prices on cards at the pump that showed the price of the gas, with each individual tax added to it. Wouldn't it be nice if all the taxes related to cars and driving were actually used for the benefits of drivers?

jiminnee

I think that somehow in the crevices of someone's mind,they think they are fooling us by stating a price in tenths of a cent. I don't know anybody that they are fooling.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Steve_m wrote:

There is no other product priced in three decimal digits. What is the reason for gasoline pricing in that way?

Actually if you look closely at the price levels posted on the shelves of super markets, you will see many of them have three numbers to the right of the decimal points.

Steve_m Loc: Southern California

TucsonCoyote wrote:

I can see you are not too sharp at Math .....$3.459 is $3.46 not $3.60 !

These are just Marketing Ploys that go back awhile that were proven to work just like pricing something $4.99 instead of $5.00 !

Sorry for the typo in $3.459 is $3.46 not $3.60. I can see some psychology behind the $4.99 pricing. But I see nothing behind the three decimal points in non-existing currency. There is no price war between individual gas stations. If the three decimal digits would have any purpose to make me buy more gas, then why not four or five digits?

Steve_m Loc: Southern California

FlyingTiger wrote:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/04/gas-pricers-get-set-prices-ending-910ths-cent-nothing-else-priced-way/

Thanks for the article. At least I know how it started.