$ 2.87 "point" 9 - How Low will it Go

12/18/2012

Gas today is $ 2.87point9, Pretty good IMHO.

Anyone want to hazard a guess on how low
it will go, or is this already the bottom ?

- That is my weak tie-in to gambling.

According to VPFREE2.com, I live in the midwest.

deleted

Why didn't I think of that ! ;-)

Actually pretty silly that all gas stations
hang on to the 9 tenths of a cent thing,
when the gas prices they set can
easily fluctuate 25 cents per gallon
from day to day.

Quote: JohnnyQ

Actually pretty silly that all gas stations
hang on to the 9 tenths of a cent thing,
when the gas prices they set can
easily fluctuate 25 cents per gallon
from day to day.

Tradition. It got down to $2.819 here yesterday.

I thought I might have the lowest or one
of the lowest $ per gal right now.

I guess not quite.

Time to take the Hummer for a spin ?

Let's make this political.

Bush did it.
Obama did it.
Wall Street did it.

Let's not make this political.

Has yet to dip below $3 here. I'm eagerly anticipating it.

Cheapest around here is $3.099

3.439 here. Don't ask about diesel.

Gas here on Oahu is still $3.85 for a gallon regular unleaded. I would love for gas to be below $3 a gallon, but if that's the case, all of you would be cheering about how gas is under $2 a gallon where you are.

Whew!! I thought this was going to be some esoteric discussion of higher math and odds payouts on some weird electronic crap game with a bet of 2.87 and a point of 9.

I think that .9 is federally mandated in both price and display of prices as part of tax funded slush fund.

$3.19-$3.39 in and ten miles around where I live, $2.99-$3.09 just 30-60 miles West.

Quote: FleaStiff

I think that .9 is federally mandated in both price and display of prices as part of tax funded slush fund.

If you could find that it's federally mandated, I'd be impressed. I still think it's an old, outdated sales gimmick. People will often say when gas is $2.879 is "Two eighty-seven" not "Two eighty-eight". Federal gas taxes are charged by tenths of a cent per gallon (18.4 cents/gallon...yes a ~6% tax, shockingly low), but it doesn't force the price to end in a 9 I think.

OK let's all wish for low prices for the next
11 days between up here and Orlando.

We're driving down starting tomorrow
after work.

NC prices are holding at $3.25.
The pricing makes no sense.

The use of fractional prices goes back to at least seventy or eighty years back. In 1914, a Texaco service station's gas price was 14.5 cent per gallon.

But 9/10 cent fraction pricing came during the 'great depression' of 1930s. The great depression decimated the demand for gasoline. More than 2.6 million cars and trucks were taken off the road, and the consumption of gasoline was down a billion gallons per year in both 1932 and 1933. Gas stations fought to service. Production at the time was running far above demand and the market quickly went into a serious oversupply situation.

It was at that time that premiums such as candy, cigarettes, ashtrays, dolls and countless other giveaway items made their appearance at service stations. In such a competitive climate the gasoline marketers of the day were attracted to the concept of fractional pricing. Incidentally mechanical gasoline pumps with provision to set fractional price made their appearance at service stations around the same time.

When prices zoomed at the gas pumps during the oil crisis of the 1970s and federal price and supply controls were imposed, individual stations lost the autonomy to set prices. The government issued mandated formulas for pricing, which resulted in unusual fractional amounts. Most motorists were accustomed to the price ending in 9/10th of cent, but reacted negatively to other arbitrary fractions. So, 9/10-cent price convention continued.

Source(s): [Information courtesy: C.F.Helvie, former Customer Relations Manager - Mobil Oil Corporation]

Quote: FleaStiff

When prices zoomed at the gas pumps during the oil crisis of the 1970s and federal price and supply controls were imposed, individual stations lost the autonomy to set prices. The government issued mandated formulas for pricing, which resulted in unusual fractional amounts. Most motorists were accustomed to the price ending in 9/10th of cent, but reacted negatively to other arbitrary fractions. So, 9/10-cent price convention continued.

Source(s): [Information courtesy: C.F.Helvie, former Customer Relations Manager - Mobil Oil Corporation]

Re-read the bolded sentences/phrases, and it proves I was right. The government never mandated the 9/10ths rule, the sucker gas consumer has kept it in play, even with prices at ~$3/gallon. But, if stations today would drop the 0.9 cent price and round up, the negative effect would probably be much less than the 70s.