I have never, ever understood this. Gas is for the most part is a simple commodity. Sure, some prefer a premium brand (like Shell) to a cheaper one (like ARCO), but I can’t for the life of me figure out why there is such a wide variance even within a single mile or two of a city (and amongst the same brand!) I would think that supply and demand would reign supreme here. It’s the same stuff.
You get that one gas station that charges $0.10 less than all the others in the area and the lines are out to the street.
So where are supply and demand?
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Most people don’t want to drive a mile or two for gas, and that’s assuming they even know there’s cheaper gas only a mile away (most people won’t).
Even if that mile is only 5 minutes and saves $20, people don’t generally so perfectly budget their time. Most people will just think “I need to get gas, I can just get gas here and get home 5 minutes sooner”.
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