Source
r/sydney•
trixxta

Sydney Petrol Prices

Hi all, recently I have started taking more notice of Sydney petrol prices and the massive differences in prices between some petrol stations. For instance yesterday I filled up in Milperra at $1.18 per litre for E10 and then drove past several stations in the inner west that were selling at $1.71 an increase of 45% !! Taking a look at Fuelcheck website (which is excellent by the way) it highlights the massive difference in prices. Rich areas such as the eastern suburbs and northern beaches seem to be on average more expensive however I noticed that in general either a servo will be pricing competitively at about $1.20 or at a really high ceiling of $1.70 - there doesn't seem to be much in between which struck me as quite strange. I'm wondering if the petrol station companies only seem to have 2 pricing strategies - competitive pricing vs maximum profit/yield pricing and adjust their approach based on local competition (or lack of it). Interested in the thoughts of others particularly anyone who has worked in the petrol industry?

https://preview.redd.it/z9pxzb7oy6g41.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63191fe75c14718c2f7960ee64ad1ad91708ccca

Posted Feb 11, 2020, 12:42 AM UTC

713
giantpunda•

Can't speak as petrol insider but current price disparity is that we're in a transitional phase from cheapest to expensive in the price cycle. That's partly the reason.

Give it a couple of days & prices will be closer to each other.

11
luigimarinara•

It happens in the same suburb - I don't understand places charging $1.7+ and literally next door its 50c cheaper

This is around Five dock/Ashfield on parramatta Rd

https://ibb.co/JCRVvvB

9
pvtjace•

I don't understand places charging $1.7+ and literally next door its 50c cheaper

Some stations jack their prices if they have a delay on their next tanker load.

7
trixxtaOP•

yeah - this is exactly what i mean. It seems so weird - is there a segment of the population that is extremely educated about petrol pricing and therefore highly price sensitive and another segment that simply don't care and fill up based on pure convenience?

2
beaugilesviews here ≠ employer's•

Some of us are restricted by payment method (eg, people with fuel cards), or have special savings or offers on top of the ‘advertised’ price

I’m sure a lot of it is just lazy tax though

5
ozbugsy•

I get that those with fuel cards are limited, but those being loyal due to savings and offers are crazy - I get discounts from shopping at coles & woolies, (BP Shell & Caltax), but it makes no sense to pay 50c/l more just to save 6c/l - don't get me wrong, I choose those brands if the price is the same or a few cents per litre dearer, but the total price after the discount has to make it comparative.

1
schunnikyi wanna be a minto man•

You're researching right in the middle of a transition to the new cycle. If you look at the map in the middle of a cycle, most prices are fairly consistent, with the northern beaches being on average 10c more dear than the west.

Some servos jump on the price hike as soon as it starts to happen elsewhere - some take up to two weeks to get around to moderately bumping their prices up to whatever it's fallen to from peak. Whatever works as a business model for them, I suppose

4
luigimarinara•

sort of related but interesting read around actual margins servoes make off fuel - basically not much

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/3ww5qw53

4
ediellipsis•

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/petrol-diesel-lpg/petrol-price-cycles#petrol-prices-in-sydney

3
SpoonPD•

areas closer to the city seem to hike up the prices first and slowly spread throughout(usually within a week). Use MotorMouth to check prices

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

3
WikiTextBot•

Edgeworth price cycle

An Edgeworth price cycle is cyclical pattern in prices characterized by an initial jump, which is then followed by a slower decline back towards the initial level. The term was introduced by Maskin and Tirole (1988) in a theoretical setting featuring two firms bidding sequentially and where the winner captures the full market.

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2
noseyjoe•

Cycle + Loosely based on current oil price $US.

That website you referenced was brought it because of the MULTIPLE investigations done at a state level for petrol prices. It adds a little bit more transparency but I don’t think it’s changed things that much. It’s not the retailers who are making the big money.

In my many occupations I managed an independent country service station for about 8 months back in circa 2002. I found that generally profit is not that great to the retailer. I recall 4c litre being average and during good times 8c litre profit. The majority of profit to retailers is made on the shop items. So don’t give the guy at the servo shit, it’s a pretty tough racket unless you are in a high exposure location with a decent sized shop.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
dpb29h•

Oh my god, just catch the bus.

-3†