Gas station owner told to raise prices

If you check the other oil companies, their profits are about the same margin. (I think that Conoco-Phillips had the highest profit margin, but it's been a while since I read the numbers.)

Instead of looking at the dollar amount, look at the profit margin. Some companies are bigger than others.

However, I would highly suggest that you buy a lot of gas from companies that pump oil here in Alaska, so it will boost my profit margin a bit. Although I don't invest in oil stocks due to the low profit margin, as an Alaskan, I still benefit.

 

As could probably most huge corporations. But in today's investment climate how would shareholders and potential shareholders react?

 

I seriously don't know how they'd react. Truthfully, at this high stock price, I would wager that the majority of the shareholders are current and former employees of Exxon.

Normal folks like me can't afford Exxon stock, so whatever they do will make no difference to us as far as that goes.

If they were not looked upon as the "evil oil company" by so many people, through more charitable work and decreased gas prices to help consumers, it might actually help their image and their stock numbers.

But, like I said, they can weigh out whether they want to please their shareholders or the consumers.

I am by no means suggesting that government involvment is necessary, but I would, for once, like a corporation to give willingly back to the people and country that made it what it is. I'd love it if a large business, rather than just small ones that do so, would put customers ahead of profits for just a while.

I guess I'm just naive to believe such things. Maybe that's why my dad's company has never been big and he's always struggled a bit to keep it going. I was just raised to believe that a business ought to help people out if they need it for a short while, even if it means you don't make as much profit on a few sales. I was taught that customers who you help and deal with like people are the ones who will continue to come back to you for services in the future.

 

Too bad they don't create thousands upon thousands of jobs, pay a whole lot of taxes, and those thousands and thousands of people pay a lot in taxes, and support people who work at grocery stores and McDonalds and all those other places.

Now, that would really benefit society.

 

Yes, and my husband works for a smaller oil supplier here in SW Colorado, and this new law is going to wipe out any indepdendents that are left.

 

The majority of ExxonMobil shares are owned by pension plans and mutual funds, in other words, institutional investors - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=XOM.

Therefore, anyone who has a pension plan or has shares in a mutual fund probably has a stake in how well ExxonMobil stock performs.

 

Indeed. I'm a businessman and I give back to the community every day. They give me money and I give them goods and services. They buy my stuff because they want it more than they want their money. If they didn't think that I was doing them a favor, they wouldn't deal. That's why we each say "thank you" when the transaction is completed: each of us believes the other did him a favor, and we are both right.

If this is a new and radical idea to someone, he might try this article for starters.

 

So, PipeDude, do you settle for a 4-5% profit margin?

 

Yeah, right! I might be able to afford a pencil to fill out an application for welfare with such a margin.

 

3-page warning: This thread will be closed no sooner than 12:30 a.m. ET by one of the moderators.

Lady Eagle

 

A friend of mine who owns a gas station told me that he makes 0.2 cents per gallon. He makes more from his convenience store than from the sale of gas. He told me that it costs him money to sell gas because of the maintenance.

 

I was just thinking about the cost of gas, and everyone complaining about the evil oil companies.

You know, the oil companies only make a 4-5% profit. Very low profit margin. (Although, dependable stocks.)

How much of the cost of gas is taxes?

Instead of whining about the measly 4-5% profit, why not scream from the rooftops about the 40%+ that we pay in taxes on gas?

Why complain about the people trying to make an honest buck, but let the crooks off the hook?

(BTW, as long as the gas taxes go for what they are intended, I don't mind paying them at all. But, the more they dip into them for things such as welfare (which happened in the last few years), and other non-related uses, the more I don't like them.)

 

Closed per previous notice. LE