You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Why are they allowed to advertise (and charge) in .8 of a pence? No where else does it, and for good reason, point something of a penny doesn't exist, the lowest you can go is 1p !
So, how do they get away with it?
Mind games innit.
🤪
Who buys 1 litre of petrol?
Why shouldn't they? Who cares? You buy lots of litres, and it gets rounded. 129.8 is still cheaper than 129.9 isn't it?
Just reading up on this and it looks like it started in the US in the 30’s when the depression was rife..
Psychologically the .0 was put in place to show the customer that the actual cost of a litre/gallon was, and in such volatile economy it proved better than just showing it to the penny.
Orsomethinglike.
129.9 is psychologically more appealing than 130.0 but makes next to no difference.
Same reason stuff sells for £99.99 rather than £100
Why shouldn’t they? Who cares? You buy lots of litres, and it gets rounded. 129.8 is still cheaper than 129.9 isn’t it?
Not if its rounded up 😉
Who even looks at the prices; it is what it is, and when I need fuel, I need fuel. The differences in prices are pretty minimal anyway; if I'm filling my STW standard issue T5 it takes about 70 litres, so even a difference of two pence a litre that's a potential saving of a whole £1.40 on a fill amount of about £95. Whoopy-do.
But that's kind of my point. If I did want to buy just one litre, what would I have to pay? I assume it would get rounded up to the nearest penny. So is it even legal to advertise at that rate if you don't actually sell it at that rate?
Because if I buy 100 litres @ 129.8 p/l , I'll pay £129.80. No rounding needed.
*maths*
But that’s kind of my point. If I did want to buy just one litre, what would I have to pay? I assume it would get rounded up to the nearest penny. So is it even legal to advertise at that rate if you don’t actually sell it at that rate?
you cant buy one litre, most petrol stations have a minimum amount, usually 5 litres I think.
"If I did want to buy just one litre, what would I have to pay?"
You can't. There's that little note on the pump that says "minimum delivery 10 litres".
I thought this was more to question how the hell we are now at £1.40 a litre (98RON central Cambridge)??
I thought this was more to question how the hell we are now at £1.40 a litre (98RON central Cambridge)??
Jeez, £1.15.8 here.
This isn't a rant by the way, I am just curious as to why the petrol stations can do it, but no-one else does.
Are you demanding to pay more for a tank of fuel?
There are other things that have values stated in fractions of pennies - shares for instance
Your personal data from your internet use is bought and sold for fractions of pennies - 'Basic age, gender and location information sells for $0.0005 per person' if you were considered to be 'influential' you're info would be worth a whopping $0.00075
Same reason stuff sells for £99.99 rather than £100
Thought the penny under was a throw back to opening the till to make sure the staff were putting sales through & not pocketing the cash
It's not just petrol. You buy, for example, carbon film resistors at $0.001 each in batches of 1000.
Crude oil prices are about to go up, Opec agreed a production cut yesterday. Not that crude price has much bearing on pump price.
You can’t. There’s that little note on the pump that says “minimum delivery 10 litres”.
Her day is about to go from bad to worse 😉
The differences in prices are pretty minimal anyway;
Maybe if you live somewhere with lots of competition.
I drove 15 miles to Tesco in York the other week, very low on fuel but I was heading that way anyway. The fuel there was 9p/l cheaper than the one near my house. On a 60l tank that's £5.40. Definitely worth it.
I wouldn't actively go out of my way to do that as the 30 mile round thip would cost me nearly £4 in fuel alone.
Prices are bonkers down here - £1.52ppl for diesel in 2 BP's that I pulled into at the weekend - sod that.
Actually paid £1.34 10 miles down the road.
You can’t. There’s that little note on the pump that says “minimum delivery 10 litres”.
That's not the case, its minimum spend these days which is usually 5 quid as that'll only get you 3 ish litres.
Most standard petrol/diesel containers are 5 litres also.
I'd like to see the impact on car use if we returned to price per gallon. I usually ride to work, it takes the same time and means I just use food not fuel 🙂
They let me fill up a camping stove bottle last time I asked. Which admittedly was a while ago. I've frequently (ok, irregularly but several times) done a single jerry-can for the chainsaw.
Its a slow morning at work so I just found the relevant section of the Weights and Measures Act 1985 (I know)
Where the unit price falls below £1 it must be given to the nearest 0.1p. If it is above £1 it may be given to the nearest 1p or 0.1p.
Its a slow morning at work so I just found the relevant section of the Weights and Measures Act 1985
Time well spent - I bought your personal data earlier this morning for $0.0005. As a result of that piece of selfless and dedicated research are now 'influential' so I've just sold it again for $0.00075. Ker-ching!
Difference of 10p a litre here shopping around, so about £6 per tank difference. Why is diesel currently 11p/L more than petrol too? It always used to be less.
Why is diesel currently 11p/L more than petrol too? It always used to be less.
I noticed that on Tuesday, I've not seen such a difference in price for a long time. Diesel has been more expensive than petrol for many years now, basically since the big diesel push by the car manufacturers made them hugely popular again.
Why is diesel currently 11p/L more than petrol too? It always used to be less.
Use to be more, then less, then same, then more, then less....
can anyone explain to me the difference between OPEC and a Cartel..
Price variance quite large here on the coast.
£1.18 in Tesco but £1.26 in Shell..
Never understood why the differential, I always shop for cheap fuel if I can.
Diesel has been more expensive than petrol for many years now, basically since the big diesel push by the car manufacturers made them hugely popular again.
I don't think we make (much) diesel in the UK so a lot is imported. So, Brexit. 🙂
I buy shell diesel as it is better quality so worth the premium. I used to work in the oil industry and the quality manager used to say stick to premium brands for diesel as it has higher lubriicity. No idea if it's still the case but I am a creature of habit. I also seem to get better economy off branded diesel v supermarket.
I used to work in the oil industry and the quality manager used to say stick to premium brands for diesel as it has higher lubriicity.
Then you'll know it all has to meet a standard and that rest is marketing bollocks to get you pay more.
Not if its rounded up
Over time it'll be rounded down as often as it's rounded up. In France stuff in supermarkets is priced to the cent, but they only make coins down to 5c and you round up or down. It was the same pre-Euro too.
Then you’ll know it all has to meet a standard
That doesn't mean that the better stuff doesn't exceed the standard tho does it?
That’s a good point.
The quality difference is a topic been mooted down here too.. Calshot (Fawley) is just over the water and plenty of folks have worked there, some say the same as above and other say it makes no difference.
I have noticed a slight increase in mpg when I use Super, but that’s only in my big engines roadster, haven’t tried it in my hybrid yet..
That doesn’t mean that the better stuff doesn’t exceed the standard tho does it?
It isn't better it's the same they often fill the tankers from the same depot.
Why is diesel currently 11p/L more than petrol too?
Because it is now seen as the devils piss where it was once the savior of us all.
I was told that Diesel always went up in price during the winter as it is closer to heating oil and so demand is higher?
As I understand it, the minimum delivery (often 2 litres) is more about guaranteed accuracy of the volume measurement - and it not being assured for very small amounts.
It’s not like they keep forcing fuel into your car if you try and pump less, or make you pay for more fuel than the pump says (IME).
FWIW, it’s rarely worth making a special trip to get cheaper fuel, it’s often worth paying attention to where to fill up out of places you were going anyway - especially avoiding motorway services, often 20ppl extra.
if you sell 1 billion litres of petrol, .8p is 8 million quid. So they either round down and lose that 8million quid, or round up and charge out 2million quid extra.
They aren't going to round down, so I wouldn't complain about it! 😆
no idea but it does not effect me as I only ever put £30 worth of fuel in at a time.
can anyone explain to me the difference between OPEC and a Cartel..
As they literally are a cartel it would be difficult!
I also seem to get better economy off branded diesel v supermarket.
theres very weasliy words used in terms of premium fuels and economy. It revolves around the addition of additives for cleaning - and whats being claimed is a clean engine will run more economically than a dirty one. But a tank of one won't give you more MPG than a tank of the other.
My understanding was that the standard fuels are BS xxxx petroleum spirit / diesel and that just because you are filling up at a shell or BP filling station it is just as likely to be exactly the same fuel as you would get at the Tesco next door. The difference is in the branded "special" fuels which I always understood to be the manufacturer specific ones.
What annoys me is that you are spending a big pile of cash when you fill up, the least the person behind the counter could do is exhibit a modecum of civility towards the customer..
But a tank of one won’t give you more MPG than a tank of the other.
Not so sure. Premium could have a higher cetane rating, which means it burns more completely so you should expect better economy. Given that premium diesel smells very distinctively like 2-EHN which is cetane improver I suspect that this is the case.
I rarely drive regular journeys under constant conditions so I can't say for sure but premium appears to give slightly better economy but not enough to justify the cost increase in purely economic terms.
Not so sure. Premium could have a higher cetane rating, which means it burns more completely so you should expect better economy.
but thats not their claim
What annoys me is that you are spending a big pile of cash when you fill up, the least the person behind the counter could do is exhibit a modecum of civility towards the customer..
Maybe it's you? I've never had anything other than a positive interaction.
I don't know if it's still the case but the additives in the branded fuels were unique to the brands, ie, shell additive only went to shell. Supermarket fuel had no additive, or their own.
Anyway, round here the shell site is the same price as the supermarket, I collect the points too. Another 3 years I will probably get a baseball cap..
Another 3 years I will probably get a baseball cap..
Another 3 points and you'll have a 2 year ban 🙂
I work in the oil industry and the premium stuff (Diesel) is better (I certainly wouldn't run a diesel on just super market stuff) it is reckoned that the normal stuff is better than the supermarket stuff but that is only down to dosing ratios at the road loading (tanker) terminal.