GasBuddy is great for this. You can see average gas prices across all gas stations for a certain region (or nation-wide).<p><a href="https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts" rel="nofollow">https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts</a><p>The data goes back even over 25 years if you play around with the query params (it started in June of 2000). E.g.<p><a href="https://charts.gasbuddy.com/ch.gaschart?Country=USA&Crude=f&Period=320&Areas=USA%20Average%2C%2C&Unit=US%20%24%2FG" rel="nofollow">https://charts.gasbuddy.com/ch.gaschart?Country=USA&Crude=f&...</a>
<p><pre><code> Costco gas is famously a loss leader, typically running 15 to 20 cents below surrounding stations.
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Is this true? I always assumed that Costco just had better deals/longer horizon commitments so it could undercut local stations. Maybe they even own a refinery just to maintain the best margin.
They are selling 10000 gallons a day at some locations, so I find it hard to believe.<p>More like they don’t have a need to make a profit and they run the station in a barebones manner on real estate that they get as part of the larger site. So it would be a loss leader for anyone else.
The Acquired episode about Costco (<a href="https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/costco" rel="nofollow">https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/costco</a>) claims they don't do loss leaders at all.
Selling below the price of surrounding stations doesn’t mean they are losing money on the fuel.<p>Costco has a single store in my country and it’s butter that they sell cheaply to get people in the door. But I doubt they are losing money on it.
It makes sense. The ~$10 someone saves pumping at Costco is easily made up in the >$100 shopping trip they are making, or compared to lifetime spend.
Tracking Costco gas doesn't make much sense as Costco doesn't make money on gas. They use it as a loss-leader for memberships.
Watching prices makes sense.<p>People spend money on gas, and sometimes one Costco has cheaper gas than another does.<p>The two Costcos that are nearest to me are listed at $3.65 and $3.79 right now. They're ~25 minutes apart. I think it would be fair to say that there's thousands of people living between them who don't need to think about minor differences in driving distance.<p>But if they decide that buying gas is a thing they're going to do today, and they can quickly compare the prices beforehand, then: They can use that data to help make an informed decision.<p>A 14-cent price delta isn't much, but if 11 gallons are purchased then it's enough to cover the price of a Costco hot dog and Coke (<i>with refill</i>). Not bad at all.<p>---<p>Additionally: While Costco seemingly doesn't make (much) money on gas, that doesn't mean that they're always cheaper.<p>Suppose I were making a Costco trip today and I also need to buy gas. I'd be heading to the Costco that has gas for $3.65 because that one is much closer <i>for me</i>.<p>But I can get gas for $3.62 right now at the station down the block from my house. There's no line there (there's <i>never</i> a line there), there's no membership proof to futz around with, and it's super easy to get in and out of.<p>Since I have enough easy information to make an informed decision, then: I can tell that the smart move is to plan on skipping whatever line may be present at Costco's gas station and just buy gas down the block. This will save me both time and money.<p>But tomorrow? Who knows. The situation may be different, so I may make a different decision.
I disagree. The prices still move with the price of oil. Their margins are just lower.
Probably a good index for predicting how midterms might go
<a href="https://archive.ph/qX4vF" rel="nofollow">https://archive.ph/qX4vF</a>
I started screenshotting my local Costco warehouse gas prices weekly since the week prior to Trump's inauguration, mostly so my Trump supporting brother inlaw couldn't just spew his Fox brainwashing on me without me hitting back with this data.
I've been tracking every fuel purchase I've made for 12 years now across 5 or 6 different cars. Not sure what I'll ever do with that information, but I suppose it may come in handy for a political argument.
I’d be amazed if it actually changed anything with him.
It's too bad there's no API to find the current wait time at the Costco gas station. I'm not going to spend an extra hour of my day to save $5.
Does it routinely take an hour to get gas at Costco near you?<p>Even when the lines are at capacity the Costco I go to (north of Seattle in Shoreline), I never wait more than like five minutes.
If only they exposed this data!! Would have been so fun adding the display to the site
i go befoe costoco opens at 7am . they have different timings.
Just wait until you have an EV! Then you will get to wait in line for an outlet, and then wait while the electrons trickle into your tank! Good times.
There's no line in my garage.<p>Also most of the public chargers are networked, so you know when they are busy.
Let's nevermind this nonsense about waiting in lines.. I want to know more about what is happening to electrons after they trickle into your tank. Where do they end up when you go for a drive? Are we pumping them back into the air?
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