cheap petrol now on thurdsays NOT tuesdays

[SHANESVZSS]

just another way to rip us off at the pump..

PETROL stations have secretly shifted the cheapest time of the week to buy fuel from Tuesday to Thursday, catching out thousands of unsuspecting motorists.

Analysis of petrol pricing by the RACV has revealed, after more than a decade of cheap Tuesdays, petrol stations across the state have shifted the cheap pricing cycle to Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

RACV chief engineer Michael Case said it was now up to 12c cheaper to buy fuel on Thursday mornings than Tuesdays. "The shift was progressive and subtle. It didn't just change overnight," he said.

The average price of unleaded petrol in Melbourne yesterday was 121.8c a litre, with Friday still the most expensive day.

"Originally (the cheapest) was Tuesday and part of Wednesday," he said.

"Now there is some evidence it is moving to Wednesday and part of Thursday."

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Mr Case said the price change had occurred in the past four weeks and so far no petrol station or company had advertised it.

He said there was as yet no research indicating consumers were aware of the trend.

BP Australia spokesman Jamie Jardine yesterday said recent observations supported the trend but denied the price shift was designed to catch motorists out in the lead-up to Christmas.

"How can you be subtle or sneaky about a product where you display its price on a price board twice the size of a house?" Mr Jardine said.

"The information is there and available to consumers."

He said he couldn't explain the price change, which was a result of the market.

Caltex Australia spokeswoman Georgie Wells said they, too, had observed the trend but priced their petrol competitively. She refused to say which day was the cheapest to buy fuel.

"Price cycles are the result of service stations competing with each other on prices. They are a sign of healthy competition," she said.

Petrol prices have also continued to trend higher in the past week, but volatile swings in wholesale prices and the Australian dollar are making cost predictions difficult.

Latest figures show the national average price rose for a second straight week up by 0.3c a litre to 121.80c, near a three-month high.

[Ryzz]

You can see by the spin doctor responses that they are well aware of the shift, it was planned and they were expecting these question. :bs:

[SHANESVZSS]

You can see by the spin doctor responses that they are well aware of the shift, it was planned and they were expecting these question. :bs:

thats what i was thinking to! maybe its the begining of the end for the "cheap petrol cycle"?

[CLUBRED]

Dunno about you guys but I've noticed this some time ago, I have been filling on Wednesday nights, no ones around cos they've all been jooped on Tuesdays.

[PBoB]

Must be a NSW thing. Always had cheap fuel on Thursdays up here.

[VYBerlinaV8]

Wednesday night and Thursday until about 10am where I live.

[Smitty]

Must be a NSW thing. Always had cheap fuel on Thursdays up here.


...not down here (Mexico way)
the price jumps occur Thursday morning without fail :vpo:
Wed night is turning out to be the time to buy

dunno where the RACV are getting their facts from
my local servos jack the prices up first thing Thursday
so I buy on the way home from work on Weds

[VX225]

Dunno about you guys but I've noticed this some time ago, I have been filling on Wednesday nights, no ones around cos they've all been jooped on Tuesdays.

I've noticed in the last few weeks too. Generally have a look at the price of petrol as I drive past on my way to work, and i've been noticing Tues doesnt seem to be the cheapest day. Prices were still falling into Wed and Thurs....

[Fozdog]

I remember the 'ol Cheap Tuesday from way back when my parents were filling up, but since i've owned the ls1 i've only ever filled up wed nights. Thursdays were a big 'no go' but i too have noticed the latency on pricing slipping through to Thurs mornings. Is this really something that anyone can 'police' though? I mean fuel companies do what they want right? They don't really care what days we buy our fuel?

[SHANESVZSS]

also christmas is coming up so more price increases on the way :bawl:

[aedeau]

so whats the cheapest day in qld? I think it was still tuesday last week

[vt2vx]

ah i noticed this ages ago Wednesday was cheaper than Tuesday, not really Thursday so much the prices go up pretty early in the morning..

I changed from Tuesday to Wednesday late afternoon after work a couple of months ago.

[XLR8 V8]

so whats the cheapest day in qld? I think it was still tuesday last week
In QLD the price is still generally cheapest from around lunchtime Tuesday, until just after 8pm Wednesday nights.

They don't really care what days we buy our fuel?
Correct. The servo still costs as much to keep open and staff on a Thursday as it does on a Tuesday, so we don't really care what day people buy it. The cheap Tuesday phenomenon was just a general retailing understanding that everything is cheaper on a Tuesday - pizza, movie rentals etc.

Any shift to later in the week down South would likely be 'cause competitors cottoned onto the fact that the Majors dumped the price on Tuesdays, often to prices they couldn't compete with. So they would wait it out and then drop their price on Wed/Thurs when the majors put theirs back up. We have been seeing the same thing up here, where it used to be cheap all day on Tuesday only and then went up at night or on Wed morning. Now it tends to run from mid-Tuesday all the way through to Wednesday night. This does have a lot to do with giving people the opportunity to refuel though, so you don't have cars queued onto the road a mile away from the servo on a Tuesday night trying to get in in time. It makes it a lot more efficient and safer to manage if they can plan their refuelling over a couple of days/nights.
I often get calls from some of ours sites on weekends saying their local competitor just dropped up to 10cpl less than them to capture volume. We have to chose whether to drop ours to compete with them that day, or wait it out until Tues/Wed when we're often much cheaper than them. It is all about competition, not collusion. If everyone dropped or raised their prices in agreement, other than being illegal, noone is gaining any extra volume over their competition.

[VYBerlinaV8]

When I worked in a servo (over ten years ago now) we pretty much only sold fuel in order to get people in to buy chips/drinks etc, which was where the markup was. I seem to recall we only made a couple of cents a litre anyway, and because it was a small servo we might only sell 30000 litres a week (for a profit of $600!).

[Wonky]

Dunno about you guys but I've noticed this some time ago, I have been filling on Wednesday nights, no ones around cos they've all been jooped on Tuesdays.

+ 1 :goodjob:

[redvxr8clubby]

Watching prices here Tuesday, Wednesday, and often Thursday morning is the best time. Monday is only a little dearer (seems to be only about 2 cents). By Thursday arvo your usually out of luck, Mobil servo near us usually puts his prices up Wed arvo. So aim to fill Tuesday or Wed, don't bother with the 4 cent coupons, just don't like paying an extra 16 cents for the priviledge of buying on a Friday.

[RARASV8]

i always thought the price of petrol was dearer on thursday as it was "PAY DAY"
i know i always was short of funds and filled up thursdays, but that was 20+ years ago. now i just put fuel in when i need it:rofl:

Garry

[PBoB]

..we pretty much only sold fuel in order to get people in to buy chips/drinks etc, which was where the markup was. I seem to recall we only made a couple of cents a litre anyway...

:yup:

There was talk a few years ago of Shell opening up corner stores, much like 7-Eleven, as they usualy lose money on fuel sales to the public. The corporate sales is where they make their money, ie bulk oil like hydraulic/brake/motor etc.

[GHZ28]

[quote] but volatile swings in wholesale prices and the Australian dollar are making cost predictions difficult[unquote]

Yeah right, the Aussie dollar has been over US$.90 for two months now, that sure is volatile swings.......

gh

[vz6.0]

time to get off the imaginary Tapas pricing methinks.

[NZSHAKER]

Believe it or not but around 2 sundays past the caltex next door to me had fuel at 1.12 it was the cheapest all week......

But I have noticed it being cheaper towards the end of the week now

[Cool Daddy]

Recently the media has made more and more people aware that this weekly price cycle BULLSHIT (tightarse tuesday syndrome) only exists in Australia,I think the retail fuel companies here are now playing games because theyve got to make as much profit as they can whilst oil prices are rising and besides the spineless ACCC just might suprise us and take them to court.

[OMR346]

I filled up about an hour or so ago, at my local BP. It was $1.16 for 91ron (i paid $1.31 for Ultimate). I always fill up on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, as that is when it is cheapest. I live on the southside of Brisbane (Browns Plains area) and for a long time, the price has usually gone up on Wednesday night. Most weeks, i could time it to with in half hour of when it would go up. For the last couple of months, it has been Thursday lunch time when the price has been going up. I have even seen it cheap on the way home from work on Thursday night, a couple of times.

[bsbozzy]

Price on the M4 twin servos has been cheaper on Wednesday mornings vs tuesdays for at least 4.5 years (thats how long i have been driving), recently that has extended over to thursdays as well.

Beleive their stories it if you want, if you're smart enough you will have already worked this out by monitoring it yourself.

[gasguz]

I filled up early this morning & the price of ordinary unleaded was $1.16 I drove past a servo about a hour ago & it was now $1.29.9

Yesterday it was at $1.18.5

[V-Car]

When i lived in Perth i used the Fuel Watch
http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/
site regularly to check pricing as once servos posted prices, they couldnt change them for 24 hours which was great for competition because they had to be very competitive or they'd get screwed.
Not like here where prices change as you drive into the servo.
Petrol companies had a big sook and did everything possible to stop this happening in other states as consumers would have some control.

Look at the last chart on this site to see how much cheaper fuel was on average in Perth, the most isolated city in Australia, during november.
No wonder fuel companies didnt want Fuel Watch anywhere else! :flipoff:

http://motormouth.com.au/newsletters/0912.htm

The average, lowest and the highest Unleaded prices for November 2009 in each city were:
City Average Lowest Highest
Brisbane 122.0 110.5 142.9
Sydney 119.2 96.9 135.9
Melbourne 121.9 111.5 138.9
Adelaide 117.8 104.7 130.0
Perth 115.8 106.9 129.9
Hobart 127.4 124.3 131.7
Canberra 124.2 117.9 129.9

[aedeau]

i filled up last night. Vpower was $1.31/L will be interesting to see how much it is today in Brissie.

[Rub]

BP ultimate is 138 in melb today.. so i'm guessing its not cheap day..

[team illucid]

not cheap in SA - Tue was $1.12 this morning was $1.29

[rgmast]

not cheap in SA - Tue was $1.12 this morning was $1.29

BP goes up at 9pm Weds in SA that is

[NuffNuff]

BP Ultimate along the hume highway in Melbourne is at $1.24. just filled up... bloody pump was clicking through the whole fill though, nightmare filling it in this weather.

[RARASV8]

opposite the old goodyear factory?
if so, always cheaper than cooper st:bow:

[NuffNuff]

yeah thats the one, I always fill up there. The BP in town is pretty ordinary, only 2 pumps with Ultimate and is a nightmare to get out with a lowered car.