3...2...1....

 

Yes indeed....

 

You have a choice of buying or not... exercise your choice and go elsewhere for something else.

 

Not to be political but I would like to respond to your political post.

Wrong

 

More like the current and hopefully last administration !

 

Simple, really. Gas is a commodity, bulk, priced as such with razor thin margins. You are essentially paying a bulk price. Yes, razor thin margins for a LOT of the people in the process... Ask a gas station if they can survive on gas sales alone.

Washer Fluid comes in a one gallon plastic bottle, has a label, is marketed and delivered via a very different mechanism. LOTS of things are made up of mostly water, and you pay way more "per gallon" for them. Distribution costs, labor, etc. (I'm in marketing, trust me! ha!)

if you understand the end-to-end process of the two things you are comparing, well, Apples and Oranges? The only relationship between them is they are both automotive related. Go to the supermarket and price Coke, which is mostly water. I think you might see my point.

Any comment about politics goes down that rabbit hole should go over to the Politics section, and really, that wasn't the point of the OP. I am not trying to state any position here, merely point out, it doesn't have to be that way.

If we stick to facts about the statement, and I'll summarize and answer.

Why are gas prices lower than windshield washer fluid? (implied inside there, is an a assumption that gas should cost more than water). We can summarize by saying cost base, packaging, marketing and delivery costs are different With the washer fluid, you are paying for more than just the product.

That was fun.. should I duck now?

 

What's more ridiculous is paying .99 cents for a 16oz bottle of water at a C-store. Everytime I find myself doing this I point out to the casher that I should start drinking gasoline as its way cheaper. It takes them a moment to do the math however I generally get a big smile in agreement.

 

Yeah, but water doesn't require a $4 billion refinery to produce it, either. Also, oil costs about $1.80 a gallon to begin with.

 

 

Very true, but they produce 100 of times more output than a lowly washer fluid factory. Demand.

Look, you are starting from the bottom, at the price point, and trying to come a conclusion with only parts of the information. You need a full ledger sheet, calculating material cost, distribution, packaging, and most importantly, margin and total profitability.

Margin is the mark up past cost to produce. I can tell you margin on washer fluid is 40-50%. I know, I see it, personally, I work for a company that sells it.. In other words, for every 1 dollar, 40-50 cents is profit (probably not fully burdened, but for this purpose close enough).

That margin is MUCH lower on gasoline.

The question no one has asked is instead of asking why washer fluid cost as much as gas (or more), why is gas so cheap compared to washer fluid?

Again, Margin. If the gas was marked up at the same rate, you would be paying triple or quadruple for gas. They don't need to do that to make a profit based on on volume, and if they price it too high, people can't afford it, volume drops, so to make up for they start restricting supply side.

Why doesn't the washer fluid manufacturer mark up the same way with a razor thin margin? Volume. You buy hundreds of gallons of gas for every gallon of washer fluid. The washer fluid manufacturer has to make a decent profit, or he won't be in the business of making the product.

Here is another question for you: if gas were sold in gallon jugs inside the station, how much would you be paying for gas?

Cheers to everyone, and Merry Christmas!

 

Yes.

Also scale economies. My family of four drivers barely uses a gallon of windshield washer fluid per year but easily a thousand gallons of gas. Most drivers have similar ratios.

If you deliver one thousand times more of something, you can do so more efficiently.

 

Someone understands my point. Thanks @sshallen and Merry Christmas! I hope you get all the windshield washer fluid you desire (at least a gallon).

 

WOW, Love the gas price!!
I'm in Oregon and we are still $3.59 - $3.99.
A few months ago we voted out full service. Now, pump it yourself.
That should have lowered the prices. But still no change here.

Rice and beans, drive electric, and double the price for gas. That's the dumb plan.

 

I paid $3.05 for premium yesterday 12/26 to fill up my truck. Central MS.

 

Apples to oranges. If gas was sold in individual jugs, it would be double the cost. It costs producers less to not have to package individual items.

 

Agree 100%. Why not compare a gallon of gas to a gallon of milk, chocolate, laundry detergent, juice, etc?!? Water is an expensive ingredient...especially to ship. Why do you think so many products come concentrated.....meaning you add your own water.

 

When I was a kid we would always buy Ocean Spray cranberry juice in concentrate. Sold in what looked like a small cardboard juice box but made a half gallon. Took up an 8th of the shelf space and was vastly cheaper to ship and stock. Water is in fact heavy and bulky... but people are too effing stupid now so the concentrate no longer exists as far as I can tell... all these 'green' initiatives and none of these environuts can get behind basic common sense things that would save us all money and create less trash.

Same goes for DEF. I'm "saving the environment" one 2.5 gallon jug of this **** water at a time... jug is not reusable, comes in plastic, wrapped in printed cardboard, with a plastic nozzle packed separate in a plastic bag. It is so stupid that no one can step back and see a bigger picture.

Anyway... in the recent past I was still able to get rainX concentrated window wash. I want to say it was 7 bucks for 20 gallons worth?

 

@vetteLT193 - go get your DEF at a truck stop. I pay $3+ per gallon and can almost fill up for what you pay for that 2.5 gallon jug.

 

Its a buck 69 here! 500ml