Have you ever wondered how low-cost gas stations get cheaper?
If the gasoline and diesel they serve are of the same quality, how is it possible that they offer lower prices? We tell you what aspects low-cost gas stations play to be cheaper.
In Spain, the price of fuel is set based on four variables: raw material cost, special tax on hydrocarbons, Value Added Tax (VAT), and distribution margins. The first three are common and it is in the last one where service stations can make certain decisions that will make the fuel they serve more expensive and cheaper.
In the next lines, we review the keys to the strategy of low-cost gas stations to lower the price.
1. Fewer additives
It is important to clarify that the fuel sold by low-cost gas stations meets the quality standards set by the Hydrocarbons Law. There is no decrease in quality, where there is a difference in the amount of additives. Saving the distances it is as if you prepare a salad: lettuce, tomato, onion, oil, and salt would be the ingredients that cannot be missing and, from here, each one adds its touch with egg, avocado, corn...
The basic ingredients of the fuels are common to all service stations, but each one adds more or less additives to these and it is based on these that gasoline is more or less cheap.
Additives improve the properties of fuels; That they have more or less is not, a priori, harmful to the engine, although it can have consequences in the long run. The amount of additives not only allows cheap gas stations to save, it is also the reason why the key that makes the difference between premium gasoline/diesel and the conventional one that we find in pumps.
2. Fewer services
It has become clear that the difference in price between some stations and others depends on the profit margins that each one wants to obtain.
The big chains are betting on multi-service gas stations, where in addition to refueling you can have a coffee, buy newspapers and even make the most urgent purchase with basic necessities such as bread, milk, drinks... The most modern ones are also creating spaces waiting for areas (specially designed for users of electric cars) in which to take a break from the trip.
All this implies a greater investment in both facilities and personnel, which brings us to the next point...
3. Less staff
In their attempt to be the most economical, low-cost gas stations reduce the number of staff that serve users as much as possible. This, taken to the extreme, has given rise to the so-called ghost gas stations in which the driver is the one who carries out the entire refueling process and ends it by paying ATMs.
This can be an inconvenience because in the event that a problem occurs or something does not work, there will be no one to help us solve it. The absence of personnel can also lead to inadequate maintenance of the fuel tanks, which can cause too many impurities to accumulate, which could be detrimental to the vehicles.
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