Is it me or are high gas prices not hitting other areas for some reason..

[HardWorkingDem]

What I mean is, is something keeping down the cost of other things related to high gasoline prices (grocery goods, items shipped by UPS, et cetera)or am I missing it? It seems as if the high cost of gasoline is not impacting other areas that it should be. What I'm wondering if the cost in these other areas is being held down for other reasons, i.e., to keep repthuglicans in Congress.

Or am I missing something?

[bluestateguy]

1. I've seen the prices of milk, meat and soda go up where I live

Stuff that is marked as being on sale is marked at what the regular price was over a year ago.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. It's a gradual effect

Even though transportation costs are an issue and will cause price increases over time, it doesn't make up enough to cause a price spike equivalent to that of gasoline prices. In time though, higher gas prices will lead to higher prices of everything else.

[hlthe2b]

3. Food and other goods are definitely going up...

it is going to be tough going for an awful lot of people....

[don954]

4. alot of grocery stores are taking it in the pocket

as the prices are just about as high as the market can take

http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/1y/w/wndxq.pk

Winn Dixie down 90% in 1 year

lots of other grocers i know of too are having as bad of a time.

[don954]

5. that was ment for the OP

[rucky]

8. and grocery is working on about 4% margins.

they're the ones who can least afford to take the hit (next to consumers).

[LongwoodGeek]

6. Prices haven't surged here yet but

it depends on where you are to be honest. I happen to be near where some of the storage stations are and we get prices that are .10 to .50 cents lower than everywhere else (sometimes up to a dollar but that is rare) since transportation costs of the gas are so much lower for us.

Where I work (a national retailer) has experienced a MASSIVE increase in call volume however. People are calling in more to check to see whether items are in stock before driving in to pick them up. Deliveries and In-home services are also on the rise which are keeping the prices of the items lower since much more money and profit can be made off of those than on the items themselves.

Unfortunately you cannot do that as much on food and other essentials such as that although perhaps a delivery service might alleviate some of that cost. If you factor it into a route such as a bus route almost that a delivery truck follows every day then you could perhaps save money on the gas and still keep the costs of the food low while making money on the delivery and helping the customer.

But I digress. So far prices on most items here except for gas itself has not seen a very heavy rise. Some food has seen a sharp increase, especially ingrediates that require large travel distances but that is it.

Hope this helps!

[newyawker99]

11. Hi LongwoodGeek

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[LongwoodGeek]

14. Thanks for the welcome!

I appreciate it! :toast:

[rucky]

7. Merchants are taking big hits...

to keep their customers.

Producers protect their margins & pass their costs on to retailers, but they're the direct line to the consumer & set the prices based on how much their base is willing to pay... so merchants take the hit.

Once it reaches a point where enough retailers are sunk from this practice, producers will have to cut their margins, too, to keep their wholesale business... until it doesn't make sense to produce it (whatever it is) anymore.

The producers with the advantage will be the ones who can source locally (or at least domestically), or short-term, the ones who can outsource cheaply enough to cover shipping costs.

[wakeme2008]

9. funny thing in Roanoke,,, gas went down 5 cents a gallon at my Citgo

station.. Go figure... :shrug:

[bklyncowgirl]

10. I Just drove from Tenessee to New Jersey

Along the I 81 corridor yesterday gas prices were at $2.89--they were around $2.79 earlier in the week. We drove across Virginia to visit Appomatix and when we hit I 95 the prices were at $2.95. They were up to $3.12 at the Maryland rest areas and $3.03 on the Jersey Turnpike where we put enough in the tank to get us home since gas at the Turnpike rest areas is always more expensive than our local places.

The mess in Israel of must have started the price gouging--those people over there don't fart without the oil companies boosting gas prices--but the differential in prices in different parts of the same state was striking. I don't know if it's a conspiracy or a matter of distribution but it was strange.

[madinmaryland]

13. It's been over 3.00 here in MD for a while.

The cheapest in MD is around 3.07 as of this last weekend. Most have gone up at least $0.10 in the last couple of weeks.

[jonnyblitz]

12. somebody recently said here at DU "wow gas is over 3 bucks

now" and, at the time it was mentioned, gas had been over 3 dollars a gallon where I live in CT for quite some time.

[LongwoodGeek]

15. Well I live near Lynchburg

and gas here seems to go from $2.69 one week up to 2.89 another. I totally agree with what you said about Roanoke and yeah, gas drops in price for absolutely no logical reason at all. I used to work at a convenience store and I can tell you that part of it may be that the owner of the store has some ability to change the prices on their own without calling the Gas Company. This is usually to stay competitive with the gas stations in the area. So if the Exxon down the road goes to $2.79 for Regular then the Citgo may drop down to $2.74 a gallon. Other times it may be that they have just received their load of gasoline for the week and need to up the price to pay for it or lower it because they've already paid for it and can afford to have a special to attract more customers.

Location also makes a big difference. If you are on a major highway expect to pay MORE than in the middle of a city because of convenience sake. Especially if you are extrememly far from the nearest city as the owner can jack up the price because he is the "Last Stop for 100 miles." Also if they are experiencing a slump in other services (i.e. Food, Repair, etc) expect gas to go up a few cents to pay for it.

Oh, and for the love of God do NOT pump gas at Sheetz unless you put some sort of fuel filter liquid in your tank regularly (and if you fill there a lot I mean every tank). The reason they pump so cheap is because they are scraping the bottom of the refinery barrel for the gas they get. Do you honestly beleive you are getting the best gas from them? If so I've got some bottom land to sell ya. Just don't ask me what its on the bottom of. ;) My boss at the Citgo I worked at had a garage in the station as well and they pulled the tank off a car that used ONLY Sheetz gas. I dunno what was in the gas tank but it wasn't gasoline!

I hope this helps you all out! Have a great one!