Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any Gas Station Owners Here?

Several gas stations in our neighborhood have gone up for sale in the last 10 years or so. For some reason I've wondered about buying them when they did.

We're going to move from this Godforsaken part of the country when the last kid graduates HS in 10 years or so. Buying one was a thought since I won't quite be retirement age when we move.

Thoughts?

I have been told the fuel side of those small operations is the loss leader, without sufficient inside sales you won’t make it. It seems the big chains buying great amounts of fuel under short term contract would hurt the little guy in a big way, along with buying at a better price the inside items due to bulk purchase as well.

Just a thought, I have never personally owned one or a franchise of one.

Osky

Are you from India? If not, gas stations aren’t for you.

This was my wife’s fathers place.

We raised our family in Temple.

A gas station owner that I was friends with and did some work for some years back once told me he only made 3 to 5 cents a gallon on the gas, and a day's receipts weren't enough to cover his payroll for the day. The gas is just to get you inside to buy beer, chips, and whatever else you "need" from a convenience store.

Yep, and pay-at-the-pump screwed that model royally.

You married into it.

If that’s how you wanna put it.

I don't have some way to put it.

That's the way it is.

Worked at one back in my youth but never have owned one myself nor ever wanted to.

As for the unusually high number of gas stations going up for sale in your area I'd be curious if these were just gas stations only or convenience store/gas stations. Point is, apparently gas stations only can not make enough profit from just selling fuel and basic automobile products and service alone . I would think, too, location would be critical -- a high traffic area with convenient easy entrance/exit location. Near as possible to interstate on/off ramps would be a big plus, as well.

My best guess as to the selloff is it could be there's simply too much competition in a given area as even convenience store / gas stations have pretty much saturated the market. We have 3 within three blocks of each other here in the little two-stoplight town I live in.

How do you come up with "unusually high number of gas stations going up for sale in your area?"

I said there were "several" meaning more than 1. The "unusually high" number is 2....over the course of 10 years. They're 4 miles apart. They both sell gas at the same price, as do the others in the area. One has a carwash and one doesn't.

They were both successful before and after the sale. The most recent one was sold because the owner is retiring. Both of the ones that were sold were privately owned, not a chain. There are 2 chain stations between them, which I would say they can't compete with in sales of goods inside the store. But price per gallon is the same at all 4 stations.

I'm not interested in buying one where we live. Hell, I may not be interested at all. That's why I'm asking the question.

I'd be looking in small towns, most likely in SD.

Gotta have a gimmick- - - - -convenience store stuff like beer, chips, and Slim Jims, a deli, or the big one here in Tennessee close to the state line, lottery tickets. Every time the Powerball total gets big there's a line all the way out the door of Alabama people throwing away their whole paycheck trying to get rich quick. Gas sales are just an afterthought.

I was in the wholesale fuel business for 25 years, and drove a bobtail delivery truck for my dad's company that he sold in 1984. The reports about thin margins on fuel sales are true. You basically have no choice but to match prices with other retailers in the area if you want store traffic. You can "only get what you get" at the pump as far as margins, and it is a high volume low profit part of the equation. The biggest money maker no matter if it's a chain, mom and pop store, etc is the food. If you have a good grill/deli/pizza, or whatever that is where the money is. Fountain drinks offer a huge profit margin as well.

I managed a Mobil station in 1970-1971 and Mobil had no problems screwing the crap out of their dealers on gasoline sales. Every two weeks the Mobil rep would come by to collect for the previous load of fuel. This was back in the days when Mobil credit cards were run through an imprinter and the customer kept his copy and the dealer kept his. The rep would total up all the credit card receipts then tack on 3% of the credit card total of what I owed him. So Mobil was fleecing the dealer for 3% on every gas transaction which was paid for by the customer using Mobil's own issued credit card. The only way to stay in business back then was to sell a lot of TBA(tires, batteries, accessories). Mobil was finally successful in driving all their independents out of business and replacing them with company owned stores.

They all sell lotto tickets around here...in the midwest in general. I was thinking along the lines of a Saturday car show, HS carwash fundraiser type of things if I ran the joint.

Yep, but I refuse to use pay at the pump personally. Risk of card hackers being one reason, and I don't like a hold placed on my money the other reason. I go inside and use my card for gas, and usually buy something else too.

Fountain drinks and the best coffee I could get would be the plan. Not much sucks worse than needing a coffee and getting schitty, burnt coffee.

I'm the same unless they're closed inside. I like to go in, grab a coffee and flirt with the sales ladies.

A good look at their books might be a place to start.

I'm guessing if you liked it for a pastime it would be OK, but the ROI just wouldn't be there as a viable business.

Selling in the future to get your initial capital back might be a challenge.

Just a WAG.

Drive offs, low rent help, spills, low rent help, under-age sales by low rent help...

I'd rather be a training dummy for low rent bouncers...