DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - The coming Minimum-wage increase

**enentique** · 11-02-2007, 12:22 AM

You are the only person that addressed what I was asking. Thanks you. Anyway, how do gas station owners know that more people don't go to their stations over others because of the added service which does add profits to pay them at least $5.15? I guess that is something that can't be measured exactly.

Many station owners keep close track of how much business they get, how much their neighboring stations get, what each one's prices are, etc. It's their livelihood, they have a great interest in finding out how to maximize their profit.

They work out the numbers on how much their business changes for each penny per gallon they differ from their neighboring stations. How much difference does a one or two cent increase make, how much does a ten-cent increase make, etc. They base it mostly on the history of their area. With prices changing daily, they can accumulate a lot of data over the years.

They would love to make more profit by hiring people to wash windshields, check oil etc. Unfortunately, the numbers just don't work out. When they offer the service and charge what they need to, enough people stay away that they wind up losing money.

Contrary to what our brethern of the southpaw persuasion try to tell us, the owners don't have money trees on their property, and they CAN'T increase their employees' wages without passing the costs on to the paying customers. And the paying customers often say, "No deal."

It's their customers who tell them how much the new workers' services are worth. And the owners listen very carefully - their bottom line is at stake.

11-02-2007, 12:22 AM	#33
enentique Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 440 Senior Member	You are the only person that addressed what I was asking. Thanks you. Anyway, how do gas station owners know that more people don't go to their stations over others because of the added service which does add profits to pay them at least $5.15? I guess that is something that can't be measured exactly. Many station owners keep close track of how much business they get, how much their neighboring stations get, what each one's prices are, etc. It's their livelihood, they have a great interest in finding out how to maximize their profit. They work out the numbers on how much their business changes for each penny per gallon they differ from their neighboring stations. How much difference does a one or two cent increase make, how much does a ten-cent increase make, etc. They base it mostly on the history of their area. With prices changing daily, they can accumulate a lot of data over the years. They would love to make more profit by hiring people to wash windshields, check oil etc. Unfortunately, the numbers just don't work out. When they offer the service and charge what they need to, enough people stay away that they wind up losing money. Contrary to what our brethern of the southpaw persuasion try to tell us, the owners don't have money trees on their property, and they CAN'T increase their employees' wages without passing the costs on to the paying customers. And the paying customers often say, "No deal." It's their customers who tell them how much the new workers' services are worth. And the owners listen very carefully - their bottom line is at stake.
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