Could This Work To Force Lower Gas Prices?

[Gilligan]

This came in my email yesterday, to quickly summarize it, it says that because Exxon and Mobil (both owned by the same corporation) set the average price of gas, that if people refuse to buy gas from either station, that they will be forced to lower their prices and that other gas stations will be forced to follow their lead. I'll let you read it:

I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the end of summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth, offered this good idea: This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!

The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea has come up with a plan that can really work.

Please read it and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.75 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50-$1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace.... not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war. Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, don't whimp (sic) out on me at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from EXXON and MOBIL. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am... so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

[kubedawg]

i believe everyone should switch to hybid/non-gasoline vehicles.

[GodBlessAmerica]

Quote by: kubedawg i believe everyone should switch to hybid/non-gasoline vehicles.

What kind?

[GodBlessAmerica]

Quote by: Gilligan This came in my email yesterday, to quickly summarize it, it says that because Exxon and Mobil (both owned by the same corporation) set the average price of gas, that if people refuse to buy gas from either station, that they will be forced to lower their prices and that other gas stations will be forced to follow their lead. I'll let you read it: I hear we are going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the end of summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth, offered this good idea: This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read it and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.75 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50-$1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace.... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war. Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do!! Now, don't whimp (sic) out on me at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!! Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from EXXON and MOBIL. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am... so trust me on this one.) How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

I think there is merit in boycotting a selected gas station for a month, then another, then another.
I would suggest the first one to boycott for a selected time would be the one most importing oil.

[giuliano]

won't work. attempts to manipulate the market that way do not work, it's not a novel idea.

[Chris]

Spam victim. :(

[GodBlessAmerica]

Quote by: giuliano won't work. attempts to manipulate the market that way do not work, it's not a novel idea.

It would make the press, and they would run with it for all it's worth.
Would be interesting to see in action IMO.

[Athena]

This boycott has been going around the internet for about a year with no newsworthy change in the price of gas. What the US must do is dramatically reduce the consumption of gas. Vechicles that consume excessive gas should be as popular as fur coats made of endangered species. When possible we should be using public transportation or bicycles. We can go to our city council meetings with friends and stress the need to develop bike paths, may be improve bus service, resign streets and rezone, so that our cities are better designed for a carless population. If the consumption of gas is dramatically reduced, so will the price fall. But in the long run, oil is finite so the price will rise.

[Milton Bradley]

I don't see why it couldn't work if people would actually stick to their guns, and boycott the same company for a prolonged period.

[Chris]

Quote by: Athena This boycott has been going around the internet for about a year with no newsworthy change in the price of gas. What the US must do is dramatically reduce the consumption of gas. Vechicles that consume excessive gas should be as popular as fur coats made of endangered species. When possible we should be using public transportation or bicycles. We can go to our city council meetings with friends and stress the need to develop bike paths, may be improve bus service, resign streets and rezone, so that our cities are better designed for a carless population. If the consumption of gas is dramatically reduced, so will the price fall. But in the long run, oil is finite so the price will rise.

Right. I wonder why it is that the average gas mileage of vehicles has not improved overall since the 1980s.

I blame Muscle cars, SUVs and dumbass rednecks wanting a "HEMI"

:rolleyes:

[tman_ndsu08]

The reason something like that wouldn't work is very simple: a company has to make a profit on something it sells.

Gas companies don't raise prices for the hell of it. It costs them almost that much to obtain the gas in the first place.

The main reason they're so high right now is the large gas taxes. Eliminate the taxes, and gas prices would be much cheaper.

[Chris]

Federal gas tax is only 18.5 cents per gallon bub.

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: |Chris| Federal gas tax is only 18.5 cents per gallon bub.

Plus state and local taxes too.

But if you only look at federal, you're giving the government almost $4 for every 20 gallons!!!!

That's like around $200 a year!


I can think of a lot of things I'd love to buy with $200 rather than giving it away for no good reason.

[ericsp23]

This won't work because the cost of gas is not "set" by any company. It is dependent on the laws of supply and demand, which are determined globally. You can't just isolate one company.
If such a boycott ever got enough participants to have an impact, the company would not drop its prices, because it would end up taking a loss on each sale. Instead they would likely end up closing its least profitable stations, which could actually drive up prices. It is a well known fact that gas is cheaper in neighborhoods that have several different stations competing for customers. Fewer stations means less competition and higher prices.

[Athena]

http://inventors.about.com/library/w...selectrica.htm

The link will get you to a history of electric cars beginning in the 1800's.

Growing up in Hollywood, California I rode around town and to the coast in electric trolley cars. There are alternatives to gas and we need to consider them, along with how we design our neighorhoods and think about our values.

[Chris]

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 Plus state and local taxes too. But if you only look at federal, you're giving the government almost $4 for every 20 gallons!!!! That's like around $200 a year! I can think of a lot of things I'd love to buy with $200 rather than giving it away for no good reason.

my state tax is only 23 cents per gallon.

[ericsp23]

The current high price of gasoline has nothing to do with taxes. There has not been any significant increase in gasoline tax at a federal level in a long time. If that were the case the tax would have been lowered long before we got to $2 a gallon.
The high price of gas is due to constrained supply. On an international level, oil producing countries are not pumping enough to keep up with the increasing demand as developing countries, in particular China, insdustrialize. In America the problem is exacerbated by a lack of refineries. We cannot produce enough with our current infrastructure.
If you really want to get to the root cause here in America, blame those who feel they need to drive gas guzzling vehicles and the government for not mandating that those vehicles be held to the same standards of fuel efficiency as regular automobiles.
I personally like the high price of gasoline. It looks like that is what it is going to take to make us seriously pursue alternate forms of energy.

[Chris]

Totally agree ericsp23

[monty of ll]

ericsp, you said: "This won't work because the cost of gas is not "set" by any company. It is dependent on the laws of supply and demand, which are determined globally."

Naw eric, that's bullshit. The price was artifically manipulated prior to the Gulf war to around $14/barrel to freeze out Saddam and prevent Iraq from recovering from the Iran/Iraq war. And now Hugo Chavez is intending to sell oil to Jamaica for $40/barrel, $20 below the going rate. bothe instances put the lie to your claim that the market dictates the price of oil.

[Chris]

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 Plus state and local taxes too. But if you only look at federal, you're giving the government almost $4 for every 20 gallons!!!! That's like around $200 a year! I can think of a lot of things I'd love to buy with $200 rather than giving it away for no good reason.

Heh. In my state I only pay the Fed + State tax, there is no local tax on gas. So 18.5 + 23 = 41.5 cents. 41.5 cents - 2.60 = 2.19 So $2.185 is still high isnt it? 41.5 / 218.5 = 18.9%

18.9% of the total price may seem high but it also pays for things like roads and bridges etc. Of course then Bush has a pork barrel bill that will use that money to build a bridge in Alaska when it would be cheaper to buy all 50 denizens a Leer jet than it would be to build the bridge, but thats a different story.