Canberra - Costco open Fuel Servo

[exwrxex]

if you have a chain of independents and the profit on fuel is just paying for rent and indian costs, what is actually making you money?

milk bar stuff?

milk bar plus owning prominent corner sites which can be redeveloped at some stage (subject to decommissioning tanks, remediation of soil etc)

[Terribleone]

Shop sales were really good. Our shop was really well stocked and drinks and cigarettes were cheaper than the nearby Mobil/BP/Caltex so most locals used to come just for that stuff. We had a workshop on the site aswell. I was on my own in there and doing 30-40 cars a week. Was a really good business. My biggest regret is not buying it off my uncle and step dad when they sold out.

[Falc&Send]

Costco drops petrol below $1 a litre in Canberra

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-...13-12nc06.html

[TonyJZX]

i filled up today at $1.08 in hornsby thornleight watevs and it was $1,08 for 91, $46.50 brimmed, feels like 2004 bro

[BigMuz]

Still $1.48 here.. Cunts

[dirtyrex]

Still $1.48 here.. Cunts

That's lack of competition, nothing else.

[Rdyno]

I filled up at the majura woolworths on Christmas day before I went to the cost as I had a costco membership but only had cash in my wallet I got to the coast and my fuel pump died it probably had 25,000km on it, was it a shit pump? or could the fuel be contaminated? either way I'm not blaming the fuel but there is that possibility.

[id]

1.17 on the central coast. Same in Newie.

[Falc&Send]

I filled up at the majura woolworths on Christmas day before I went to the cost as I had a costco membership but only had cash in my wallet I got to the coast and my fuel pump died it probably had 25,000km on it, was it a shit pump? or could the fuel be contaminated? either way I'm not blaming the fuel but there is that possibility.

I think if it was shit fuel we would of heard of other people with similar problems. I'd say it would just be bad luck that your fuel pump died.

[FUBAR]

Apparently under a dollar a litre out there today.

[Dimi]

You were going to buy a franchise or you were going to start a chain and franchise it?

I'm talking with someone who just sold his chain of independent servos. A few million upfront doesn't scare me based on the money he made from it.

Sorry just saw this,
start a small chain and franchise it in 12-24 months
This is a couple of years ago now so the figures are loose in my head but i roughly worked out i needed 3 site's in canberra to establish enough volume to get the prices i needed to make the returns i wanted initially at the discount i proposed and also present as a reputable reliable brand through coverage and brand recognition. The business model was based around a buyout in 5-10 years.

I had in ground tanks at my old premises so i had a few contacts for buying fuel direct. Had another investor on board who wanted me to do 100% of the leg work and split the profits. The initial investment was too much for me so it all fell apart.

[Imposter Forg]

E21 pings like hell on costco 98

[TUFGMH]

Sorry just saw this,
start a small chain and franchise it in 12-24 months
This is a couple of years ago now so the figures are loose in my head but i roughly worked out i needed 3 site's in canberra to establish enough volume to get the prices i needed to make the returns i wanted initially at the discount i proposed and also present as a reputable reliable brand through coverage and brand recognition. The business model was based around a buyout in 5-10 years.

I had in ground tanks at my old premises so i had a few contacts for buying fuel direct. Had another investor on board who wanted me to do 100% of the leg work and split the profits. The initial investment was too much for me so it all fell apart.

I worked for Barry Petroleum down their before and after sale. Going off his experience it was a case of Caltex offering sites at a high price on a discounted fuel rate over a 5-10yr period, encourage you to build an empire, than pull the chair out from under you by cutting the discount and adding a tariff at the end of the contract, and also offering you a back door by buying the sites at a price they are guaranteed to make a profit on a few years later by selling them back to privateers under the same scheme.
Woolworths didn't help either. It was a flat 4c rate on fuel sales regardless of price and you had to cover all losses underground and drive offs etc. It was 8-12cents before that. Works out if you have a poor market share but not if sales only increase 10%. Shop sales were where it was at, cigarettes added a fair chunk of profit. The Indians seem to have it stitched up down there now and most sites appear to be receiving no upkeep?

[Dimi]

I worked for Barry Petroleum down their before and after sale. Going off his experience it was a case of Caltex offering sites at a high price on a discounted fuel rate over a 5-10yr period, encourage you to build an empire, than pull the chair out from under you by cutting the discount and adding a tariff at the end of the contract, and also offering you a back door by buying the sites at a price they are guaranteed to make a profit on a few years later by selling them back to privateers under the same scheme.
Woolworths didn't help either. It was a flat 4c rate on fuel sales regardless of price and you had to cover all losses underground and drive offs etc. It was 8-12cents before that. Works out if you have a poor market share but not if sales only increase 10%. Shop sales were where it was at, cigarettes added a fair chunk of profit. The Indians seem to have it stitched up down there now and most sites appear to be receiving no upkeep?

you aren't far off the mark, because or franchise agreements etc they pretty much have you buy the balls and it all comes crashing down after the honeymoon period. I actually became friends with one of the sons of the old pakistani who owns about 3 x 7/11's here and another in 2 x 7/11's in Sydney, son runs the stores down here. By the time mobil and 7/11 have had their feed there is only a 2 cent margin on the fuel pricing after it is set by head office(thats what he explained but i havent actually seen the numbers on paper). Something along the lines of head office sets a base price so that sites are not competing with each other and xternal factors then adjust pump prices by a certain factor, time of day/week, surrounding competition there is pretty much a formula to it.
They aim to make their money on instore purchases and the ones down here he owns carry the largest range of products and he runs them and the food in them well with very little wastage. on a few big days of the year the in store sales were nearly 30k in a day between, i imagine smokes make up a large portion of that.

the benefit of being completely independent and having relationships will multiple fuel distributors is being able to pick and choose and if you are good pick up on inflation and deflation in barrel price and take advantage in that with your purchases. 2 cent fluctuation on 100,000lites is $2k of cream if you buy the fuel the day before the increase. Just like on the current falling market, most tanks will be being run very light to avoid carrying any overpriced fuel as the price falls.

Going back to my earlier point about needing 3 good sites, only for enabling sufficient buying power to negotiate price.

[BeverlyHillsCop]

Filled up the tank on the way home from work... $1.21/l for 98... The place was packed, even had AFP police doing traffic duties to try and help manage the flow... pulled into the queue at costco.. eventually got the the fuel pump... next minute a full out brawl breaks out between two people who were filling up... full on punches, blood, torn clothing... OVER FUCKING FUEL!!!!! seriously.. the place is fucking chaos!!!