You don’t understand what the “fuck” you are talking about. A manufacturer/distributor/wholesaler can suggest a MSRP, but they can’t enforce it, without violating anti-trust laws.
Do you have a cite otherwise?
Is it possible one of the gas stations is self serv while the other is full serv?
Normally the station that offers service charges more.
Moderator Note
Dial it back. No warnings issued, but let’s tone it down.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Sorry for responding in kind. I shouldn’t have done it.
Having received further information, I will update my own post. Vertical price fixing, including MAP, was per se illegal from 1911 until 2007. Now it may be illegal, if a court determines so under the rule of reason.
Fronts for money laundering?
Retail outlet for dope dealers?
One is run by the Federal Government?
Growing up with a family-run retail store on our home property, I can assure you that there are lots of ways for a manufacturer to ;enforce; their suggested retail prices, without involving laws. Like being ‘out of stock’ when your order arrives, especially on the new high-fashion items for the season. Or asking for a larger down payment for goods, or decreasing the time you have to pay. Or cutting you out of the shared-cost advertising, because they’ve decided that your local newspaper/radio/TV doesn’t meet their standards.
What is a “full serv” gas station? 
It’s a pun.
They are few & far between, a rarety.
Here in river city there was a “full service” gas station. They would pump your gas, wash your windscreen, check your oil, check the air in your tires, & do whatever car related service you asked them to do. They also have/had CLEAN restrooms. Very important.
It was a mom & pop operation, & was only open from 06:00 to 19:00. The gas was at least $0.60 higher then their closest competitor, but there was often a line to get to the pumps. They themselves (the owners) were in their 80s. Their sons do/did most of the work, but I saw her pumping gas about a year ago.
They also do minor repairs in their bays. Many folks liked the convenience of a one stop shop. They are near downtown & will give folks courtesy rides to and from the station while the car is in the shop. They are not a taxi service, but they will get you to and from their station.
They are in a unique position, as they have owned the property with no liens for over thirty years. This keeps their overhead down and allows them to survive on a lower income then many of the other stations. The shop is the money maker, & the gasoline was a service that they provided. Since they had a lower volume of fuel flow then most other stations, they paid more for their fuel then those other stations, & thus, had to charge more. I think that they just broke even on the fuel.
The old folks have now retired, & the sons dropped the fuel end of it. It cost them too much in time to keep enough pump jockies around to take care of the customers. As one son told me, “Its hard to get good help these days”. It is a sad thing as I would not doubt that I have seen my last “full service station”.
My (layman) understanding of Leegin was that pricing can be viewed as a function of quality. Why this is not always the case, the reality was that public perception tends to see higher priced goods as better and thus Leegin had a right to demand a higher price reflective of their marketing strategy.
Is that not correct?
@jz78817 Were the stations owned by the distributor, like when Chevron was owned by Standard Oil, and would that make a legal difference in regards to requiring a minimum price?
There was a place near here that had insanely high gas prices, but lots of old folks used them because they were full service and they could get personal accounts there. They’d settle up the bill monthly.
Sure they can. When I sold auto accessories we either comped with the MAP pricing or the distributor wouldn’t sell to us any longer.
Some people are price-sensitive and some aren’t. Some people are willing to pay more for certain brands of gas that they perceive as better. Some people are convinced that their cars run better on certain brands of gas. Some people distrust cheap gas.
Well then Apple has been breaking the law a lot longer than they’ve been selling eBooks.
I was going to suggest a version of this. Some businesses with small fleets will use a station under contract. Their fleet vehicles could pull in, sign for the gas and the station and fleet owner would settle up later. The convenience of this arrangement was valued high enough by the fleet owner to put up with slightly higher gas prices.
Any other drive in sales traffic to the gas station was gravy.
That would be my guess; the 10 cent higher one is well-positioned, and/or on a larger/higher-traffic street, while the cheaper one is badly positioned and/on the smaller, less-traveled street.
Look at it this way- let’s say you’re in heavy traffic, or are crunched for time, and you’re on a major road heading N, and approaching an intersection.
There are gas stations on the NE corner and NW corners, with the NE one charging $0.10 more per gallon. To get to the NW corner gas station, you have to take a left at the intersection and then turn right into the gas station. To get back heading N from the NW gas station, you have to do some combination of a u-turn and another turn, since you can only go W or S from the station.
However, if you go to the NE corner, you have to pass through the intersection, and take a quick right into the station. Then, when you’re done, you just go right again.
Is all that pain in the ass trouble involved with going to the NW gas station worth the $1.20-$3.00 (depending on gas tank size) when compared to the ease of going to the NE station? A LOT of people would say no, and just pay more.