For the past six months, I have been in a small town in SW Ohio, on a software contract. While I have been here, I have noticed a pattern to the pricing of gasoline in this town. On my way to work, I pass by five gas stations, and they all seem to follow the same pattern. Only one of the stations is ever more than a few cents per gallon different, except for specific situatinos, detailed below. (That one station is usually higher by three to five cents.)
When gas prices were falling, almost every day the price would drop by one or two cents. This would go on for about two weeks, and then the price would jump up by between twenty and twenty-five cents. Then, every day or so, the prices at all five stations would drop by a penny or two. Until, at some unknown point, all of the prices wouod jump by about 10%.
Similarly, now that prices are back on the rise, the price makes its jump, then heads back down, pennies at a time. Only to jump back up again. This time, though, it’s higher than the last time it jumped.
The different stations change their prices at different times. For instance, when prices were bottoming out, on my way to work one morning, one station advertised $1.909, while the station across the street had already jumped to $2.149; when I came back from work, all of the stations were at $2.149.
That differential in timing of prices can help, though. Last Tuesday, when I drove to work, all five stations were at $2.149; on the way back, one station had jumped 25 cents to $2.399, but another station about a mile further still advertised 2.159 (the actual price on the pump was 2.149), so of course I stopped in to refill. As I continued, the three remaining stations that I pass daily had already matched the 2.399 price. The following morning, all five had the same price.
Since all five of these stations seem to have the same pricing strategy, it is very tempting to claim collusion, especially since this is such a small town (approx. 12K people). However, when I visit other, larger cities nearby, the prices there are within a penny or two of the small town prices. I can’t, however, compare daily price changes, so I don’t know if they experience the same pattern of price changes.
tl:dr – prices here take a big jump, then decrease little by little until the next big jump.
How is it where you live? Do you see big jumps in prices, followed by a bunch of dinky reductions, until the next big jump? Or do the prices go up by one or two cents every other week or so?