What if gas stations allowed consumers to pay by the month instead of per gallon?
The gas station would offer a special card that works like a credit card and gives customers free unlimited gasoline.
Each month, you’d have to pay a certain fee to keep the card activated.
The card would only work on gas stations under the same name (can’t use a BP card to buy Exxon gas)
Lastly, between each time you use the card, you will have to spend a minimum of $15 on purchases of goods and services and charge it to the card. Those items you will have to pay for separately.
For example, if you use the card to get free gasoline, but don’t buy at least $15 of merchandise, you will have to pay by the gallon in the meantime, and use your regular credit card.
The goal of the company would be to make more on the monthly fee than you actually charge them for gas. Your hope is to use out more free gas than you would have had to pay.
Could this gimmick be profitable?
Also the gas station would make small commission on ads that could be printed on the gasoline card, places that want to get the $15 out of you would market their names
Oh one more thing!
To make the card non-transferrable, all you have to do is require scanning of your driver’s license after scanning the gas card.
and photo ID to use the card on merchandise
and car used must be registered in your name. If it’s not, and you get randomly searched, you pay a penalty fine of $200.00
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January 23rd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
It would not be profitable at all, in fact you would lose a considerable amount of money. These kind of “monthly fee” services only work when the customers don’t use the product that much, but gasoline is something that pretty much everyone uses on a regular basis. The gas station would lose a considerable amount of money. Especially since these people with the free gas cards will share them with friends and family.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Credit Card ….
January 29th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
It’s been done.
January 31st, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Depends if the Monthly Fee is fixed or not. I don’t think Gas Stations would like it very much if their income was not based on supply and became fixed. However, if the Credit Card were to be a tiered rate, where you pay more for the more fuel you purchase, then they would probably consider it.
It any case, though, I would imagine that, after hammering out some numbers, that the monthly fee would be a huge sum.