Gas stations not following minimum mark-up law

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Lots of folks blame Wisconsin’s minimum mark-up law for at least part of our high gas prices.

But most retailers are not charging anywhere near the required 6 percent above their costs.

Matt Hauser of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association says the average margin these days is less than 2 percent.

That’s with an average price of $3.34 a gallon for unleaded regular, as quoted by the Wisconsin Triple-A.

Competitive factors allow stations to charge less than the 6 percent mark-up, but they must file forms with the state and Hauser says many file every day.

He says most stations only net less than 4 cents a gallon after they pay all their obligations. That includes credit card fees charged to stations which let folks pay with plastic.

Waunakee distributor Randy Meffert says that’s not an option anymore. He says three-fourths of his customers use credit cards, because they don’t have the cash to pay for gasoline anymore.

When gas was $2 a gallon half his customers paid with cash or checks.

Tags: wisconsinnews, gasstation, markup, underminimum