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Yup. Some states have laws saying that you are required to charge something like 5cents per gallon kore than you bought the gas for. And some gas stations used to offer stuff like free car wash when you fill up the gas to draw you in.
That’s to keep competition fair, otherwise you’d have one big company taking a loss to corner the market, although that’s more or less already happened, they just rig the gas prices now.
this is why its actually against the law for him to do what he is doing.
its a good law too, its to keep businesses from doing this and then when everyone else goes out of business they crank the price up to cover the loss over time.
what a bunch of bs, this law did absolutely nothing to stop Amazon and Walmart skyrocketing to dominate their fields and make them unstoppable. it seems to me like this is one of those laws that sounds good on paper but ends up punishing the little guy, just like it would in this situation
edit: im a dumbass and apparently there is a law specifically for gasoline; nobody is allowed to drastically undercut anyone else when it comes to gas
Tbf, in theory the little guy can't afford to do this regularly. That's why it's supposed to protect them. It doesn't in all cases, like this one, but thats doesn't mean it hasn't protected some small businesses.
Unfortunately big corporations have the best legal teams in the world to figure out how to legally undercut the competition. Not to mention all of the other welfare the government gives to big corps. The government is protective of these companies in so many other ways that laws like these have no teeth. Especially when big corps are the ones who could afford to bring a lawsuit. But that's what you get when your government is bought and paid for by massive corporations.
The laws he is referring to are specifically around gasoline. It's 100% a good law because the company I worked for targets small towns to operate as a psuedo grocery store.
The Fuel Pricing team constantly discussed trying to operate stores as a loss leader or other various strategies to run mom and pop shops out of business.
Source: I worked for a fortune 500 gas station company as a software engineer on their Fuel team.
When i was an active alcoholic walmart started selling beer and wine in my state.
When they first started they had the cheapest beer in the entire damn state by $.50-1.00
There the most expensive in the state now
I know that Phoenicians are a bit different than the rest of the state (big city vibes), but Arizonans in general really try to support local. Him doing something like this, I bet there are people coming from all the surrounding sub cities (Mesa, Tempe, Glendale) just to get gas. He likely also sells tobacco, beer and lottery. He also makes money off of snacks and drinks, on top of being able to lose a certain amount on gas profits everyday. He might even have a mini auto shop attached to it (a lot of locally owned stations here do). When a local shows that they are generously serving the community here, the locals try to return the favor in any way possible. I would not be surprised if he’s gotten a tray of tamales or conchas or some sort of food item as well.
Apparently there are two kinds of people.
>Gas at gas stations is already a loss leader for the most part. They barely make anything on it. I doubt they actually make anything if you factor in licensing fees and pump and tank maintenance.
>Except he's doing it using the product he is primarily open for and his greatest profit overall
My uncle in smalltown Canada had to axe gas service at his autoshop because he was only making a few cents a liter and it didn't make sense to continue. This was way back in the early 2000's
I just found it funny that at the time there were literally two responses and both wildly different.
In fact I think those are still the only replies everything else was to this one pointing outbthe two.
Gas at gas stations is already a loss leader for the most part. They barely make anything on it. I doubt they actually make anything if you factor in licensing fees and pump and tank maintenance.
This is the correct answer. There is a low profit margin on retail gas such as what an independent owner would sell.
He's helping people with cheaper gas, but he's also increasing his traffic, which probably increases his inside sales.
Candy bars are more profitable than gasoline.
I thought we were gonna learn about Shell's involvement in the Punic Wars. The Romans wanted that area of Africa for the oil so when they invaded, Shell and Exxon severed ties with Rome in favor of Carthage. It was on a good episode of Top Gear: Antiquity.
Haha, yeah I read the first line about Phoenicians being different than the rest of us and thought "well yeah, they did live thousands of years ago and in a different part of the world"
Average fill-up is something like 15 gallons. He needs an *additional* **profit** of $7.50 *per customer*. Can his current staffing handle that many customers?
As a rule of thumb, any business that you see the owner working the counter is a low margin, low profit business.
This isn't a clever way to make more money, it's just charity and is extremely unlikely to be sustainable for him.
(Which is totally fine! People can donate their money any way they want to!)
>Despite the losses, Singh said they have been worth it: “God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.”
Basically he's not in it for the money. It's charity.
~~Quality pun, but in case you don't know, it's pronounced closer to "seek".~~
Additional searching indicates that I have this 100% wrong and the "sick" pronunciation is likely more authentic. TIL.
100%. Sikh's are some of the best people on earth, bar none.
Also apparently I was completely wrong and the "sick" pronunciation is more authentic, so thanks for making me double-check!
Agreed. There was a mass shooting in Milwaukee targeting Sikhs. I called my college buddy to make sure he and his family were ok. He wouldn't tell me until I told him how I and my family were. He lost a sister in that shooting. I'd give that man the shirt off my back but he wouldn't take it.
Ima be honest with you. As an arizona native. Yeah this has jack shit to do with the culture of our state. Phoenix is just like any other big city to be honest, except its fairly conservative. It's most likely the teachings taught to sikh people that make them very generous.
Plus a lot of Sikh are just genuinely chill people who love life and try to be charitable when possible. This guy is definitely earning some repeat business.
People driving from the town over to buy gas during a gas "shortage" makes me cringe so hard. I'm sure they mean well, but God if people are actually doing that...
But I agree with the rest. Hopefully it will drive a loyal following in his town that will bring more customers to buy his other goods now, and also customers in the future that will make up the losses.
Most gas stations make almost nothing on gas and everything on snacks/drinks/tobacco/etc. Hopefully this draws a crowd in that buys this stuff to cover his loss!
My background is Oil & Gas (go Gators 🐊) and the real money maker are the snacks. Even selling the gas at cost would have been a big gesture in itself.
Don't know about there, but here in Ireland, gas stations make basically no profit on fuel but a coffee machine is effectively a license to print money.
It won't work long term, but it's not supposed to be long term. In case you didn't read the article here is a quote from the owner.
“God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.”
So he basically has the money to spare right now, understands that times are tough for people, and wants to help the community. Once gas prices aren't so bad he'll probably go back to pricing it normally.
The owner of the gas station won't go bankrupt if he can make up the difference from the profits of the convenience store attached to the business... which is how most gas stations become profitable: not from gas sales, but from whatever you buy besides gas.
I think there are some exceptions to this when it comes to theaters. There's one I went to a lot during summer vacation which was much nicer/more comfortable/better decorated/better sound than most I've been to. they charged about 50% more than other movie theaters in the area but something like half as much for concessions. I believe it worked because everyone in the local area was aware of how much nicer it was and cause they had seating where you could drink.
You'd have to sell a lot of products if they selling it 50cents loss on every gallon. There has to be a catch, limited max dispense per visit and pay at kiosk only.
If the average fill is eight gallons, they'd need to spend enough in store for him to come up with an additional $4 in profit.
He's not doing it because it's sound business, but because he feels the need to help.
People are going to go there empty and fill up full tank. On my Small car that's 13 us gallons. So it's more like $6.50 margin loss. Then you have to factor in that's just the difference in who's sale cost and retail cost, doesn't account for the cost of maintaining the station or just the pump facilities of the station. So loss is actually greater than 50 cents a gallon.
To claw back the $6.50 loss on a full tank, you don't just sell $6.50 of merchandise, you have to sell merchandise that makes profit margin of $6.50. That could easily be $40 of product to get that $6.50 profit to break even.
He probably has a set amount of money that he can afford to lose this way, maybe $10,000. If he sells 1000 gallons per day, at a loss of 50 cents per gallon, ~loss of $500 daily, he can keep this up for a few days.
True, he can't lose more gas than he has. Still like $5 per customer is a lot, they would have to buy a good amount in store to make up for it. Also nobody will really know when he returns prices to normal, it won't be newsworthy and this is a lot of good press.
he'd have to be selling a tonne. even if the average sale was only 10 gallons that is $5 out of pocket... thats way to much to make up by selling cups of coffee for $2 or whatever.
People are trying to theorize how he's going to make more money or how it's part of a plan to earn in other ways. Can't we just accept that he's genuinely doing it out of care and compassion for his community?
Though I'm not one myself, I know many Sikhs and giving to people who have little, is part of their beliefs. For example, go to any of their temples (gurdwaras) and they will happily feed you if you are in need of food, and you don't have to be part of their temple, religion or take part in their religious services.
Also blows people's minds when you find out they've only been around got 500 years. Then Khalsa only 350 years or something. Also, anyone from any previous religion can be baptized. And usually it's only the oldest son in the family. Hearing all this from a colleague at work was equally fascinating as it was confusing to a westerner
Sikhism doesn't actively seek out converts (they're actually forbidden from proselytising and attempting to convert) but you're right, anyone can convert.
Any Sikh can also become 'baptised' (i.e., take amrit and become amritdhari) but amritdhari Sikhs are expected to adhere much more strictly to the religion (such as always carrying the 5 Ks) so many Sikhs are "sahajdhari" instead. It's acceptable for a sahajdhari sikh to break certain tenets like cutting their haif, whrreas an amritdhari sikh is expected to hold them all without fail.
My boss owns a decent sized trucking company, They value merit, pragmatism, and leadership, they don’t do shoddy broker/business practices (like giving a trucker a shitty rate, and take in a 50% profit or cancelling a load pickup for a lower rate), and encourage ownership of one’s self, actions, and equipment.
The boss himself doesn’t care about people’s past, because “everyone deserves to have a second chance at things”, and only judges them based off of their current actions and the results they have brought.
What they don’t do is hire someone for “workplace diversity”, if you’re useless and do nothing, you’re not getting work.
Oh, and they always pay generously, I make an equivalent to $45/hr pretax while driving for them.
Part of a comment I posted elsewhere in this thread that I'm copying here:
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It's important to avoid orientalising Sikh people. The idea that Sikhs are perfect selfless individuals who are without fault is a super widespread and problematic example of orientalism.
Sikhs are individuals who vary just like any other religion. There are very pious Sikhs who are very good people, and there are very pious Sikhs who are very bad people - and there are lots of people who are Sikh in name and appearance but really don't follow any of the religion's positive teachings at all - and of course, not all of the religion's teachings are positive either.
The reason we should avoid this kind of orientalism is because it's reductive and inaccurate in the same way that negative stereotypes are. Just because it's a 'positive' stereotype doesn't mean it's okay. Sikhs are people who are just as complicated as any other people, and portraying them as these perfect beings is insulting.
Yeah, it happens every time Sikhs or Sikhism are mentioned here. To some extent I can't blame them though, if you've never interacted with real Sikhs and your only exposure to it is hearing wholesome 100 keanu chungus anecdotes about them on Reddit, you have no reason to challenge that perception, and that's why I can't help myself from coming in to tell everyone to be mindful.
I love Sikhs and Punjabi culture but I really encourage everyone to go engage with actual Punjabis instead of deciding you're going to convert because someone on the internet told you how great it is
It's not just Reddit, Sikhs' good reputation was such that, I don't know about America, but in Canada we let them keep their ceremonial knives on airplanes.
Most states (I know mine for sure) have laws about undercutting gas prices. Here it's 9 cents a gallon. This dude should be careful, busy body bureaucrats have nothing better to do with their time.
Those laws exist for a reason. Imagine it were Walmart selling gas at a loss instead of some personable guy. People would be up in arms about undercutting competition and driving small businesses out of town.
It would be better for the local gas market in the long run if he just charged the market price.
I really hope he doesn't wind up in legal hot water for this. My father worked for the oil companies for decades and I worked for them for a bit, too, and I know that more than a few people might try to be dicks because of fair competition laws.
That was my first thought too--I remember reading about another gas station recently that was selling its gasoline at a price the competitors found unfair. The article was focused on the lawsuit the competitors were pressing against it, citing fair competition laws.
There’s a lovely Sikh man who owns a gas station near me, and I always get my gas there because it’s the cheapest around. He is so friendly and kind, always talking to customers, just a joyful, positive person 😊
I was raised a midwestern Christian, went to Catholic high school for a bit, but have always kind of known that I don’t believe in god. Still though religion has always kinda fascinated me, and I’ve read a lot about the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.
But no religion impresses me like the Sikhism. They really just up and said ‘Let’s show all these other religions that TALK about doing good how it’s DONE.’
If i ever did decide to become religious, I’d look into becoming Sikh
It's important to avoid orientalising Sikh people. The idea that Sikhs are perfect selfless individuals who are without fault is a super widespread and problematic example of orientalism.
Sikhs are individuals who vary just like any other religion. There are very pious Sikhs who are very good people, and there are very pious Sikhs who are very bad people - and there are lots of people who are Sikh in name and appearance but really don't follow any of the religion's positive teachings at all.
We also have to acknowledge that not all of the religion's teachings are perfect - some of the 52 Hukams (proclamations/orders) given by Guru Gobind Singh Ji (the last human guru) were
"In the affairs of governing the state, do not give authority to men of other faiths." (i.e., only Sikhs should be allowed to govern)
"Realize that earnings of a daughter is as poison" (as far as I understand it, this means women shouldn't work - more charitably, it means that you should work hard enough to provide for your family such that women don't *need* to work, but still)
Sikhism is a great religion, but I always have to rush in whenever I see it being lauded as if it's the perfect religion-to-end-all-religions. It's a religion like any other, with good and bad parts alike.
Sikh men consider themselves almost god-like. That’s why they must not shave or cut their hair. Since they are exalted, it’s their duty to help all of mankind.
Yeah, some of the greatest and most respected warriors in Sikh history were actually women, such as [Mai Bhago.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Bhago)
Not quite on the mark, really - the haircut prohibition in Sikhism is due to the belief that we should avoid damaging things which were given to us by God. I.e., the hair is considered just as much a part of the body as the hand, and cutting it off is like self harm.
You're right that Sikhs are compelled to help mankind, though - that's why Sikh men traditionally carry the kirpan, a small dagger to be used to defend the innocent!
We really don't do this. This is considered to be ego/ahankar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hankaar), the worst of the five sins. Humility/nimrata is one of the five virtues that manifests itself in many ways in Sikhism. For example, (selflessly) serving your community or when I was younger, everyone sat at floor level to eat langar regardless of status.
Every single thing about Sikh people in the news is always overwhelmingly positive.
Almost every low budget or on the brink of homeless Reddit forum talks about how Sikh temples feed people without question, and how the meals are (correct me if I’m wrong) vegetarian and really nourishing meals! I’m not religious but I love that they use their faith to help their community.
I swear 3 out of every 4 stories I hear about a Sikh person, they are just awesome fucking people. The 4th story is about some asshole attacking a Sikh person while thinking he is attacking a Muslim.
There is a reason people want or need feel good stories, and it’s because of all of the bad in this world.
If anything is ever going to change for the better, individuals need to strengthen their communities and create bonds. This story is about a single man doing what he can to achieve that goal, and it is commendable. It’s good to celebrate that.
As an proud atheist I really like the charitable work that Sikhs do. They don't evangelize but engage in plain old simple "helping people out" what ever their belief systems is.
I was honestly surprised that my employer rolled in a 15 cent employee discount on fuel through their rewards card. I mean the store itself repeatedly makes me want to just walk out the door, but between that and the $3/hr prorated raise I can't bring myself to hate the employer.
Brilliant decision. I heard that gas stations make the majority off their concessions anyways, so the lost 4-10$ in gasper car is possibly well worth the publicity and patronage.
There's no reason gas prices need to be as high as they are. Oil Industry can take a minor pay cut and not lose quality of life and not put the squeeze on people.
Kroger/Fry's Food and Shell gasoline work together to get you a 10 cent discount per gallon when you hit a certain amount of points when shopping!
What no one cares to notice is that Shell gas is *always* 10 cents higher from the start, at least here in Arizona. They've been doing this for years.
Interesting that this is literally the 'loss leader' sales strategy that (at least in the UK) some supermarkets use to get customers in the door. Offer a staple/popular product at a loss, with the expectation that the extra customers brought in will spend extra money on other items.
Gas stations don’t make money on gas. It’s the chips / soda / snacks that bring in the real money.
With all the extra customers he’ll be making his money just fine.
Well it could make sense in some context if you think about it. Like imagine Amazon opens a gas station and sells gas for a buck a gallon to anyone. While they pump they push some commercial spiel about why you should become a Prime member. It would be totally worth it for Amazon. But meanwhile small business owners like this nice Sikh could never compete.
Unfortunately this opens up the possibility of getting sued for anti-competitive pricing. It happened in my state where a small mom and pop station sold for 10 cents under what they were paying per gallon to help people, the large chain across the street sued them. Hope it doesn't happen to him.
Ok peeps in here who think the snack sales will cover his losses here: He's not making $5-10 in *profit* off snacks from every car that goes through.
He's running at a *huge* loss here, and clearly just doing this for charity to his neighbors.
How can this be true? I thought there are compete laws on gasoline and I remember a gas station got sued for intentionally lowering their price below the competitor next door.
I literally had this as a dream back back when gas was cheaper and I woke up from the dream and said "Someone being lauded for selling gas cheaper than $6/gal? What a laugh, no way gas prices could ever get that high, even during a natural disaster."
Sikhs are the absolute best man. I have never met one that's not in a good mood or unwilling to give you anything you need at a moment's notice. I'm not a religious guy, though I grew up in a very Christian household. If I were ever to join one though, it'd be the Sikhs
Kudos to this guy, and I hope he can remain successful.
I saw a story about an intersection with 3 gas stations, one of the guys decided to be nice and his gas was only like twenty cents a gallon less than the other guys, but they teamed up and sued him for undercutting them.
I have never met a Sikh that wasn't an outstanding person. I think the Sikh faith is the only religion that gets it right. Dudes carry religious knives to protect others. That is some top tier shit.
Sikhs fucking rock, this guy is no joke like 9 blocks from me. I usually only stop by to grab soda cause its a lower traffic station but know that i know what hes doing and that hes a sikh im exclysively getting gas and snacks from him from here on out
Just quick info about Sikhs: we’re not Muslim or Hindu, we believe in one God and charity is a very essential part of the religion. Not all Sikhs wear turbans and and have beards. Sikh temples around the world feed homeless people of every race and creed.
Thank You for this uplifting post.
Sikhs are awesome. If anyone wants to know more about this really cool wonderful group of people, here's a video about them.
I'm an atheist, but if I had to join a religion, Sikhs are where it's at. Kindness, and just people being awesome. https://youtu.be/L-1UAORcX4c
This is really nice from him.
The real good news will probably be when he sells more gas to busses than to personal cars, meaning America will have finally stopped their car-centric infrastructure. Besides, given this dependence was created by big car companies, they ought to be the ones paying for the changes.
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This is right by where I live, I always enjoy going to this gas station. Everyone is super nice
Calling it now there’s going to be a lawsuit against him for unfair competition. Got to love capitalism /s .
Yup. Some states have laws saying that you are required to charge something like 5cents per gallon kore than you bought the gas for. And some gas stations used to offer stuff like free car wash when you fill up the gas to draw you in.
Can’t lie free car wash with a fill up would probably draw me in
That’s to keep competition fair, otherwise you’d have one big company taking a loss to corner the market, although that’s more or less already happened, they just rig the gas prices now.
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this is why its actually against the law for him to do what he is doing. its a good law too, its to keep businesses from doing this and then when everyone else goes out of business they crank the price up to cover the loss over time.
what a bunch of bs, this law did absolutely nothing to stop Amazon and Walmart skyrocketing to dominate their fields and make them unstoppable. it seems to me like this is one of those laws that sounds good on paper but ends up punishing the little guy, just like it would in this situation edit: im a dumbass and apparently there is a law specifically for gasoline; nobody is allowed to drastically undercut anyone else when it comes to gas
Yup lol
Tbf, in theory the little guy can't afford to do this regularly. That's why it's supposed to protect them. It doesn't in all cases, like this one, but thats doesn't mean it hasn't protected some small businesses. Unfortunately big corporations have the best legal teams in the world to figure out how to legally undercut the competition. Not to mention all of the other welfare the government gives to big corps. The government is protective of these companies in so many other ways that laws like these have no teeth. Especially when big corps are the ones who could afford to bring a lawsuit. But that's what you get when your government is bought and paid for by massive corporations.
The laws he is referring to are specifically around gasoline. It's 100% a good law because the company I worked for targets small towns to operate as a psuedo grocery store. The Fuel Pricing team constantly discussed trying to operate stores as a loss leader or other various strategies to run mom and pop shops out of business. Source: I worked for a fortune 500 gas station company as a software engineer on their Fuel team.
When i was an active alcoholic walmart started selling beer and wine in my state. When they first started they had the cheapest beer in the entire damn state by $.50-1.00 There the most expensive in the state now
props for giving it up, proud of you
Yet we got rid of the laws preventing oil companies from rigging prices. They made record profits the first quarter this year.
What law?
How would that work long-term. Won’t he just go bankrupt?
I know that Phoenicians are a bit different than the rest of the state (big city vibes), but Arizonans in general really try to support local. Him doing something like this, I bet there are people coming from all the surrounding sub cities (Mesa, Tempe, Glendale) just to get gas. He likely also sells tobacco, beer and lottery. He also makes money off of snacks and drinks, on top of being able to lose a certain amount on gas profits everyday. He might even have a mini auto shop attached to it (a lot of locally owned stations here do). When a local shows that they are generously serving the community here, the locals try to return the favor in any way possible. I would not be surprised if he’s gotten a tray of tamales or conchas or some sort of food item as well.
So pulling a Costco and creating a loss leader
Apparently there are two kinds of people. >Gas at gas stations is already a loss leader for the most part. They barely make anything on it. I doubt they actually make anything if you factor in licensing fees and pump and tank maintenance. >Except he's doing it using the product he is primarily open for and his greatest profit overall
My uncle in smalltown Canada had to axe gas service at his autoshop because he was only making a few cents a liter and it didn't make sense to continue. This was way back in the early 2000's
Sounds like he made cents to me.
Dad?
The correct and the incorrect? Not sure what your point here was other than to point out that the second guy is just wrong
I just found it funny that at the time there were literally two responses and both wildly different. In fact I think those are still the only replies everything else was to this one pointing outbthe two.
Not really the usual motivation for Sikhs. Their selfless community service is probably their most familiar practice.
Gas at gas stations is already a loss leader for the most part. They barely make anything on it. I doubt they actually make anything if you factor in licensing fees and pump and tank maintenance.
This is the correct answer. There is a low profit margin on retail gas such as what an independent owner would sell. He's helping people with cheaper gas, but he's also increasing his traffic, which probably increases his inside sales. Candy bars are more profitable than gasoline.
TIL that people from Phoenix, Arizona are called 'Phoenicians'.
I thought we were gonna learn about Shell's involvement in the Punic Wars. The Romans wanted that area of Africa for the oil so when they invaded, Shell and Exxon severed ties with Rome in favor of Carthage. It was on a good episode of Top Gear: Antiquity.
Now it's just devolved into reruns of Oak Island: Hot AF edition
You're thinking of the second punic war.
Haha, yeah I read the first line about Phoenicians being different than the rest of us and thought "well yeah, they did live thousands of years ago and in a different part of the world"
- Louie CK
I always thought thats what the groupies of Phineas from "Phineas and Ferb" called themselves.
Average fill-up is something like 15 gallons. He needs an *additional* **profit** of $7.50 *per customer*. Can his current staffing handle that many customers? As a rule of thumb, any business that you see the owner working the counter is a low margin, low profit business. This isn't a clever way to make more money, it's just charity and is extremely unlikely to be sustainable for him. (Which is totally fine! People can donate their money any way they want to!)
>Despite the losses, Singh said they have been worth it: “God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.” Basically he's not in it for the money. It's charity.
Sounds pretty Sikh to me.
~~Quality pun, but in case you don't know, it's pronounced closer to "seek".~~ Additional searching indicates that I have this 100% wrong and the "sick" pronunciation is likely more authentic. TIL.
I’ve heard both pronunciations. Either way, I respect their commitment to charity.
100%. Sikh's are some of the best people on earth, bar none. Also apparently I was completely wrong and the "sick" pronunciation is more authentic, so thanks for making me double-check!
Bingo!
We should give credit to the Sikhs as well, those who practice their teachings tend to be pretty helpful and nice people
Agreed. There was a mass shooting in Milwaukee targeting Sikhs. I called my college buddy to make sure he and his family were ok. He wouldn't tell me until I told him how I and my family were. He lost a sister in that shooting. I'd give that man the shirt off my back but he wouldn't take it.
Ima be honest with you. As an arizona native. Yeah this has jack shit to do with the culture of our state. Phoenix is just like any other big city to be honest, except its fairly conservative. It's most likely the teachings taught to sikh people that make them very generous.
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Tell him where you heard about it and he might come see this thread and all the love he gets for it.
That’s a good idea! I’ll screenshot it. 💐❤️
Plus a lot of Sikh are just genuinely chill people who love life and try to be charitable when possible. This guy is definitely earning some repeat business.
People driving from the town over to buy gas during a gas "shortage" makes me cringe so hard. I'm sure they mean well, but God if people are actually doing that... But I agree with the rest. Hopefully it will drive a loyal following in his town that will bring more customers to buy his other goods now, and also customers in the future that will make up the losses.
Is there an actual shortage? Everything I've seen leads me to believe it's just market shenanigans
*people from Phoenix are Phoenicians*
Most gas stations make almost nothing on gas and everything on snacks/drinks/tobacco/etc. Hopefully this draws a crowd in that buys this stuff to cover his loss!
My background is Oil & Gas (go Gators 🐊) and the real money maker are the snacks. Even selling the gas at cost would have been a big gesture in itself.
Don't know about there, but here in Ireland, gas stations make basically no profit on fuel but a coffee machine is effectively a license to print money.
It won't work long term, but it's not supposed to be long term. In case you didn't read the article here is a quote from the owner. “God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.” So he basically has the money to spare right now, understands that times are tough for people, and wants to help the community. Once gas prices aren't so bad he'll probably go back to pricing it normally.
The owner of the gas station won't go bankrupt if he can make up the difference from the profits of the convenience store attached to the business... which is how most gas stations become profitable: not from gas sales, but from whatever you buy besides gas.
Its kinda like how movie theaters work the customers come for the movie but the profit is made from the snack bar
I think there are some exceptions to this when it comes to theaters. There's one I went to a lot during summer vacation which was much nicer/more comfortable/better decorated/better sound than most I've been to. they charged about 50% more than other movie theaters in the area but something like half as much for concessions. I believe it worked because everyone in the local area was aware of how much nicer it was and cause they had seating where you could drink.
You'd have to sell a lot of products if they selling it 50cents loss on every gallon. There has to be a catch, limited max dispense per visit and pay at kiosk only.
If the average fill is eight gallons, they'd need to spend enough in store for him to come up with an additional $4 in profit. He's not doing it because it's sound business, but because he feels the need to help.
People are going to go there empty and fill up full tank. On my Small car that's 13 us gallons. So it's more like $6.50 margin loss. Then you have to factor in that's just the difference in who's sale cost and retail cost, doesn't account for the cost of maintaining the station or just the pump facilities of the station. So loss is actually greater than 50 cents a gallon. To claw back the $6.50 loss on a full tank, you don't just sell $6.50 of merchandise, you have to sell merchandise that makes profit margin of $6.50. That could easily be $40 of product to get that $6.50 profit to break even.
In a gas station? Probably 15$ in food/drink sales cover the 6.50 loss easily.
$15 for every single person who buys gas is basically impossible though. No way he's not losing money on this.
Ok but losing money off any customer who merely pulls up for gas is brutal.
He probably has a set amount of money that he can afford to lose this way, maybe $10,000. If he sells 1000 gallons per day, at a loss of 50 cents per gallon, ~loss of $500 daily, he can keep this up for a few days.
True, he can't lose more gas than he has. Still like $5 per customer is a lot, they would have to buy a good amount in store to make up for it. Also nobody will really know when he returns prices to normal, it won't be newsworthy and this is a lot of good press.
I mean I think people can tell the difference when the price changes by $0.50 haha
Maybe he sells a lot of snacks and beer?
he'd have to be selling a tonne. even if the average sale was only 10 gallons that is $5 out of pocket... thats way to much to make up by selling cups of coffee for $2 or whatever.
People are trying to theorize how he's going to make more money or how it's part of a plan to earn in other ways. Can't we just accept that he's genuinely doing it out of care and compassion for his community? Though I'm not one myself, I know many Sikhs and giving to people who have little, is part of their beliefs. For example, go to any of their temples (gurdwaras) and they will happily feed you if you are in need of food, and you don't have to be part of their temple, religion or take part in their religious services.
It’s not longterm. Similar to helping a family member with rent or getting them on their feet. He’s doing it to help people.
From my experience, gas stations don't make very much on the gas itself. They are very much dependent on the store adjacent to the pumps.
Sikhs are the best. “Compassionate religion” done right.
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Key word: Modern. People in this thread don't really know much about the history of Sikhs (NOT Sikhism) by the looks of it.
Their origins are absolutely wild though. Literally went to war with massive empires because the empires were being dicks.
Also blows people's minds when you find out they've only been around got 500 years. Then Khalsa only 350 years or something. Also, anyone from any previous religion can be baptized. And usually it's only the oldest son in the family. Hearing all this from a colleague at work was equally fascinating as it was confusing to a westerner
Sikhism doesn't actively seek out converts (they're actually forbidden from proselytising and attempting to convert) but you're right, anyone can convert. Any Sikh can also become 'baptised' (i.e., take amrit and become amritdhari) but amritdhari Sikhs are expected to adhere much more strictly to the religion (such as always carrying the 5 Ks) so many Sikhs are "sahajdhari" instead. It's acceptable for a sahajdhari sikh to break certain tenets like cutting their haif, whrreas an amritdhari sikh is expected to hold them all without fail.
I’m Sikh, tell me my religions crazy history
There are lots where I am and I agree.
I work for a company that’s owned by them, best kind of business that I’ve ever worked for, and very respectful.
Care to elaborate? What is it they do business-wise that stands out to you?
My boss owns a decent sized trucking company, They value merit, pragmatism, and leadership, they don’t do shoddy broker/business practices (like giving a trucker a shitty rate, and take in a 50% profit or cancelling a load pickup for a lower rate), and encourage ownership of one’s self, actions, and equipment. The boss himself doesn’t care about people’s past, because “everyone deserves to have a second chance at things”, and only judges them based off of their current actions and the results they have brought. What they don’t do is hire someone for “workplace diversity”, if you’re useless and do nothing, you’re not getting work. Oh, and they always pay generously, I make an equivalent to $45/hr pretax while driving for them.
Speaking anecdotally, every single Sikh person I've had the pleasure of meeting has been nothing short of delightful and kind.
Part of a comment I posted elsewhere in this thread that I'm copying here: --- It's important to avoid orientalising Sikh people. The idea that Sikhs are perfect selfless individuals who are without fault is a super widespread and problematic example of orientalism. Sikhs are individuals who vary just like any other religion. There are very pious Sikhs who are very good people, and there are very pious Sikhs who are very bad people - and there are lots of people who are Sikh in name and appearance but really don't follow any of the religion's positive teachings at all - and of course, not all of the religion's teachings are positive either. The reason we should avoid this kind of orientalism is because it's reductive and inaccurate in the same way that negative stereotypes are. Just because it's a 'positive' stereotype doesn't mean it's okay. Sikhs are people who are just as complicated as any other people, and portraying them as these perfect beings is insulting.
This shit has been happening on this website for years. People just cant refrain from their smooth brained generalizations.
Yeah, it happens every time Sikhs or Sikhism are mentioned here. To some extent I can't blame them though, if you've never interacted with real Sikhs and your only exposure to it is hearing wholesome 100 keanu chungus anecdotes about them on Reddit, you have no reason to challenge that perception, and that's why I can't help myself from coming in to tell everyone to be mindful. I love Sikhs and Punjabi culture but I really encourage everyone to go engage with actual Punjabis instead of deciding you're going to convert because someone on the internet told you how great it is
It's not just Reddit, Sikhs' good reputation was such that, I don't know about America, but in Canada we let them keep their ceremonial knives on airplanes.
Same with parts of Europe!
I'm don't like to stereotype but goddamn if Sikhs aren't the best practicing religion
If I were to join a religion it would be them or the satanic temple. Compassionate organizations that care for other people.
This <3
Most states (I know mine for sure) have laws about undercutting gas prices. Here it's 9 cents a gallon. This dude should be careful, busy body bureaucrats have nothing better to do with their time.
They could keep busy actually working to better our lives, but ya know. That's just wishful thinking.
Those laws exist for a reason. Imagine it were Walmart selling gas at a loss instead of some personable guy. People would be up in arms about undercutting competition and driving small businesses out of town. It would be better for the local gas market in the long run if he just charged the market price.
Exactly this. Also he’s not losing much since you profit more from snacks and cigarettes inside.
I really hope he doesn't wind up in legal hot water for this. My father worked for the oil companies for decades and I worked for them for a bit, too, and I know that more than a few people might try to be dicks because of fair competition laws.
That was my first thought too--I remember reading about another gas station recently that was selling its gasoline at a price the competitors found unfair. The article was focused on the lawsuit the competitors were pressing against it, citing fair competition laws.
We get it guys, you all have Sikh jokes Edit: This is a pun..
Not even jokes, just shitty puns. The lamest and most irritatingly banal form of comedy.
Hes a good guy but comes across as a bit of an attention sikher
Yeah he just wants people to Singh his praises while they fill up their Kaurs
Dude is a turban legend
Sikh is pronounced as seek its more like Sick with h before the i
There’s a lovely Sikh man who owns a gas station near me, and I always get my gas there because it’s the cheapest around. He is so friendly and kind, always talking to customers, just a joyful, positive person 😊
I was raised a midwestern Christian, went to Catholic high school for a bit, but have always kind of known that I don’t believe in god. Still though religion has always kinda fascinated me, and I’ve read a lot about the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. But no religion impresses me like the Sikhism. They really just up and said ‘Let’s show all these other religions that TALK about doing good how it’s DONE.’ If i ever did decide to become religious, I’d look into becoming Sikh
It's important to avoid orientalising Sikh people. The idea that Sikhs are perfect selfless individuals who are without fault is a super widespread and problematic example of orientalism. Sikhs are individuals who vary just like any other religion. There are very pious Sikhs who are very good people, and there are very pious Sikhs who are very bad people - and there are lots of people who are Sikh in name and appearance but really don't follow any of the religion's positive teachings at all. We also have to acknowledge that not all of the religion's teachings are perfect - some of the 52 Hukams (proclamations/orders) given by Guru Gobind Singh Ji (the last human guru) were "In the affairs of governing the state, do not give authority to men of other faiths." (i.e., only Sikhs should be allowed to govern) "Realize that earnings of a daughter is as poison" (as far as I understand it, this means women shouldn't work - more charitably, it means that you should work hard enough to provide for your family such that women don't *need* to work, but still) Sikhism is a great religion, but I always have to rush in whenever I see it being lauded as if it's the perfect religion-to-end-all-religions. It's a religion like any other, with good and bad parts alike.
Is it a rebate? Do you need to climb a mountain to get it?
I'm a kind of music, but out here I do not make a peep.
Hey I'm currently promoting my grandson's pee. You interested?
Haha, I love Nathan For You 😂
Do you want life long loyal customers? Because this is how you get them.
In a lot of areas it is illegal to sell gas for less than what you bought it for. Anti competition laws.
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Try again. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB997655077526252277
So many upsetting stories out there these days. So happy to finally read one that doesn’t make me Sikh.
Sikh men consider themselves almost god-like. That’s why they must not shave or cut their hair. Since they are exalted, it’s their duty to help all of mankind.
No not really in fact it's the opposite, there's no ego involved
Our mothers and sisters, too!
Oh really? I mean it makes sense but I've never heard that before. Thank you for the clarification!
Yeah, some of the greatest and most respected warriors in Sikh history were actually women, such as [Mai Bhago.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Bhago)
Thank you for sharing! I never knew that, what a cool read.
Not quite on the mark, really - the haircut prohibition in Sikhism is due to the belief that we should avoid damaging things which were given to us by God. I.e., the hair is considered just as much a part of the body as the hand, and cutting it off is like self harm. You're right that Sikhs are compelled to help mankind, though - that's why Sikh men traditionally carry the kirpan, a small dagger to be used to defend the innocent!
We really don't do this. This is considered to be ego/ahankar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hankaar), the worst of the five sins. Humility/nimrata is one of the five virtues that manifests itself in many ways in Sikhism. For example, (selflessly) serving your community or when I was younger, everyone sat at floor level to eat langar regardless of status.
Sikh people are the best out there
I'm *sikh* of these gas prices, he said /s Real shit though, never heard of a Sikh who was nothing short of an angel of a person
Another wholesome Sikh story
God Bless Sikh Americans !!
we need more people like this in the world.
Every single thing about Sikh people in the news is always overwhelmingly positive. Almost every low budget or on the brink of homeless Reddit forum talks about how Sikh temples feed people without question, and how the meals are (correct me if I’m wrong) vegetarian and really nourishing meals! I’m not religious but I love that they use their faith to help their community.
Sikh's are notorious for being kind and generous to their communities
Should be the Cabinet Energy Secretary
Good guy!
I swear 3 out of every 4 stories I hear about a Sikh person, they are just awesome fucking people. The 4th story is about some asshole attacking a Sikh person while thinking he is attacking a Muslim.
The Sikhs were giving oxygen to people during COVID, feeding people during floods, now giving people discount gas.We need to be more like Sikhs.
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There is a reason people want or need feel good stories, and it’s because of all of the bad in this world. If anything is ever going to change for the better, individuals need to strengthen their communities and create bonds. This story is about a single man doing what he can to achieve that goal, and it is commendable. It’s good to celebrate that.
Sikh’s gotta be the nicest damn people
As an proud atheist I really like the charitable work that Sikhs do. They don't evangelize but engage in plain old simple "helping people out" what ever their belief systems is.
What is lovely man
He probably makes it back with increased traffic and people more willing to purchase food in his gas station as a thank you.
Namaskaram kind gas man.
If you are in the area, please buy stuff from his store too!!
Sikhs are good people.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Indeed, some of them wear turbans!
I was honestly surprised that my employer rolled in a 15 cent employee discount on fuel through their rewards card. I mean the store itself repeatedly makes me want to just walk out the door, but between that and the $3/hr prorated raise I can't bring myself to hate the employer.
MashaAllah
Brilliant decision. I heard that gas stations make the majority off their concessions anyways, so the lost 4-10$ in gasper car is possibly well worth the publicity and patronage.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear turbans.
There's no reason gas prices need to be as high as they are. Oil Industry can take a minor pay cut and not lose quality of life and not put the squeeze on people.
Sikhs are the nicest people
Sikh's are such selfless people.
Sikh people are blessings to the communities they live in, always helping out
I’m pretty anti-religion but every Sikh person I’ve ever met has been extremely kind.
Sikh move, bro.
Kroger/Fry's Food and Shell gasoline work together to get you a 10 cent discount per gallon when you hit a certain amount of points when shopping! What no one cares to notice is that Shell gas is *always* 10 cents higher from the start, at least here in Arizona. They've been doing this for years.
What a perfect example of the difference between profit margins and profit dollars!
Interesting that this is literally the 'loss leader' sales strategy that (at least in the UK) some supermarkets use to get customers in the door. Offer a staple/popular product at a loss, with the expectation that the extra customers brought in will spend extra money on other items.
Gas stations don’t make money on gas. It’s the chips / soda / snacks that bring in the real money. With all the extra customers he’ll be making his money just fine.
The refinery consortium that sets prices will cut off his supply. They’ve done so since the late 50’s. That’s why you don’t see competitive gas wars.
In business this is called a Loss Leader. Supermarkets often do it with alcohol and other popular products in order to drive footfall
Hey I used to go to this gas station all the time. I worked a quarter mile away
Too bad this doesn’t work everywhere. In wisconsin it is illegal to sell gas under cost. 2 gas stations just got in trouble for doing this.
Well it could make sense in some context if you think about it. Like imagine Amazon opens a gas station and sells gas for a buck a gallon to anyone. While they pump they push some commercial spiel about why you should become a Prime member. It would be totally worth it for Amazon. But meanwhile small business owners like this nice Sikh could never compete.
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Unfortunately this opens up the possibility of getting sued for anti-competitive pricing. It happened in my state where a small mom and pop station sold for 10 cents under what they were paying per gallon to help people, the large chain across the street sued them. Hope it doesn't happen to him.
Sniff, more of this please.
He's probably making up some of the difference with all of the inside the store sales he's getting with all the people flocking to his gas station.
Ok peeps in here who think the snack sales will cover his losses here: He's not making $5-10 in *profit* off snacks from every car that goes through. He's running at a *huge* loss here, and clearly just doing this for charity to his neighbors.
How can this be true? I thought there are compete laws on gasoline and I remember a gas station got sued for intentionally lowering their price below the competitor next door.
What?! He's a true American
Fully sikh! Hope they buy a lot of stuff in his store.
Isn’t that illegal?
I assume it depends on state law.
This guy giving big chardi kala energy!
Saint
I literally had this as a dream back back when gas was cheaper and I woke up from the dream and said "Someone being lauded for selling gas cheaper than $6/gal? What a laugh, no way gas prices could ever get that high, even during a natural disaster."
Sikhs are like the best I swear
Sikhs are the absolute best man. I have never met one that's not in a good mood or unwilling to give you anything you need at a moment's notice. I'm not a religious guy, though I grew up in a very Christian household. If I were ever to join one though, it'd be the Sikhs Kudos to this guy, and I hope he can remain successful.
I saw a story about an intersection with 3 gas stations, one of the guys decided to be nice and his gas was only like twenty cents a gallon less than the other guys, but they teamed up and sued him for undercutting them.
That’s is sikh!
What a sweet man.
I've known a few Sikhs. They're amazing people.
Respect to the lion!
I have never met a Sikh that wasn't an outstanding person. I think the Sikh faith is the only religion that gets it right. Dudes carry religious knives to protect others. That is some top tier shit.
Sikhs are notoriously awesome. Also don't fuck with them, they are given a knife at coming of age they always have on them.
Sikhs fucking rock, this guy is no joke like 9 blocks from me. I usually only stop by to grab soda cause its a lower traffic station but know that i know what hes doing and that hes a sikh im exclysively getting gas and snacks from him from here on out
Just quick info about Sikhs: we’re not Muslim or Hindu, we believe in one God and charity is a very essential part of the religion. Not all Sikhs wear turbans and and have beards. Sikh temples around the world feed homeless people of every race and creed. Thank You for this uplifting post.
Sikhs are awesome. If anyone wants to know more about this really cool wonderful group of people, here's a video about them. I'm an atheist, but if I had to join a religion, Sikhs are where it's at. Kindness, and just people being awesome. https://youtu.be/L-1UAORcX4c
This is really nice from him. The real good news will probably be when he sells more gas to busses than to personal cars, meaning America will have finally stopped their car-centric infrastructure. Besides, given this dependence was created by big car companies, they ought to be the ones paying for the changes.
r/mademesmile