The last time I bought a gallon of mineral spirits (about 18 months ago, I believe) it cost $2.50. That was very high I thought at the time. Yesterday in Lowe's, I noticed the cheapest brand was selling for $8.00! Is there any reason for this other than plain greed and price gouging? Paul in San Francisco
Sure, lots of reasons. What is paint thinner made from? What fuel is used to transport it? What fuel is used to keep the store heated? What is selling for $100 a barrel?
Crude at $100 is up around 70 percent, but paint thinner at $ 8 then is up around 400 percent. Looks like greed and gouging to me at that rate.
Interesting question. Make a note to call the manufacturer and find out more. Let us know what they say.
Laquer thinner is up in the double digits. I smell lawyers or environuts. The crude oil content of these products can't justify the added cost.
There may be a bit of gouging, but that 70% applies to the cost of everything involved in making and transporting the mineral sprits also. Add fuel surcharges, heat, lighting, year end bonus for the CEO of Lowes, it all adds up.
Have you price other materials? Take a look at the cost of copper tubing and steel pipe. I'm paying $48 a foot for 12" pipe right now, 4" is about $28.
I deal with shipping grocery products as part of my job. Cases of liquids like cooking oil can't be stacked as high in the truck as stuff like cereal or paper towels, to use two examples at the other extreme. So, across-the-board shipping cost increases have a greater affect on products that don't occupy the space in the trailer to its fullest capacity.
The selling price of a product is essentially unrelated to the cost of the product. All selling prices are set by the free market system, by the law of supply and demand, by what a buyer is willing to pay for it.
You paid $ 8 because that is the best price you can get anywhere. You cannot buy it cheaper.
If you have a garage sale, do you base your selling prices on your cost, or on what you think a buyer may pay for it?
Thanks, Joe. That's a component that had never occured to me. Life is full of facts which help to tie ends together.
It's simple math, really. If freight from point A to point B costs $1000.00 and you have 1000 cases on the truck, freight per case is a buck. Halve the number of cases, and now the freight is two bucks per case. Obviously, this doesn't explain the huge price jump that Paul mentioned. But, it explains some of it. Fuel costs also impact the delivery of raw materials to the manufacturer, as well as Home Despot's cost to bring product from warehouse to store.
On Dec 22, 2:30=EF=BF=BDpm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote= :
snipped-for-privacy@news.pa.net...
=BF=BDWhat fuel is
=EF=BF=BDLife is
dont forget hauling flamables now required a CDL driver and license. I used to sell methy alcohol for machines. Its cost per gallon doubled overnight because of regulator changes.
True, unless plain greed, price gouging or illegal price fixing enter into the picture. I plan to follow JoeSpareBedroom's suggestion and see what spin the manufacturer tries to make me believe. Paul in San Francisco
Looked at the cprice of uel lately? Transporting gallon cas of liquid ai't cea.
And its not just the fuel to transport the finished produc.
Most generic paint thinners appear to be petroleum derivatives.
Feed stock is expensive.
I use my thinner several times, by settleing out the paint till it's clear again. Thus, cost becomes less significant.
Nest time you're in the store; price Kerosene. +35 bucks for 5 gal.
:-))
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:iJ7bj.71394$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net:
Budweiser?
Sewing Machine oil?
It is not sane to believe a national chain - Lowes or Home Depot - would "gouge" or collude to fix prices on a gallon of paint thinner! Millions of dollars in fines, legal expenses, depositions, and possible jail terms would simply not be worth the profit.
Greed, on the other hand, is good.
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