Prepaid Gas... By the Gallon.
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 10/9/2015 1:00:00 AM
Wouldn't you love to stock up on gas at today's prices?
Today's idea is inspired by the "Forever Stamp" from the US Post Office. All you have to do is buy a stamp today, and you can use it anytime you want, even if there's a price increase. It's a pretty simple idea, but it was revolutionary when they introduced it because it meant that you didn't have to buy additional stamps to cover the price increase.
This means that if you stockpile stamps today, you can theoretically save a fortune in postage 20 years from now. Because of this, the Post Office originally monitored the sales of stamps to see how the public would react just before a price increase, to see if it would create a problem with stockpiling. It didn't. Although there were clearly spikes in sales before an increase, it was minimal. In fact, the added revenue from those who did stockpile their stamps meant that they were essentially getting paid for a mail that they didn't actually deliver. Not a bad tradeoff.
Wouldn't it be great if you could but other things, like gas that way? You drive to your local gas station and pay for 100 gallons of gas. Since your tank only holds 20 gallons, you're paying for the remaining 80 gallons to be dispensed at a later date.
Like the Forever Stamp, this would mean that the gas station is getting paid for gas they aren't actually delivering today. As a consumer, you are basically buying gasoline futures at today's prices. If the price goes up, you come out ahead, if it continues to go down, you lose money, so you can either sell your pre-paid gallons to somebody else, or use them and you essentially paid a premium price.
Because gas prices and tax prices not only vary from state to state, but between gas stations in the same town, you would be restricted to redeeming your pre-paid gas from the station you originally paid.
Once again, there may be some people who will stockpile as much as they can get before prices go up, most people won't, and when they do, gas stations will get a potential boost in sales, while still maintaining their inventory. This additional revenue will be offset by pre-paid redemptions that were potentially purchased at higher prices.
An interesting side-effect, this can create a secondary market to buy and sell previously purchased gas credits.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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