Oil Prices Got Me This Weekend
I knew going into this season that gas prices were sure to reach all time highs, but what I neglected to take into account was how it would effect the oil I use that sits on a shelf. Over this past weekend, I stopped by the local Gander Mountain to purchase some XD50 for my Evinrude outboard. As I circled the corner to begin myself down the isle, I noticed that there was a new look to the jug. Cool, I thought. It doesn’t really help me catch fish any better though. As I reached for the jug I noticed that the price tag said 39.99 and that wasn’t even for their top of the line XD100. This was a change of $10 or $11 bucks. After a quick double take, I thought to check and see if maybe there was more oil in the jug than previous. Nope, still a 1 gallon jug.
Not believing what I was seeing, I took the jug to the register to get a price check in hopes that the price tag on the shelf was wrong. After waiting for 15 minutes to get it rang up, the registers confirmed my fear. $39.99. ”No thanks”, I told the lady at the register. “I’m not paying $40 for a jug of oil”, I said.
As I was walking the oil (which I knew I needed) back to the shelf, I was trying to think of where else I might be able to find some still at normal price. I immediately thought of a local marina out on a nearby lake. With a quick call to change our outing plans from the Potomac to Lake Anna the next day, I was figuring on trying to buy the oil I needed from the marina the morning before we went fishing.
When we showed up the next morning at the marina, I entered the tackle shop to buy a ramp pass and some oil. As I suspected, price was still at the normal $28.99. After talking with the shop manager for a minute about the price of oil, he informed me that if I buy the oil by the case than I will receive an additional 20% of of the price. I knew that’s what I was going to do, but rather than purchase a case of 4 - 1 gallon jugs, I purchased a case or 2 - 2.5 gallon jugs. My total ended up being just over $100 for 5 gallons of oil. That’s and average of $20 a gallon. I may just end up going back to score another case before long. Get it while it’s hot.
In talking with the shop manager, I was also informed that Johnson had sent out a letter to all of their carriers that had mentioned the probability of prices going up; however, in the meantime they (the marina) would continue to sell their product at the same price they have been until the oil costs them more to purchase at wholesale. That is fair and honest I thought to myself.
On the other hand, I can only assume that Gander Mountain has taken it upon themselves to jack the price up now in anticipation of a rise in cost. Something that is commonly done. The only problem with that is they won’t be receiving a purchase from me until the price is in fact changed everywhere.
With the price of crude oil hitting an all time high of $119 an barrel from what I heard yesterday, a trend in rising again looks to be ahead. We can only expect for prices of all manufacturers oils to increase in the months to come. But $40 a gallon, man! As far as I know, Evinrude/Johnson will be the first, but I also have know idea of what the price of Yamalube or Quicksilver is/has been. Let me know if it has increased already as well.
If you haven’t already stocked up, maybe now is the time to consider filling the locker in your garage with a couple of cases of motor oil for your boats engine.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Miscellaneous
0 opinions for Oil Prices Got Me This Weekend
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: