Answers:
If the gallon is everywhere at $5.00 and you sell it at $2.20 you are going to run out of gasoline in a heartbeat. Your competition will buy your entire stock.
The Oil Company cannot send you more gasoline because they don't fill gasoline stations on demand. They have a very complicated schdule and in this case your gasoline station is refilled every two weeks.
Most gasoline stations sell the same amount of gasoline more or less.
This means you have to wait 14 days for your gasoline station to be refilled.
A customer comes to your gasoline station and you don't have a gallon of gasoline (Because you sold it to your competition already) he goes to another gasoline station and fills his car anyway (At $5.00)
The next week the same customer comes again and you still are out of gasoline.
THAT CUSTOMER IS NOW LOST FOREVER.
In the end, the Oil Company refills your gasoline station and you are back to normal. However, because of the shortage you have lost a lot of loyal customers and you now make less money than before.
Minimum Wages and Gasoline Prices are not related in any way.
Minimum Wage is controlled by the United States of America and it's not going to be increased any time soon. In fact, it is more likely the minimum wage is actually going to go down.
This may seem like unfair to you because IT AFFECTS YOU. But you have to see the big picture, if everybody costs less money then the companies can hire more people and less unemployment means less crime and more profits for the companies.
If you were a gasoline station owner you would sell the gasoline at $10.00 if somebody was willing to pay that much.
If you are so worried about the gasoline prices I suggest you to buy a car that consumes diesel.
In case you don't know diesel is a lot cheaper than gasoline.
I suggest you to buy any Volkswagen with a 1.9L TDI Diesel Engine like Golf, Jetta, Jetta Wagon and New Beetle.
In fact, you can mix 5% of Biodiesel and 95% of Diesel with this engine to save even more money.
Check Volkswagen for more information.
You can also buy an Hybrid car from Honda or Toyota.
In Europe, where the cost of owning and operating a passenger vehicle is significantly higher that the U.S., diesels already account for more than 40 percent of the passenger car market.
By the way, if you start using Diesel instead of Gasoline and more and more people start using diesel then the price of gasoline WILL GO DOWN becaue they will still produce the same amount of gasoline but it will stay on the gasoline stations.
On the other hand, if you keep consuming more and more gasoline (For example, buying a Hummer) then the price WILL GO UP.
It's basic Supply and Demand.
Other Answers:
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There are a couple of answers to this. First, gas stations don't just pay for the gas. They have to pay for the building, the labor, the insurance-- tons of things. Second, local gas stations generally operate on a pretty thin margin-- meaning they don't make a lot of profit. Oil companies are very different, but that's not what you asked about. If they don't maximize every dollar, they might have several unprofitable months in a row, which could really hurt the business.
Third, they are constantly buying gas, because people are constantly filling up their tanks. If their supplier changes its price, the gas station has to adjust theirs. Suppliers constantly adjust prices due to whatever market reasons they see fit.
Finally, let's use your example. One station sells gas at $2.20, but everyone else sells it for $5. The $2.20 station will constantly have long lines and be running out of supply, and it will probably have several days a month where it has nothing to sell. If that happens, it won't be selling the high-priced items in the store that help its margin, and it would have a lot of unhappy customers. Meanwhile, other stations will be making bucketloads of money at $5 a gallon because they have the supply and they don't have long lines. all of the previous answers are good...very good. lets keep in mind that a station legally CANNOT sell fuel for less than they pay for it. most stations make 1-3 cents per gallon. one of the reasons the prices are so high is the fact that the tax for that fuel is calculated in that price. no one really pays attention to that.
minimum wage and gas prices are not related at all...unless you have a minimum wage job and like to go cruising around with your friends. a few suggestions there: 1. have them drive and pay for fuel. 2. get a better job. 3. start riding your tricycle.
this country is the only one complaining about the cost of gas.......go across the pond and and see what it costs there!
you are complaining about gas???? try buying fuel for my car. i have to go to the airport to do it and it is about 8.50 a gallon. i dont complain though, thats what i built it for.