If you think petrol is expensive....

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Palfrem

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
Messages
2,965
Location
Solihull, near Birmingham
Car
W124 E36 AMG, G 300 GEL his, SLK 200 hers
Just back from B&Q with some decking stains. Fun-Fun-Fun

Happened to spot the price of humble paraffin

£6.98 for 4 litres. Not even a gallon

Can anyone explain (apart from us being royally shafted by B&Q) how this can cost so much?

Paraffin doesn't carry the same taxes as petrol, it comes from the same source, OK it's been put into a container - but £6.98! I'm at a loss.
 
dont be using it in your car up to £1000 fine and inpoundment of your car
 
This was sold to you as a consumer product in small package (e.g not a barrel).

You pay for the packaging, the consumer protection act, and the overhead of the store plus whatever profit margin they decide to put on top.

Incidentally, water is not taxed either - yet bottled water bought in shops is much more expensive than petrol. And it is also more expensive than some types of cheap lager, which is taxed...

A friend of mine once worked out that a cup of coffee served at a 5-star hotel carries a direct profit margin of around 1000% (i.e. compared to the cost of ingredients).

So a consumer product bought in a shop is not really comparable to fuel....
 
I bought 5 litres of Ronseal decking oil and it cost £39.98 at B+Q.

The mark up on that must be simply enormous. Ronseal must be coining it.

Some of you already know about my 'decking detailing' thread...ahem...
 
Not quite comparing apples with apples.

It's economy of scale.

You don't get several million vehicles a day pulling into B&Q to fill up with 60 litres + of Ronseal. If you did the margins would drop.
 
Not quite comparing apples with apples.

It's economy of scale.

You don't get several million vehicles a day pulling into B&Q to fill up with 60 litres + of Ronseal. If you did the margins would drop.

True but I doubt it costs them more than £6 to make it and deliver it wherever.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom