coal sold at petrol stations.

A question about : coal sold at petrol stations.

I'm baffled why they sell 10 kilo bags of coal for near double the normal price. I realise you would have to be desperate and all the other shops closed to pay Ј7.50 + for the same bag sold for Ј3.99 elsewhere, but what huge cost are the petrol companies having to add to the price ?

Or is it just a plain old rip off ?

Best answers:

• for the same reason they sell confectionery and anything else at higher prices ... petrol stations aren't cheap to run, and they don't actually make much if any profit on the petrol.
• Supply and demand.
  What the market will support.
  Not a rip off.
• Still lots of these coal powered cars about!
• Look at the price of air!
• I imagined they were raking in the money on the petrol, I'd still rather pull me floorboards up before buying their coal.
• What?! The petrol stations set their own inflated prices for coal?!
  The government must step in with a list of approved goods and prices! Shops should only be allowed to sell government-approved goods at government-approved prices. Otherwise people will start to think that they live in a free-market economy where people can negotiate their own contracts!
  Someone should inform the Daily Socialist -- they'd love a news story like this.