How do gas station owners make money: the fuel or the store?

It also gives a buyer a better question than how much fuel the site sells.

What the pumps do

Fuel is a high-volume, low-margin product. Customers compare it constantly, and the owner often has limited room to move. Its job is to bring a car onto the lot. The sale itself leaves relatively little behind, and a swing in wholesale cost can erase it. A station that earns only from fuel is exposed in a way that is easy to miss in a good season.

What the store and services add

Coffee, snacks, tobacco, lottery, packaged goods, food service and a car wash often carry different margins from fuel; check the seller’s records for each. They also give you more levers to pull, since you choose the range, the hours and the staffing. When you look at a listing, ask how the seller’s sales split between fuel and non-fuel, and what each part contributes to the bottom line.

How a buyer should read the two together

Because the store depends on the fuel traffic, the two are linked. Ask what evidence the seller has. Ask the seller to walk you through a typical day and compare it to the records.

• Sales and costs reported separately for fuel, store and services
• Which supplier terms touch the store, such as required products
• How the car wash or food counter is run and by whom
• Whether non-fuel sales fall when fuel traffic does

Our guide to what a gas station is worth explains how the pieces are weighed, and the answer on checking sales separately shows what to ask for.