• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Site is Pumped About Gas Prices

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 00:00 CDT

Sep. 19--Whenever Phillip Tos is out and about and sees low gas prices, he takes note.

Then he logs on to www.wichitagasprices.com and shares the information with others in search of a lower price at the pump.

The Web site is part of the Gas Buddy network that lets consumers know what people are paying for gasoline. There are 173 sites across the country -- one for each major metropolitan area and one for each state.

Tos has been part of the Gas Buddy group for about a year and a half.

The volunteer spotter admits he doesn't go out of his way to record gas prices but does add information to the Web site about four times a week.

He keeps tabs on the site but generally doesn't drive out of his way for lower prices.

"I use it to give myself a sanity check that the gas I'm buying" is competitive, "that I'm not going to the wrong place," Tos said.

Every time a spotter posts a price, he or she earns points.

Tos says he likes the site's competitive component.

"I'm right now ranked 11th in Wichita out of 20 people who've met the minimum threshold. It's a guy thing."

Jason Toews, co-founder of Gas Buddy, said he and his partners launched the site in June 2000.

"We're a consumer advocacy group for gas prices," he said.

All the spotters are volunteers and not associated with Gas Buddy, he said.

Wichita's site has about 700 registered members.

You don't have to register to participate. Anyone can log on to www.wichitagasprices.com and see the 15 lowest prices and the 15 highest prices.

But there are some perks to registering, including prizes, Toews said. For example, Gas Buddy is running a contest in which it will give out four $250 certificates for gas.

Toews and his partners run a consulting company based in Brooklyn Park, Minn. The Gas Buddy Web sites are part of that company. Gas Buddy does not sell products on the Web sites or charge a fee for information. It does post advertising on the sites. Toews said the sites are not a big money-maker.

Interest in the sites picked up the week of Hurricane Katrina.

"There has been an influx of people coming to the Web site lately just because gas prices have hit an all-time high," Toews said. "But even when gas prices are low, you can usually find a difference of 30 to 40 cents per gallon in a metro area."

For example, a check at 6 p.m. Friday showed that prices ranged from $2.45 to $2.79 on the Wichita site.

Gas Buddy monitors prices and "takes the accuracy of the postings very seriously," Toews said.

Posters who intentionally enter a bogus price are banned, he said.

"The listings end up being very accurate," he said.

Gas Buddy removes prices posted on the Wichita site after 60 hours.

The sites also include forums in which people can post opinions about gas prices.

GAS BUDDY:

--The Gas Buddy operates 173 Web sites across the country dedicated to gas prices.

-- The site for Wichita is www.wichitagasprices.com.

--The site posts the 15 gas stations with the lowest prices in the Wichita area and the 15 stations with the highest prices.

--Gas Buddy relies on volunteer spotters.

--Registration for the site is free but not required.

-----

To see more of The Wichita Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansas.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

More News in this Category