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Is GasBuddy any use at all now??

Matt_Colie
Explorer
Explorer
This was our first long travel this year. I could not get GasBuddy to give me a big map with prices on it so I could look ahead for a deal on the laptop that always travels with us.

When running the local maps, it gave me a map that had logos at the top, but nothing on the tiny map most of the time. When it gave the location, the maps scale was of use only with a solid native guide.

If you go to the large price-heat map, it is so dark that you can't read the cities until the scale is too small to use. If you get there and you are not in the right place, there is not way to find out how to get where you need to go....

I'm not a person that avoids change, but when you take something that worked great for us travelers, and make it hard to use, it is disappointing.

I hope I am alone and someone knows how to get the picture along the planned route.

Matt
Matt & Mary Colie
A sailor, his bride and their black dogs (one dear dog is waiting for us at the bridge) going to see some dry places that have Geocaches in a coach made the year we married.
14 REPLIES 14

d1h
Nomad II
Nomad II
In the future they will have to call it Charging Buddy since the automakers want to replace fuel automobiles with electric.

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
ferndaleflyer wrote:
I sure liked my last trip as I said before. On just 1 fill up I saved over $50, in fact it was $56+. And you think its not worth it? Must have more expendable money than I have.


What do you drive? A fuel truck?

My truck has 34 gallon tank, current price of 87 gas in my area is $3.17 as of my last fill up last week (by the way, Gasbuddy reports my local Sam's club over $3.40 per gallon which is incorrect as it is still the same price I paid last week).

So if I were to have to completely fill the entire tank of 34 gallons it would cost $107.78..

So, if I were to save $56 on a fill up that would mean that the price would have to be $1.52 per gallon..

To save what you claim, you would have to have 100 plus gallon tank, not impossible for a gas motor home but not typical for trucks and SUVs..

If you are talking a motorhome, say so, otherwise you are giving folks false hope..

Your "math" isn't adding up otherwise..

Even when I looked up prices in my area, gasbuddy is reporting a mere 2-3 cent difference between reported stations and has my local Sam's club reported much higher than those other stations..

So far from what I have seen, not very accurate in my area, maybe near a big city population may be more accurate, but definitely not accurate in my local county and it omits many gas stations..

ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Explorer III
I sure liked my last trip as I said before. On just 1 fill up I saved over $50, in fact it was $56+. And you think its not worth it? Must have more expendable money than I have.

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
goducks10 wrote:
noteven wrote:
My fave part of gas buddy is showing up at the gas station and whaddya know the price is higher than what's posted on gas buddy.


Aren't prices reported buy GB users? When I looked this morning two local stations had 1 hr postings and one had a 17 hr posting. I've never paid any attention to small prices changes. I usually look for brand and price compared to other stations nearby.


Correct you are..

Granted the website article is from 2018, but I suspect not a lot has changed..

How Gasbuddy gets data

"How the largest gas discovery platform in North America utilizes crowdsourced data to drive a sustainable platform business model

GasBuddyโ€™s Model

GasBuddy gathers its gas price information almost exclusively from crowdsourced user submissions. Each day, GasBuddy users submit 2-3 million data points on gas prices across the US and Canada. To incentivize user data submissions, GasBuddy utilizes a points-based reward system โ€“ users earn points for completing various activities (e.g., reporting a price), and can convert those points into raffle tickets for daily drawings of $100 gas gift cards. GasBuddy also publicizes points leaderboards to incorporate a gamification / social competition element to the platform.


Advertising. Because GasBuddyโ€™s users typically need to visit a gas station in the near term, GasBuddy can offer targeted in-app advertising solutions to a host of businesses including gas retailers, CPG companies (e.g., snacks), auto businesses (e.g., auto repair and maintenance), and financial institutions (e.g., gas cash-back credit cards).
Business Pages. Akin to what Yelp does for restaurants and local businesses, GasBuddy offers in-app business pages that allow gas retailers to manage their listings, obtain reviews, and gain market share intelligence on their position relative to competitors.
Upstream Data Licensing. As the largest source of gas prices at retail, GasBuddy works with companies like OPIS to bundle and sell real-time data to upstream and midstream energy participants who rely on prices at the pump as inputs to production and transportation decisions.
Payment Cards. In late 2017, GasBuddy debuted a consumer gas payment card that offers 5 cents off per gallon at over 95% of gas stations within the US. Because gas retailers donโ€™t have to pay credit card fees when consumers use the GasBuddy card, GasBuddy can capture a spread per transaction based on what it saved the gas retailer.

Gasbuddyโ€™s business model creates a tremendously sticky network, with both direct and indirect network effects. As more consumers participate, the experience becomes more valuable to other users because gas prices and retail station reviews are more up-to-date. Concurrently, businesses benefit from tapping into a large group of potential customers and accessing more reliable real-time pricing data. GasBuddyโ€™s new payment products also create additional incentives to remain on the platform.

Challenges and Mitigants

The primary challenge with crowd-sourced data is maintaining data accuracy. To address these issues, GasBuddy requires users to be geolocated within range of the gas station that the user intends to input data for. In some cases, GasBuddy also works directly with the gas stations to ensure accurate price data. Another challenge with crowd-sourced data is a potential reduction in willingness to contribute once the network becomes too large. GasBuddy has appeared immune from this issue as user submissions have continued to grow, likely partly due to its incentive system and partly due to users feeling like their submissions have greater impact with a larger audience.

"


The downside to platforms like this, is it requires constant flow of recent price updates for each station reported. That depends on someone participating in Gasbuddy to report that info.

If a station gets zero reports, it won't be listed and that non listed station could very well have a better price or even be in a better location..

When I look at GBs website, it only reports the "top 10" reported stations in the area I select.. In doing so, it is missing something like 90% or more of the other stations that I am aware of in my area..

If you want a consistently "best price" for gas, hands down, Sam's club seems to beat all of the other stations in my area for lowest pricing. Typically beating the other stations by 8-10 cents per gallon.. Doesn't help those who need Diesel though..

In reality, most times you are talking saving 1-5 cents per gallon in any given area, the costs to the station owners are preset by the local fuel distribution centers that they get the fuel from and varies very little between most stations.

I don't worry about the fuel prices while on a trip, it isn't worth the hassle for the small potential to save a nickle per gallon.

Example, my daily commute was 100 miles, 500 miles per week which is 26,000 miles per yr.. My truck averaged 16 MPG on that commute meaning I used 1625 gallons per yr..

1625 gallons x 1 cent "savings" = $16.25
1625 gallons x 5 cents "savings" = $81.25
1625 gallons x 10 cents "savings" = $162.50..

Now, if I scaled that down to a RV trip of say 1200 miles round trip and assuming roughly 10 MPG towing..

120 Gallons for the trip..

120 gallons x 1 cent "savings" = $1.20 savings for the entire trip
120 gallons x 5 cents "savings" = $6.00 savings for the entire trip
120 Gallons x 10 cents "savings = $12.00 savings for the entire trip

$1.20 won't buy you much and well $12.00 isn't much better..

goducks10
Explorer
Explorer
noteven wrote:
My fave part of gas buddy is showing up at the gas station and whaddya know the price is higher than what's posted on gas buddy.


Aren't prices reported buy GB users? When I looked this morning two local stations had 1 hr postings and one had a 17 hr posting. I've never paid any attention to small prices changes. I usually look for brand and price compared to other stations nearby.

noteven
Explorer III
Explorer III
My fave part of gas buddy is showing up at the gas station and whaddya know the price is higher than what's posted on gas buddy.

Y-Guy
Moderator
Moderator
I was a big user of Gas Buddy for years, then they got to crazy with ads and pushing their subscription. Give Gas Guru a spin too, its less spammy I find. For me I usually search where at Costco is en route and aim for that.

Two Wire Fox Terriers; Sarge & Sully

2007 Winnebago Sightseer 35J

2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon

Ivylog
Explorer III
Explorer III
iPhone still works the same. With a 800 mile range and many trips West I pretty well know where Iโ€™ll be getting fuelโ€ฆusually Samโ€™sClub in KC or Lincoln, NE. Laramie, WY consistently has the cheapest diesel in the West.
This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Sold 04 Dynasty to our son after 14 great years.
Upgraded with a 08 HR Navigator 45โ€™...

ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Explorer III
Forgot to mention I use my I-12 but had it on I-8 and 11 before. Been using it a long time.

whjco
Explorer
Explorer
bgum wrote:
What are you using to look at it with? I just went to the online site on my android pad and it worked fine.


I just checked it with my Samsung phone and it's working fine and the map is working great.
Bill J., Lexington, KY
2006 Starcraft 2500RKS 25' Travel Trailer
2015 Ram 2500 Big Horn 6.7 Cummins.

StarkNaked
Explorer II
Explorer II
I use it any time I am planning a trip.

I will say that it is much more simple to use on a computer, but I can still make it work on my android phone and tablet.

ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Explorer III
I just made a trip and it worked fine---saves me a lot of money. I look when I need fuel not days or miles in advance.

CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Explorer III
Phone app works reasonable for me. It limits the locations when zooming out the map. Significant overlapped ICONs wouldn't be of much use because details and the map itself can't be seen. I can move the map and zoom in for more detail as needed.

Perhaps a larger PC based screen and app would be better?
2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob

bgum
Explorer
Explorer
What are you using to look at it with? I just went to the online site on my android pad and it worked fine.