Rising gas prices fuel e-tailer anxieties

[amy]

Online retailers are starting to worry about spiking oil prices, which briefly reached $67 a barrel last week and are elevating shipping costs for some companies.

http://news.com.com/Rising+gas+prices+fu...tag=cd.hed

[WebGraphicsSource]

You think gas is high now?  Wait until Hurricane Katrina is done in the gulf of Mexico

[mandy]

[quote author=WebGraphicsSource link=topic=240.msg1088#msg1088 date=1125322247]
You think gas is high now?  Wait until Hurricane Katrina is done in the gulf of Mexico
[/quote]

You Americans should count your blessings for the absurdely low petrol prices you pay.  Nearly US $7 a gallon for petrol in London.  :blinkie:  :blinkie:

[amy]

[quote author=mandy link=topic=240.msg1089#msg1089 date=1125323592]

You Americans should count your blessings for the absurdely low petrol prices you pay.  Nearly US $7 a gallon for petrol in London.  :blinkie:  :blinkie:
[/quote]

Shut the fuck up.  You don't even own a car. 

[mandy]

[quote author=amy link=topic=240.msg1090#msg1090 date=1125325583]

Shut the boink up.  You don't even own a car. 
[/quote]

Either do you, so you shut the boink up. 

[Angel]

Its up to $3.39 a gallon around here and still rising  .  With these prices no one is gonna have any money left to shop.


Angel 

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=Angel link=topic=240.msg1205#msg1205 date=1125741175]
Its up to $3.39 a gallon around here and still rising  .  With these prices no one is gonna have any money left to shop.
Angel 
[/quote]

Some people already don't have any money to shop.  A large percentage of our CD sales are to college age kids and people in their 20s who tend to have lower disposable incomes, and so when gas prices jumped in early August (and kept jumping) we noticed an almost immediate hit to our CD sales...as in our August CD sales were 50% below July's levels (normally August sales are higher than July)    The people who buy our collectibles items tend to be a little older (and have more disposable income than college students) and so far those sales have held up fairly well so far...if gas prices stay at the level they rose to this week though, I doubt if any category of online merchandise will escape seeing a decline in buying activity. 

[accentnepal]

I am not generally a glass-half-full type, but I wonder if high gas prices will keep people home and shopping online - but then again my stuff does not weigh much.

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=accentnepal link=topic=240.msg1248#msg1248 date=1125911211]
I am not generally a glass-half-full type, but I wonder if high gas prices will keep people home and shopping online - but then again my stuff does not weigh much.
[/quote]

I'd really like it if they did stay home and shop online, but I think that the combination of skyrocketing gas prices and sharply higher home heating costs this winter could make this year's holiday shopping season (and winter) one to forget...or cry about.  It all depends on how much rising fuel costs eat into the  disposable income people have left over to buy non essentials.  I don't think a downturn in retail spending  will hit all product categories or price ranges equally.  Higher end luxury products like jewelry will likely fare better than something like...CD sales which are already taking a big hit. 

It will also be interesting to see how much the combination of high oil prices and the effects of Hurricane Katrina slow economic growth in the coming quarters.