AT&T Thanks Customers: 2-Mon Postmates Unlimited or 6-Mon Spotify Prem.

It's funny how T-Mobile Tuesday's started the carrier giveaways, but their included items turned into trash. Every other carrier has been giving away much better items as a part of their monthly giveaways. But thanks for starting all this T-Mobile!

Many years ago, I'd get my gas at an Exxon that was a mile away from my Costco because there were never any lines. It was always two cents a gallon more but saved me a good ten minutes of waiting time – an easy trade.
How is Costco Gas So Cheap?
It's because gas stations are notoriously difficult businesses. If you run a branded gas station (think Shell, Exxon, etc.), the economics of the business are really challenging. You're required to buy a certain amount of gasoline from the brand's refineries, which means 100% of the gasoline isn't from the cheapest possible source. This is because each company adds its own mix of additives and detergents. It's a small percentage but it's there and so the station has to get it. They also pay licensing fees and royalties to the brand much like any other franchise. Lastly, they take all credit cards and can't negotiate special fee structures that would add to the bottom line. That's why most of those gas stations have a convenience store. That's where they make all of their money.

Costco doesn't have to do any of that! They buy whatever gas they want, they obviously don't pay royalties because they're company-owned, and they negotiate great fees from credit card processors. You can only use Visa cards right now and that's because American Express, their previous partner, wasn't willing to give them as good of a deal. Costco isn't cheaper because the gas is cheaper, it's because the economics of the business are completely different. They make money off the gasoline and not off the convenience store.

Conclusion
Costco Gasoline is better than the EPA regulations for additives and detergents.
It's also cheaper. So go when there are no lines and win.

I have AT&T Internet 1000 gigabit fiber connection and am seeing the Postmates offer, but not the Spotify offer. As nice as that Spotify offer is, it's only for new Spotify Premium customers, and I'm already paying for Spotify Premium. I sometimes feel it's dumb of me for passing on all these Spotify multi-month free promotions for new customers, but I'm so locked into my Spotify Premium because I use it more as a music discovery tool and less as a pure music streaming tool that I feel like I can't simply create a new Spotify account and start from scratch. (Yeah, this probably isn't an issue for most people who just want to listen to music.)


T-Mobile Tuesdays definitely had better giveaways in the beginning, but like you, I'm thankful to them for starting this type of promotion. And things like the "Uncarrier" is a bit gimmicky, but it did lead to further competition between them and the other phone carriers, which generally isn't a bad thing for consumers.

Tofu Vic