Oil Hoarding

[RevRider]

Good Evening To All,

It’s been a little time since I posted something, but I regularly visit the site, getting caught up in the world of oil.

It’s been a real challenge to get oil and I‘ve come to the conclusion that what contributes to this shortage is people who feel compelled to clear the shelves of oil leaving nothing for others; building their oil reserves to exceed that of the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves of the United States.

Who needs to have a multi-year supply of oil just sitting on their shelves? And then boast about it? I’ve read the posts of folks who do this on this board.

This is a selfish act and people that hoard oil or any other commodity should be ashamed of themselves.

Just shedding a little light on the hoarding darkness.

RevRider

 

[paulo57509]

I don't think people hoard where I'm at. There's oil available, usually the oil that's priced on the high end. Many times I cannot find my preferred brand. This is what started me on Castrol.

I've posted this before; I think a lot of local auto repair places buy oil at say, Walmart because the profit margin for them is higher than buying it from a jobber. I think it explains why there's limited selection of oil, yet there's plenty of oil filters; who buys oil without a filter? I'm not saying this is wrong but the cost of doing business, especially in CA is prohibitive.

 

[B1974]

I do have some oil on hand for future oil changes. But to be fair I only buy oil when it's on sale for the lowest price of the year type of sale. I also picked up a bunch of RGT when it went discontinued for a great price. So I'm pretty sure this is meant for someone else.

 

[ron17571]

I usually buy the oil and filter for the next change when I order something else from Walmart. I see a better variety for sale online. So I have one oil change usually laying around.

 

[RevRider]

Thanks for the responses, all reasonable purchases - not that I am the Oil Purchashe Judge.

I too changed over to Castrol as it was available; Valvoline out of stock. M1 out of stock. QS out of stock. Pennzoil out of stock. This was the situation at 3 separate WalMarts.

 

[LDB]

I've been thinking about getting two oil changes worth of oil/filter to have on hand. That would mean I wouldn't need to buy again until July 2025 although I probably would replace roughly when used so I'd always have the next two years changes on hand. Not sure if that would be considered hording or not.

 

[99Saturn]

Not sure I follow the logic.

I'd venture that at least 95%+ (inclined to say 99.9%) of the people with a stash are not paying full price. Usually what you see here is stashes built off clearance, pricing mistakes and rebates. Rebates typically have a limit, they aren't back the truck up situations. The point of clearances are to clear the shelf for active stock items. Pricing mistakes aren't the norm that would impact every brand on a regular basis, particularly with store stock at a Walmart.

 

[Creekside]

I think oil "hoarders" make up such a small amount of the oil sales that it probably wouldn't even make a dent if we all stopped. If hoarders were represented as a part of the whole population you'd be surprised how small the percentage is.

 

[BrandonV]

My preferred oil & filter is Amsoil. If I'm going to have to have stuff shipped you're **** right I'm ordering a lot!

When I buy Honda DW-1 the best way to buy it is online and to wait for a good price. Hence buying a ton.

 

[wlk]

Thanks for the responses, all reasonable purchases - not that I am the Oil Purchashe Judge.

I too changed over to Castrol as it was available; Valvoline out of stock. M1 out of stock. QS out of stock. Pennzoil out of stock. This was the situation at 3 separate WalMarts.

Buy online at walmart.com ships to your house for free over $35 and has cheaper prices. How I do it and buy it on sale, I buy 2 or 3 jugs/boxes. Hoarding no, saving money yes.

 

[GON]

Thanks for the responses, all reasonable purchases - not that I am the Oil Purchashe Judge.

I too changed over to Castrol as it was available; Valvoline out of stock. M1 out of stock. QS out of stock. Pennzoil out of stock. This was the situation at 3 separate WalMarts.

Maybe its not oil hoarders, but where you live.

How about you look at moving from Southern California to Chicagoland. You can sell your home in motor oil starved Irvine, CA and buy a home in Chicagoland, and you will have access to all the Mobile 1, Valvoline, and Quaker State you want in the Chicagoland area. Not only plenty of motor oil in Chicagoland, but lots of fresh water. And you likely will save about 75 percent on your monthly housing bill.

 

[Wolf359]

It's basically not what you think. No one is really hoarding oil, maybe a very small few. But they're not causing the problem or if there even is a problem. People buy up oil when it's cheap or on sale. That's not hoarding, that's just stocking up. Also the very nature of stores like Walmart means that they only stock a day or two's worth of good on the shelves before they have to restock. There is no shortage of oil. You can go to any auto parts store and those shelves are pretty well stocked at prices much higher than Walmart. Walmart just has trouble keeping their shelves stocked because that would mean hiring more people and paying them more. Somehow they probably make more money from you going to the store all the time to see if it's back in stock and in the meantime you buy other stuff while you're there.

Hoarding is when there's a shortage. As others said you can easily buy all the oil you want online or at other stores.

The OP's head would explode if he went over to slickdeals.net. There's always limited time deals and the good ones always sell out fast with people bemoaning how they missed out on the last great deal. Bargain hunting isn't the same as hoarding.

 

[parshisa]

Good Evening To All,

It’s been a little time since I posted something, but I regularly visit the site, getting caught up in the world of oil.

It’s been a real challenge to get oil and I‘ve come to the conclusion that what contributes to this shortage is people who feel compelled to clear the shelves of oil leaving nothing for others; building their oil reserves to exceed that of the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves of the United States.

Who needs to have a multi-year supply of oil just sitting on their shelves? And then boast about it? I’ve read the posts of folks who do this on this board.

This is a selfish act and people that hoard oil or any other commodity should be ashamed of themselves.

Just shedding a little light on the hoarding darkness.

RevRider

you're just jealous you haven't stashed some during good times (fall of 2019 was really juicy)

 

[Spyderman24_7]

Oil is like toilet paper... buy what you think you might need for a few months and move on with life, bwahahaha...

 

[Olinskis]

I just order it online even IF I pick up at walmart. I can't rely on what will be on the shelf as that stuff gets cleared out and takes a week or so to replenish. I've been there when shelves were full, and when they were empty. Online, I order and pick it up at my convenience after a few days. After reading about shortages because of the political nonsense I ordered 10 gallons from TCS and picked it up after waiting a week. Then I found a good deal with free shipping from another online retailer and ordered 9 gallons. So atm I'm sitting on approximately 25 gallons of motor oil which is more than I've ever had in my life. Mostly I only have this much in case there are any more Brandon-in-chief induced shortages. God help us all.

If you're that bummed about empty wally shelves in your area, just wait until autozone does their 5 qt and filter specials and get 2-3 changes worth. They rotate brands on special and sometimes have multiple brands at the same time.

 

[IveBeenRued]

Sorry OP, I look at it through a different lens. My once four year supply of oil has allowed me to pause all oil purchasing since the beginning of the pandemic thus reducing my demand of the market. I am now down to two years worth of supply and I am slowly seeing the motor oil shelves returning to normal. After the market returns to normal, and heavily discounted oil becomes plentiful again, I may start to tick my supplies upwards again.

Also, if there was a true “shortage” why would Mobil and others run rebates? Wouldn’t attempting to stimulate the consumer to purchase oil be counter productive in a shortage scenario?

 

[Lubener]

Good Evening To All,

It’s been a little time since I posted something, but I regularly visit the site, getting caught up in the world of oil.

It’s been a real challenge to get oil and I‘ve come to the conclusion that what contributes to this shortage is people who feel compelled to clear the shelves of oil leaving nothing for others; building their oil reserves to exceed that of the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves of the United States.

Who needs to have a multi-year supply of oil just sitting on their shelves? And then boast about it? I’ve read the posts of folks who do this on this board.

This is a selfish act and people that hoard oil or any other commodity should be ashamed of themselves.

Just shedding a little light on the hoarding darkness.

RevRider

I would bet your pantry could feed an army and you were the among the many filling your shopping cart full of T.P. back in 2020.

This must be a "do as I say, not as I do" moment.

 

[RyanY]

I have about 25 jugs on the shelf but every one of them was purchased on sale/rebate. As mentioned above, if the shortage were real, no rebates or sales would be offered. The empty shelves are more likely caused by supply chain and/or delivery issues at specific walmarts...the parts stores certainly don't have empty shelves!

 

[skyactiv]

Some people see a bargain and can't resist. Since it's a product they have a soft spot for, they get a dopamine release when finding and buying an oil score.

 

[kschachn]

You may wish to consider just posting in this already existing hoard thread rather than starting another one:

how much oil do you keep on hand?

Dunno if this has been asked before; please delete thread if so. I did a few quickie searches. I know we have hoarders, and I know we have the buy as you go. All 5 qt jugs Synthetic: 2 Valvoline HM 5w30 7 M1 0w20 Advanced Economy (6 from recent low price on Amazon or Wally World) 1 M1 HM 5w30 1...

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