Gas prices got you down? Try selling it.

Even as some of his customers shell out $50 for a fill-up, Philadelphia Getty station owner Jim Sullivan says he's not getting rich. His regular gasoline sold for $2.11 a gallon last week and of that, he made only 5 cents before covering his expenses.

"Look at it this way," he says. "If someone comes in and gets five gallons of gas - you're spending $11, $12 - that's a quarter I make."

Mr. Sullivan's lament is one echoed by service station owners across the country - and it may come as a surprise to consumers. As prices rise and gasoline sales hold steady, many stations are taking a hit. The reasons: With less change left after filling up, consumers are holding off on buying higher-profit items like snack foods or making auto repairs; and with many drivers willing to go out of their way to find the best deal, competition is fierce to keep gasoline prices low. Customers also are likelier to pay with a credit card, which further chips away at profits.

Indeed, today everyone from Wal-Mart to Wawa to the major oil companies sells gasoline, sometimes at a loss, to attract other business.

"With gas prices going up, people don't have extra money for that bag of chips, that two-liter bottle of soda," says Rick McBride, who operates a convenience store in Philadelphia next to a Texaco station.

Most gas stations sell anywhere from 80,000 to 200,000 gallons a month, with the average gallon marked up between 5 and 8 cents, says Paul Fiore, executive director of Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades, located in Bowie, Md. And some 70 percent of America's 130,000 retail gasoline outlets have convenience stores, which are threatened with sagging sales when gas prices rise, says Dan Gilligan, president of Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA).

In 2003, convenience-store owners reported an 8.8 percent markup on gas per gallon. That's the lowest mark-up since 1985, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores. Add in credit-card fees, typically 3 percent, and the cost of distribution, from 2 to 4 percent, and the margins for gas are razor-thin.

"It's tough for retailers to make ends meet," when gas prices go up, says Mr. Gilligan. "And what's really frustrating is that they're getting a lot of guff from the customers" because they are "the visible face on the front line" of high gas prices.

Sullivan's gas station is fairly traditional: four pumps, busy, greasy, the exhaust-tinged air of its two-bay service area circulated near the front desk by a wall-mounted fan.

"What I could use more of are these," Sullivan says, gesturing toward his two repair stations. Eighty to 90 percent of his profits come from repairs, and he ekes out what he can from car and truck rentals, detailing, and lottery-ticket sales.

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