I get methanol from a gas station about 15 minutes from my house. There are no hardware stores within a 100 mile radius, possibly even statewide that sell pure methanol. Best I found was denatured alcohol with the SLX Kleanstrip brand which is said to be 50/50 methanol/ethanol. The SLX stuff per gallon is indeed $12-14/gallon but doesn't work nearly as well as the $3/gal straight methanol. I can get nitromethane from the gas station I get the methanol from but the smallest quantity they deal with of that stuff are 20gal barrels which ends up being about $30/gal. This I order online by the gallon for $50/gal usually and free shipping.

Buying model engine oil from a hobby shop is about $6-8 per pint which is purely ludicrous. In todays society of ordering online, one can save a ton of money and even get free shipping by going online. Yeah, that doesn't support local shops but if the hobby shop won't order the stuff I would buy, then it's moot. If a guy wants to use the exotic synthetics like Aerosave or Motul Micro, expect to pay $80/gal plus shipping. The real reason glow fuel costs what it does is due to the hazmat fees imposed on mixed glow fuel in containers larger than 1 quart. Most fuel is $20-25/gal from the manufacturer but when you tack on $35 for shipping and hazmat per 4-gallon case and then add markup, you get the crazy hobby shop pricing. At least up here in the Midwest. As with anything, it comes down to location location location.