The legalization of marijuana in over 25 states in the United States and other parts of the world has increased the supply of the commodity for both recreational and medical use. The decriminalization of the sale of cannabis further encourages the use of marijuana and thus creating a source of income for the wide range of traders, business organizations, or firms specializing in its production and distribution.
Nevertheless, the consumers of the diverse range of marijuana products for their equally distinct purposes face the challenge of determining whether or not they are getting the best prices for their purchases.
The lack of a fixed pricing framework for marijuana products poses a pricing challenge for the consumers as they often lack the knowledge of factors affecting the prices of such products. Provided herein is the analysis of some of the factors to consider before making payment for your preferred stash of cannabis from your favorite vendor.
Quality and legality
Among the factors affecting or rather influencing the prices of marijuana and its wide range of products include the quality of weed, the legality of the product, the season of production, costs of production, whether it’s for recreation or medication purposes, and the quantity of purchase.
The outlined factors play a significant role in determining the prices of cannabis and a comprehensive description of their influence will help the consumers in making informed purchases without manipulation from the traders.
The description of the influence of the factors provided herein serves to answer the consumers’ question on how much they should pay for their specific purchase and intake of weed.
Factors influencing the Prices of Cannabis
The legality of the product
The legal directive or legislation concerning the sale, production, distribution, and use of marijuana and or its products plays a significant role in determining their prices. The price of weed in decriminalized or legal states is considerably lower than those in areas or regions where it is illegal.
In the illegal states, it is difficult to produce and sell marijuana thus incurring higher costs of production than in the legalized states. 3.5 grams of marijuana or an eighth of an ounce going for $25 in Colorado, for instance, goes for $63 in Washington DC. While both regions have legalized the use of marijuana, the latter prohibits the purchase of cannabis.
The difference in the legal stipulations accounts for the different prices for the same amount as the traders in Washington D. C. have to incur extra costs of availing the product to the customer and risk serving jail time for such endeavors if caught by the law enforcers.
Quality of the Marijuana
The business principle of quality goods and services receiving or attracting higher prices applies to the buying and selling of Marijuana. In essence, the higher the quality of marijuana the higher the prices it will fetch in the market.
An ounce of weed may have a variety of prices within the same region and thus confusing the consumer as to what amount to pay for the 28 grams of weed. It is at this point that one should start an elimination process starting with the lowest wee prices and choosing among the remaining price competitive for better quality.
The prices are, however, not a guarantee for the quality product but one should take it into consideration while also making an observation of the traders with most customers. Customer satisfaction reflects the number of customers served and retained over a period of time, which further indicates the supply of quality weed despite the higher prices.
Business Struggle
The production, sale, and distribution of weed, quality marijuana for that matter, is an intense undertaking with various challenges that may affect the pricing of cannabis. The cost of electricity bills for producing indoor marijuana, for instance, may force the farmer to hike the prices to meet their cost of production.
A gram of weed produced indoors sells at a higher price than the same amount produced outdoors. The distribution challenges also form part of the business struggles which may lead to increased weed prices as witnessed in Washington D. C’s wide variation in the ounce of weed.
Seasons
The climatic seasons also play an integral in determining what is the price of cannabis for a particular region or state. The supply of weeds is often high during the month of September during which the majority of producers harvest the product from their farms.
The higher the supply will, of course, correspond to a significant reduction in the prices of cannabis. However, producers with higher costs of production will most likely maintain higher prices for their stash or hoard the product for better prices in the future.
Purpose of Use
Medicinal marijuana has lower prices than recreational marijuana and hence the customer should be aware of the vendors’ specialty before making a purchase. In essence, the same quantity of weed may have different prices depending on its purpose or usage by the consumer.
Quantity
The most significant factor in determining the price of marijuana is the preferred quantity of purchase. A direct correlation exists between weed prices and weight, which forms the basis for the pricing of marijuana and its diverse products for a majority of the product’s distributors.
The quantity of weed provides the most concise mode used in setting the prices of the product and that cuts across both the recreational and medical use or consumption. The standard unit of weight for marijuana is the gram, which forms the unit of conversion to the widely used ounce. 1 cannabis gram is equivalent to a single bottle cap of marijuana and thus forming the basis or reference point for bigger measurements of the product and its mode of pricing.
Smaller quantities pricier
A gram or a single bottle cap of marijuana averages at $ 8 with some states, such as Oregon, going as low as $6 per gram of cannabis. It is more expensive to buy the smaller quantities of weed as a 1 gram of cannabis may go for up to $20 while an eighth averages at $24 in most of the legalized states.
For ease of conversion, one should make mental calculations on how many grams are in an eighth? The subsequent quantities of weed are directly proportional to the set price as the cost of a quarter of an ounce ranges from $24 to $50 depending on the influence of the other outlined factors.
A quarter of weed price is equivalent to the cost of 7 grams of marijuana while a half-ounce of weed price refers to the average of $120 charged for 14 grams of cannabis. On the other hand, the price for 28 grams of marijuana or an ounce of weed price is set at between $ 200 to $ 300 with Washington DC setting a record high of $500 for the same quantity.
Price is a great challenge
Most consumers and even non-users of marijuana will often ask themselves, what is the price of weed? It is without a doubt that the price of marijuana poses a great challenge to the buyers or consumers as they seek to buy both the quantity and quality for their money.
It is, therefore, important to acquaint oneself with the factors influencing the price of marijuana and thus the manipulation of the product’s distributors or sellers. The increased awareness of such factors further protects the consumers from partaking in low-quality products.